Top 40 Smash Taps: “Love Will Find a Way”
These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. Jackie DeShannon had three Top 40 hits. Two of them made it all the way into the vaunted Top 10 and have basically became standards. Her first, “What the World Needs Now,” was written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach and first recorded by DeShannon for the 1965 album This is Jackie DeShannon. The next hit, released about four years later, was the … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Love Will Find a Way”
College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1995, 41-39
41. The Pooh Sticks, Optimistic Fool The Pooh Sticks were one of those bands that received lavish praise from certain quarters, but rarely made much more than marginal headway with anyone other than music critics. That’s probably chiefly attributable to the annoying little detail that the band were little more than an elaborate put-on, the brainchild of Fierce Recordings co-founder Steve Gregory. The music indulges in tried and true rock posturing, tugging the the tropes through a filter of Pavement-style self-satisfied arch mockery. I suppose that’s great for some (there are an awful lot of Pavement devotees, after all), but i … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1995, 41-39
From the Archive: Rooney
This is another music review I wrote for The Independent Journal. I think it appeared in the same issue in which I trashed a Liz Phair record. As the garage rock pile-on continues unabated, it’s good to be reminded that buffing muscular guitar riffs into something glossy and bright isn’t such a bad idea every now and again. The latest evidence is the self-titled debut from Rooney, fronted by Robert Carmine, younger brother of Phantom Planet drummer (and Max Fischer portrayer) Jason Schwartzman. This is the sort of album that starts with a lone guitar, ends with a lush, achy … Continue reading From the Archive: Rooney
One for Friday: Elvis Costello, “45”
Elvis Costello wrote the song “45” on the day he could officially and honestly claim that number as his age. After debuting it in a 1999 appearance on The Tonight Show, he recorded it and released it as a track on his 2002 album When I Was Cruel. That album arrived towards the end of my first year back in college radio, now serving as an advisor rather than a student programmer. I was just into my early thirties at the time, and that age — 45 — still seemed so distant, almost unthinkably far into the future. Not any more, … Continue reading One for Friday: Elvis Costello, “45”
Top Fifty Films of the 40s — Number Thirty-Four
#34 — His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940) According to Hollywood lore, the simple and brilliant notion that changed His Girl Friday from a straight adaptation of the play The Front Page, which had been filmed within the preceding decade, was hit upon largely by accident. Howard Hawks had his female secretary read the lines of male character Hildy Johnson while auditioning actors to play the other lead, Walter Burns. Something about the back-and-forth made Hawks realize that the film could be bolstered by carrying that gender switch into the production proper, which also opened up the possibility of incorporating a fractious … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 40s — Number Thirty-Four
Top 40 Smash Taps: “Angel”
These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. There are at least three waves to Rod Stewart’s solo career: the early years, when he was still an amazing belter with spotty but acceptable taste in material; the middle years, when he was desperately singing any schlocky song he (or his people) thought might become a hit; and the later years, when he lazily crooned standards, knowing that a cushy, lucrative spot … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Angel”
Beers I Have Known: Point Bock
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. There was a legend around Point Bock, the seasonal offering from the longtime brewery in my beloved college town. It was the common fallacy surrounding bock beers, that they were fashioned from the muck dredged up from the bottom of the regular yearly cleaning. The bock’s dark color and muddy fulsomeness — completely the opposite of Point Brewery’s usual crisp lager — fed the myth nicely, as did the constant storytelling of those who insisted … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: Point Bock
I’m satisfied and I can’t deny it
Fifth-eighth in a series…. (via) Continue reading I’m satisfied and I can’t deny it
College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1995, 44-42
44. Elastica, Elastica I owe the 1995 on-air lineup of 90FM an apology. Down around #67 on our chart, I groused that the self-titled debut of Elastica didn’t show up anywhere on this list. Turns out my research methods were highly faulty, because the post-punk sensation out of London is right here, very respectably taking up territory right around the midpoint of the year-end tally. If the attention heaped on Elastica almost makes this placement seem modest, they were also one of those bands that endured one of those rapid-fire turn-arounds from hyped adoration to snippy backlash. Part of what … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1995, 44-42
From the Archive: Frankie and Johnny and The Player
One week ago, I helped bring the school year to an end at the college generous enough to employ me, thanks to my leadership role with the annual commencement ceremony for graduating students. This made me think back to my own college graduation, two decades (and change) ago. Part of my long goodbye from school involved writing one last movie review column for the student newspaper. I explain what I chose to do in the actual piece I’m transcribing, so I won’t get into the choice here. I will note, however, that I’ve written about both these films in this … Continue reading From the Archive: Frankie and Johnny and The Player
Coffee for Two 