The other night while washing dishes I turned on the radio, hoping to find a few good songs to play in the background. The local Oldies station was playing Gary Puckett & the Union Gap‘s “Lady Willpower”. Those of you who know me know that I despise that song – even while finding it unintentionally hilarious (a characteristic that usually carries a lot of weight with me). I quickly changed the station.

I switched over to the local Classic Rock station, which was playing ZZ Top‘s “Sharp Dressed Man”. That song makes me nauseous! There was nothing else on the radio. I couldn’t bear to go back to “Lady Willpower”, yet I had the chilling thought that I disliked the ZZ Top song more than the Gary Puckett song. I had identified my personal benchmark of disdain: to truly say I have disdain for a song, I must despise it more than “Lady Willpower”.

On a personal level, this is a powerful conclusion I thought I’d share. Perhaps you have identified your own benchmark of disdain.

A Townsperson Wants to Know

Following our recent appreciation for the Look of the MC5, a Townsperson wrote me offlist to ask this question:

“I’ve been hearing a lot about the MC5 for years, but beside ‘Kick Out the Jams,’ I can’t say I know a full song by them. What I hear sounds pretty cool and I know a lot of you guys love them, but where do I start? What’s their best album?”

As Moderator of Rock Town Hall, I don’t think I alone should assume the responsibility of steering this Townsperson toward a starting album. Beside, I don’t love the band the way some of you do. I ask you, Townspeople, to suggest the best MC5 album.

Our friend surely looks forward to your responses.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen live footage of these guys before! I know I won’t be scoring any Cool Points for sharing this find, but this Brinsley Schwarz tune was always a favorite among my bandmates and I.