Maybe the color has been washed out of this video; maybe there was color in the original broadcast. Nevertheless, I stand by my belief that it’s hard to top a lip-synced performance on a white background.
Jul 102013
Jul 082013
While reading about the surprising success of the 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates, I noticed that the columnist referred to the team with the familiar insider’s nickname of the “Buccos” a few times. That reminded me of how the Montreal Canadiens were sometimes called the “Habs” instead. It’s odd because a team name is a nickname already. Why would you need an insider’s nickname to the nickname?
A band’s name is a nickname too, but sometimes the hippest of the hipsters need to prove their deeper band loyalty by referring to their favorites by their second-level nickname. Are there a lot of these? Ask your friends Whitey and Lumpy for the band nicknames that can only be associated with a single band and must be obviously recognized as that band’s nickname. Easy one: Everyone knows your talking about The Beatles when you say the Fab Four.
Jul 082013
What’s the next big thing? What’s your thing? The All-Star Jam is the place to share whatever’s on your mind.
Jul 052013
Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!
If you’ve ever spent a good part of July in the woods with a bunch of strangers than you can relate to the ups and downs of summer camp. Days of beach, bathing suits, baseball and nights of marshmallows, mosquitoes, and mischief. Yet the fun often comes at the expense of the outcast, the alienated and the misunderstood. If you have a child who falls into these categories, slip this episode of SNSI on their iPod before sending them to camp. There may be at least one song that helps them get through the summer.
[Note: You can add Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your iTunes by clicking here. The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player.]
“You must be the short depressed kid we ordered”
Jul 052013
Fancy my trainers?
Last night, Mr. Royale and I went to one of those ’80s dance nights. I’m proud to say that I danced my f’ing ass off and even Mr. Royale was seen hoofing it to several classic ’80s Post-Punk tracks. This wasn’t your typical synth-pop, hair metal evening: David J was the guest DJ. As you can imagine, he filled the evening with darker, interesting British music from the early-to-mid -80s, most of it great to dance to and all of it enjoyable to hear.
This morning, the ’80s love-fest continued. While I was scanning my FB feed, another blog that I follow posted some videos from the Hacienda/Factory Records site. While I’ve been resting my weary feet, I’ve been watching these live clips from The Hacienda, circa 1982. Most of them are pretty interesting, and I’m guessing a few will get you up on your feet. The band line up is so good: I would call it my Summer of Love.
http://www.fac51thehacienda.com/node/2541
Jul 032013
Fisher Makes Good Speakers, Right?
I will be spending a good part of the 4th of July weekend on our backyard patio listening to ballgames and my iPod on this old warhorse. It’s a Fisher boom box, circa 1985 — complete with aux/phono input. l got a Fisher because my dad told me when I was a kid that our Fisher speakers at home were really, really good — so that stuck with me for years.
This sits on the patio and under the eaves through rain, sun, and sleet. If there was a jail for boom box abuse, I would be an inmate. The dual cassette deck doesn’t work anymore, but the radio and aux input are all I need anyway. I also have a Jawbox I use outside sometimes, but most of the time, I just use the boombox. We remodeled last summer, and I am starting to wish I would have ponyed up for a modern outside sound system — maybe I will when the Fisher dies.
Have a great weekend . . . and what is your modus operandi for cranking tunes outside?
Jul 032013
I’m composing this from my phone, so stick with me. I just read a long, detailed, highly critical review of The Lone Ranger on Grantland. The critic rips the movie to shreds, not in a mean way, rather from the perpective of a kid who feels betrayed by the art form he grew up loving.
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9445983/the-lone-ranger-johnny-depp-troubling-career-turn
Rock critics used to slam big, blockbuster releases all the time. It seemsit’s been years since a major media outlet has simply broken down all the ways a crap mega-album stinks. It can’t be that no records by big artists stink any more. But critics act like everyone’s got something to say. I’m not buying it. Can anyone dig up an intwlligwnt, critical piece on a rock album from the last 5 or 10 years?
