From the Archive: Other People’s Money
This is the kind of good kid I was in preparation for the review below. Knowing that we’d be covering Other People’s Money on our radio program, The Reel Thing, I went to one of the upper floors of the UW-SP library and checked out a copy of Jerry Sterner’s play to read in advance of seeing the film. Part of the reason, then, this is a slightly longer review than the norm for our weekly show is I had all this deep background knowledge to share. The nineteen-eighties will be forever typified as the time when greed came to … Continue reading From the Archive: Other People’s Money
One for Friday: Dave Alvin, “4th of July”
I’m going to break a rule. It’s one of my own rules, so I guess it’s okay if I decide to break it. The song shared today is in print and presumably available at your favorite local, independently-owned record store. In fact, there’s a whole mess of Dave Alvin albums that can be purchased, including the recently-released collaboration with his brother that’s drawn laudatory reviews. So I’ll begin by urging you to contact the proprietor of that favorite store and discuss making a purchase. Not necessarily today, though. It’s a holiday. Let them have a break. “4th of July” is … Continue reading One for Friday: Dave Alvin, “4th of July”
My Writers: Sarah Vowell
“My ideal picture of citizenship will always be an argument, not a sing-along.” “Voice” is a word that’s used commonly to describe writers, at least good ones. It’s usually meant to describe something that’s found strictly on the page: point … Continue reading My Writers: Sarah Vowell
Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Twenty-Seven
#27 — Diabolique (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1953) Well before “spoiler” became a word that loomed almost larger than any other for moviegoers, Diabolique was a film that urged viewers to keep its secrets hidden from those who hadn’t yet bought a … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Twenty-Seven
Top 40 Smash Taps: “I’m Going to Let My Heart Do the Walking”
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. Unquestionably the most successful group of the highly successful Motown record label, the Supremes had thirty-three Top 40 singles in the U.S., with more than a third of them reaching the very top of the Billboard chart. That included an amazing run of five straight #1 singles in 1964 and 1965, beginning with “Where Did Our Love Go” and ending with “Back in … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “I’m Going to Let My Heart Do the Walking”
My Misspent Youth: American Flagg by Howard Chaykin
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. While there were underground comix for a long time, I started … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: American Flagg by Howard Chaykin
College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 6
6. Jethro Tull, Bursting Out Look. It’s Jethro Tull, the band that brought flute solos into rock ‘n’ roll. It’s a double live album, because it’s the nineteen-seventies and double live albums were the standard filler on the discography of … Continue reading College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 6
From the Archive: One Hundred and One Dalmatians
Though the release model was already suffering from the continuing explosion of the home video market, Disney was still slipping into their vaults for regular theatrical release of their animated classics. Not 3D version or even prints that were given anything but the most cursory clean-up, but instead they’d just drag one of the old favorites out confident that youthful moviegoers hadn’t had a chance to see it previously. One Hundred and One Dalmatians took its turn in the summer of 1991. As the mostly dutifully transcriptions below indicates, I had the official formatting of the title wrong. I’ve cleaned … Continue reading From the Archive: One Hundred and One Dalmatians
One for Friday: The Swimming Pool Q’s, “More Often Than Never”
I knew practically nothing about the Swimming Pool Q’s back when I used to play them on 90FM, but I know a few more things now. The group formed in Atlanta in the late nineteen-seventies, in part thanks to connections made through Glenn Phillips, cult hero singer-songwriter and former member of the Hampton Grease Band. They released their first album in 1981, followed by a pair of releases on A&M Records, recently pulled together in a deluxe reissue using funds from a successful Kickstarter campaign. By the time I found my way to them, they’d parted ways with the label … Continue reading One for Friday: The Swimming Pool Q’s, “More Often Than Never”
Beers I Have Known: Mickey’s
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. While I stand by my contempt for the portion of hipster culture … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: Mickey’s
