99 Degrees And Loving It: Steve Goes to the ACL Festival

Prologue
In the 11 years I’ve had my current job (yes, 11, I know, I know, I must be insane) I’ve covered all types of music festivals throughout the country—The HFStival in Washington, Farm Aid outside Chicago, Ozzfest in lovely (cough, cough) West Palm Beach, Florida, The Furthur Festival in Atlanta, the H.O.R.D.E. Festival in Somerset, Wisconsin and the Fleadh Festival on Randall’s Island here in New York. Overall, I’ve reported on over 20 festivals—and they all pretty much sucked. There was no easier path to crankiness than a couple of days wandering around in the summer heat with a heavy DAT machine trying to get backstage to interview someone who would turn out to be an insufferable prick. Ugh. Even when I went to festivals as just a fan (starting with the 1992 edition of Lollapalooza) I would be really excited at the beginning of the day. By the time the last act rolled around, I usually wanted to lie down and go to sleep. I would wear myself out too quickly by rocking out and jumping around, and even when I was a kid I never had the stamina to do that for hours at a time. So when we cut back a bit on festival coverage, no one was happier than me.

Over the past five years a new type of festival has sprung up across the country—a multi day event in one central location, with an eye on having spaces where fans can rest or cool off in between bands. I started to hear so many good things about festivals like Coachella in California and Bonnaroo in Tennessee with great diverse lineups. I started thinking that I might even be able to make it through a few days as long as I was able to get some downtime between bands—and I didn’t have to lug around recording equipment and spend most of my time trying to track down publicists.

Enter my friend Stacy who lives in Austin, Texas. For the past couple of years she kept saying I should come down and cover the Austin City Limits Festival in Zilker Park. “You have a place to stay for free,” she kept telling me. I kept brushing it off until one day in May when I got an email announcing this year’s lineup. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers? Willie Nelson? Nada Surf? The Raconteurs? Gnarls Barkley? Son Volt? Guster—and 95 other bands? That sounds pretty damn good to me. I’m not sure what overcame me (I don’t even think I was hungover, so I can’t use that readily available excuse), but armed with a bank account that had a tiny bit of extra money in it I did my most impulsive deed in years and bought a pair of three day passes to ACL and emailed Stacy that I hoped her offer of a place to crash was still good, because I was coming to Austin.

Since I’m that kind of guy who likes to ramble on about his adventures, I figured keeping copious notes about my reentry to the world of rock festivals would be a good move. So join me as I attempt to transcribe my sweaty notes about rocking out in Texas from September 14th through the 18th, where I quickly found out the summer heat doesn’t end until late October.

September 14th: The Best Type of Ribs? The Free Ones.

When I walked out of the gate into the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, I could smell them. Ribs. LOTS of juicy, succulent ribs. My previous time in Austin in 2001 I was told I had to go to one place to get ribs—The Salt Lick. The 25 minute drive outside town was totally worth it, as the ribs just melted down my gullet. It was food perfection. Before this trip I decided not to have ribs or barbeque for three months, so I was literally drooling when I got off the plane and smelled the ribs available at the airport Salt Lick outpost. It took a lot of willpower to not just head to their stand and skip getting my suitcase altogether. But I knew I had a great reward awaiting me—Stacy’s boyfriend Donnie was one of the managers of the new Salt Lick branch in Austin proper, called The Salt Lick 360. I was pretty sure that would give me the inside track on the best ribs they had to offer. So after making pit stops to pick up our three day pass wrist bands (more on this later) and a tasty margarita at the Hula Hut overlooking Lake Austin, we went to the Salt Lick 360.

As we stepped in, the food smell almost brought me to tears. I had thought—no, I had obsessed about eating these ribs for three months, and now I was going to finally sink my teeth into them. Stacy and I sat down at the bar just across from where Donnie (who is one fluid jazz guitarist) and his friend/keyboardist Papi were playing some of the best dinner music I’d heard in ages. A couple of Stacy’s friends were supposed to be joining us for dinner, so I kept my rib hunger in check by ordering some beef brisket queso and a cheap draft beer.

Oh my.

It was so good. I’d never sampled such a divine mix of cheese and beef ever. (And yes, it tasted better than any hamburger I’ve ever had, trust me.) I’m pretty sure the very cool guy behind the bar must have been a bit scared when let out a low growl of “mmmmmm” when I took my first bite of a queso covered chip. Yet that didn’t deter him from suggesting that in addition to the regular ribs I wanted to order, I get some babyback ribs as well. And he totally got a kick out of me taking a picture of the ribs when they showed up. He said, “We need to get a shot of you eating those.” (I particularly love the animalistic way I’m ripping the meat off the bone—and my obviously sweat-styled hair.) And our friendly bartender was so right about adding the babyback ribs to my order. It was a sticky slice of meat heaven. Everything that I had remembered about their ribs was spot on—they were very moist, the meat came off the bones very easily and the barbeque taste was second to none.

(I’m sorry; I need to go get a napkin because I’m drooling on the keyboard right now. That’s better.)

After the meal was done I got the best news of the day—my meal was free. It indeed pays to know a manager’s girlfriend. So Stacy and I said goodbye to the incredibly friendly staff (I predict I will say friendly a whole lot in the next couple of pages), picked up some beer at local gas station and went back to the very quaint home she shares with Donnie. As I sipped a Rolling Rock I thought, “This trip has been a success already, and we haven’t even heard a note.”

September 15th: So Where Are You Two Going?

My other food goal of my trip was to chow down on some top-notch Tex-Mex. Stacy asked me if I was in the mood for breakfast tacos, which is kind of like asking a junkie if they’re in the mood for another fix. Papi the keyboardist also ran a little taco stand about a 10 minute walk from where Donnie and Stacy lived and she said that these tacos were (I’m paraphrasing here) “amazing.” And damned if she wasn’t right. The mix of eggs, chorizo, cheese and pico were all in the exact right balance. And it could be eaten in the way breakfast is meant to be had—with your hands. No forks necessary.

We hopped in Stacy’s car for the drive downtown to catch the shuttle bus to Zilker Park. Now this is where I thought the whole festival layout would hit a snag. How many people out of the 65-thousand attending everyday would be parking downtown? Half that? More? I expected to be riding around all day looking for a spot. Yet we drove around for just five minutes, found a parking garage that was free, walked six blocks to the bus pick up point and immediately got on board. 15 minutes later we got off the bus, walked through the back gate and were immediately immersed in music. The ease of it all left me dumbfounded. Everything up to this point was almost too simple. Something bad had to happen, right? Right?

Since the first band I really wanted to see—Guster—wasn’t on for an hour, we walked over the grounds to get the lay of the land. From the get go I could tell that these folks knew what worked on this site. The stages were set apart far enough so there wasn’t that much competition sound-wise. The screens were big enough that if you were really far back you could at least catch some of the action. There were places to buy water (which was only 2 bucks, much cheaper than any concert I had been to lately) everywhere, and finding the free water fountains took very little time as well. The merch area was well designed and was big enough to accommodate a huge amount of people, as was the food court. And what food it was. (Yes, I did eat a lot on this trip.) The Salt Lick had a booth with beef and pork sandwiches (both of which were great), while this fancy restaurant called Hudson’s on the Bend served up these chicken wraps that they made only for the festival. They were so good I wanted to start a franchise here in New York just to sell those wraps. And there was the Sweet Tea booth, which sold the best iced tea I’ve ever had that I didn’t make myself.

Let me speak for a moment about something else all the food and beverage booths had in common—all of these folks were exceedingly nice. It’s almost 100 degrees, there’s tens of thousands of people wanting water or beer or food, these lines are moving quick to serve all these folks, and I never once heard someone have an attitude or be condescending to a dumbass that deserved a beatdown. This friendly attitude was evident in every single person I saw working at ACL. People working at rock festivals are supposed to have a general disdain for the fans in attendance. Honestly, this great vibe kind of freaked me out for a while. I kept waiting for someone to peg somebody else with a beer bottle or yell about the food not coming fast enough or call a security guard a moron. Nope. Nothing. I couldn’t help but get swept up in the friendly vibe the entire weekend.

After all of the great non-music parts of ACL, I’ve almost forgotten to mention the music we saw on that first day. We scoped out some space next to the soundboard to watch Guster’s set that leaned heavy on their two recent great albums, Ganging Up on the Sun and Keep It Together. From our vantage point we were doing okay in the heat until the last two songs when the sun decide to burrow directly through my hat and into my spinal column. Stacy beat me to the punch by saying, “I think I need to get out of the sun.” So we walked a short way down the hill to the Rock Island Hideaway, a huge tented area sponsored by a local wine company. I grabbed up a bunch of waters and iced teas (the very nice cashier called me “darlin’” twice) and miraculously a couple of seats opened up. After some rest, we decided to give Gnarls Barkley a shot, and wow, were we glad we did. They hit the stage all dressed in medical uniforms, frontman Cee-Lo announced that they were called John Nash and the Beautiful Minds and the broke into a verse of “She Blinded Me With Science.” Right then I had a good feeling that our streak of luck was going to continue. Cee-Lo has such a powerful stage presence that you couldn’t help but watch him the entire show, even with the extremely attractive string section dressed in glasses and short skirts. It was such a good time I even started doing a bit of moving and bobbing my head, completely forgetting the oppressive heat.

After Gnarls we went and watched the second half of Okervill River, who were also surprisingly good. After a look at the schedule, we realized we did not want to sit through Ray LaMontagne or John Mayer to get to Van Morrison, so we beat a retreat to the exit. And once again, it took no time at all to get on a nice A/C filled bus and get back to downtown, Then Stacy helped to fulfill my dream of a Tex-Mex doubleheader with a great meal at a well-known joint called Maudie’s Café. With it being a Friday and all, we somehow mustered up the energy to hit a couple of my favorite types of places—dive bars with cheap beer. Our first stop was the Horseshoe Lounge. I wanted to take a picture inside of this joint, because the bar itself was horseshoe shaped. But they had a sign up as you walked in stating, “ABSOLUTELY NO PHOTOGRAPHS ALLOWED.” I wondered why there was such a stern warning about cameras. I slowly figured it out as our bartender kept complaining about going out back to smoke—they had recently gotten busted for allowing patrons to smoke in the bar by a local undercover TV reporter. The bartender’s bitterness about the whole incident stopped me from asking where he had gotten such a great shirt—it read, “I F’in Heart Texas.” (We later spent a good deal of time on the internet looking for that exact shirt, to no avail.) And after Stacy played Tina Turner’s “Private Dancer” on the jukebox, we figured we might not be welcome in there for too much longer.

After the Horseshoe we hit Deep Eddie, which had their own little run in with the smoking ban. They were raising funds for “the Deep Eddie Six”—six bartenders and patrons who got fined for flaunting the smoking ban. I enjoyed our time there, until this weird dude decided he wanted to buy beers for both of us. I wasn’t sure if he was a) trying to pick me up; b) pick Stacy up; c) pick us both up; d) hit us up for a ride home or e) tell us about the amazing products Amway has to offer. We were pretty sure it was choice d), but fortunately he stumbled out first and left us to drink the beer he bought for us in peace.

September 16th: Turn It Up Willie!

Once again the efficiency gods were with us, as we left Stacy’s house at 11:10 and got to the grounds just in time to hear Marah hit the stage at 11:45. Now rock music before noon can’t be anyone’s idea of fun, yet the guys in Marah played as if their careers depended upon it. Guitarist Serge Bielanko made a great crack about the abundant sunshine (which then went behind clouds for most of the day, cooling us all) by looking up at the rock show lights above them spinning around like it was pitch black out. “I took 8000 dollars of my savings and spent it on this light show—hope ya enjoy it.” By the time both Serge and his brother had climbed into the crowd during their last song we were totally won over.

The next band we heard, Ghostland Observatory, drew the complete opposite reaction. We were sitting in the food court area, but we could hear their horrible dance-inflected rock and see the big screen—and both sight and sound scarred me. I don’t think I’ve ever said the phrase, “They even dance pretentiously,” and I hope to never again. (Postscript to this set—I later discovered that the lead singer was actually a man. I was convinced—CONVINCED—that we were watching a female cavort on stage. Damn. Look at that pic to the left!)

Ben Kweller was scheduled after Ghostland Observatory on the stage directly opposite them. Up until that point that stages ran like a smoothly oiled machine—one band ended, the stage opposite them started music started immediately. Yet we had to wait 10 minutes until Kweller came on stage. He explained that he had a doctor looking at his nose, since the dry weather had given him a “double nostril nose bleed.” It took only one song for nose to open up again. Blood went everywhere—on his guitar, on his hand, his shirt. It was disgusting. Finally at one point he yelled, “Does anyone have a tampon.” And it was as if dozens of women knew exactly what he was going to ask, as the air in front of the stage suddenly became blur of flying tampons. He shoved a couple in his nose, declared “We’ve gotta rock out now,” and then led his band into a raucous version of “This Is War.” And I tell you, it looked like he’d been in a war when he pulled out one tampon during the song and blood went flying. He attempted one more song at the piano, but you could hear portions of the audience go “eeeeeew” when the camera focused in his face and you could see blooding running down his lip onto the microphone. Kweller had to quit after that, but not before leaving the most lasting impression of the festival.

Kweller’s quick set gave us enough time to get back for all of Nada Surf, who once again were great. The Texas two-step they got the crowd to do during “Inside of Love” must have looked great from above. And the having the two trumpet players from Calexico blast out the riff to “Blankest Year” was a stroke of genius. Nada Surf’s set started a run where we went from stage to stage to stage with no break. When they were done, we went up the hill to watch most of Los Lobos, and then skipped their last two songs to catch the unusually funny Aimee Mann. (She introduced “Save Me” by declaring, “You may remember this song lost out on the Oscar to Phil Collins’ ‘Young Man Monkey Love’ tune.”) When she was done, we turned around and bam—The Raconteurs were playing. As good as their debut album is their set proved that this band has only gotten better the longer they’ve played together. As they finished, I thought of how good their next album would be—and how good a sandwich from the Salt Lick would taste.

After waiting through the sandwich line that moved surprisingly fast, we attempted to get a place on the hill to see Willie Nelson. I say attempted because this was easily the most crowded spot of the entire festival. We had seen a lot of folks who brought sets of chairs and would set them up and mark their spot with a flag so their friends could find them. Well, I think every folding chair in the greater Austin area was on the grass in front of the stage waiting for Willie to come on. When Stacy said to me on Friday, “Texans are used to tailgating, and can sit around for hours,” she wasn’t kidding. We finally found a place to stand and a huge roar came up when Willie walked on stage. Then another roar of people yelling “Turn it up” started coming from behind us. And these folks were right. The sound at every other stage was perfect, but Willie and the family sounded like they were playing in Fort Worth. I was afraid to say a single word for fear of drowning out “Crazy.” We finally gave up after an hour and headed for the bus. This time the bus line was as long as I expected—when 30-thousand folks are leaving via one mode of transport, it’s going to take a while to get there. But I must say it was the quickest 30 minutes I’ve ever spent in a line for transportation. They line never stopped moving forward because they obviously had brought more than enough buses to keep the shuttle going non-stop. And once again, every single person working on the line was so nice, apologizing for the lengthy delay. And I might have been a bit tired by then, but I believed every word they said.

September 17th: Mary Jane’s First Rain

The last day of festival we knew we were going to stay to the end of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers set, so we decided to skip a good chunk of the afternoon rock and plan our entrance to right before Son Volt’s set. Stacy and I are both huge fans of the band, so we kind of wanted to get close. But damn, we had no idea we would get so close. When we walked up to the stage, most people had just cleared out after country singer Jack Ingram’s set. So we walked right up to the barrier and set up shop. I knew that the sound was going to be loud, but I had no idea how powerful the low end would be when Jay Farrar and company started playing. At one point I thought the rumbling had stopped my heart, and then restarted it again on a totally different beat. At one gap between songs Stacy leaned over to me and said, “My uterus is contracting.” Thank goodness nothing horrible medical-wise happened to us (and I was able to get some nice up close shots).

We slowly made our way towards The Flaming Lips when they started, and I have to say they were the most disappointing set I saw out of the 20 bands I watched over the three days. It seemed like they were trying too hard to make their set seem like the biggest thing ever with the dozens of dancing girls and people in Santa Claus costumes jumping around at the back of the stage. It had the air of a forced celebration about it, as if everyone was required to party when the Lips came to town. I found myself wishing they would end soon some of the crowd would clear out.

Finally the Lips did end, allowing us to stake out some space for Petty. Alas, some thunderstorms also staked out some space over Zilker Park. During Petty’s set the clouds put on a free light show to accompany “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and “Saving Grace.” During the latter song the clouds opened up and started drenching us, sending thousands of folks scrambling for the nearest exit. Petty then came on mic and said they had to stop until the storm passed. We weren’t that confident they were going to be able to come back, so we took our seven song mini set and hiked for the bus line, which yet again didn’t seem that long even though we were wet. When we got back to Stacy’s house, we had a ceremonial cutting of the three day wristbands, which felt great. I never wear any jewelry, so every time I rolled over in my sleep during those two nights I would feel the piece of plastic on my arm and try to rip it off. Fortunately I would wake up in time before I threw 130 bucks down the drain.

September 18th: A Windfall Breakfast

Before I left town, I had to have a little bit more Tex-Mex, so on the suggestion of my friend Paula we ate at Los Manitas in downtown Austin. While we were chowing down yet another amazing breakfast we saw two members of Son Volt sit down to eat. I wanted to go up to them and say, “I’ll be sending you my dentist’s bill for the teeth I have to have replaced,” but I didn’t want to ruin their meal.

When I finally boarded the plane back to Newark, I was sure of four things:
1) I would gain a ton of weight if I lived in Austin full time;
2) The Austin City Limits Festival was the best run rock event I’ve ever been to;
3) I had just finished what might have been my best vacation ever;
4) And I was definitely going to come back again.

I’ve already marked off September 14th through the 16th on my 2007 calendar—and I plan on not eating any ribs until then.

The Section to Thank People Without Whom...

Thanks again to April for the camera that captured the great scenes of Austin. And special thanks to Stacy and Donnie for making my trip down to the heart of Texas this fall a great one, for indulging my weird obsession with ribs and the great Salt Lick shirt. I wear it every week. See you next September.

Things that made this year better: every Geico Caveman commercial, shots made with Strawberry Quick, roulette, the Wheel of Fortune slots, 220 bucks in credit at Amoeba, Gary Cohen on TV—and not Fran Healy, “Surrender” for Paul’s birthday, “Rock n’ Roll” with Michelle, Derby Day, Tony Paige on WFAN, Lobo after really annoying actresses, Indian River Light, Nada Surf’s “I Like What You Say,” The Tide doing Definitely Maybe, batting practice at Shea, the Salt Lick 360, The Horseshoe Tavern, Batman Begins, “Highway to Hell” with Joe on guitar, Bryan Adams duets at Shenanigans, Casino Royale, slow dancing and more to “Thirteen,” Logan’s Run in Reverse, The O.C.’s funny comeback

This year’s list took took one pitcher of iced tea, two Starbucks Iced Venti Chai, 15 20oz bottles of Diet Coke, two steak fajita burritos; one bag of chips and salsa, four pieces of sugarless peppermint Bubble Yum; 12 trips on the F Train, one meatball sub, one steak and cheese sub, one bag of M&M almonds, four cups of Swiss Miss hot chocolate, one Starbucks Venti Hot Chocolate, two coffee rolls, one Pepperidge Farm Saulsolito cookie, one pint of chicken fried rice, three 7/8 of a ounce bags of Bugles, one Ziploc container of leftover chicken and broccoli, one Werthers butterscotch candy and one bottle of Robitussin.

Song of the Week 12/8/06

Bruce Springsteen - "Born to Run"

Read this. That will explain the choice fully. More details to come in this year's list. But enjoy this photo until then:

Song of the Week 12/1/06

Beyonce - "Irreplaceable"

Dear music gods and overseers,



Please get the line "to the left to the left" from "Irreplaceable" out of my head at some point. When I woke up at 5:40 a.m. this morning and the first thing I heard besides the radio was that line, I knew I was in trouble.

Much thanks,

Steve

PS: How could an album have two such crappy lead singles and then a brilliant third one? Someone at Columbia certainly messed up the start of B'Day.

Song of the Week 11/24/06

Big Star - "Thirteen"

One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite albums of all time, I discovered this week that "Thirteen" can be quite, well, how do I put it...intoxicating on many levels. Yeah, that's all I'll say about that.

I did a quick search today, and discovered there are at least 10 covers of this song, including this cover by Jon and Ken from the Posies, who are in the current edition of Big Star:



But nothing tops the original, which has such simple and effective lyrics:

"Won't you let me walk you home from school
Won't you let me meet you at the pool
Maybe Friday I can
Get tickets for the dance
And I'll take you, ooo ooo ooo

Won't you tell your dad, 'Get off my back'
Tell him what we said 'bout 'Paint It Black'
Rock 'n Roll is here to stay
Come inside where it's okay
And I'll shake you, ooo ooo ooo.

Won't you tell me what you're thinking of
Would you be an outlaw for my love
If it's so, well, let me know
If it's 'no,' well, I can go
I won't make you ooo ooo ooo."

Perfect. Just perfect. It made my favorite holiday of the year even better.

Song of the Week 11/17/06

Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians - "Madonna of the Wasps"

I spent a good deal of this week listening to Robyn Hitchcock in anticipation of his show with the Venus 3 (a.k.a. 3/4 of the Minus 5 -- Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey and Bill Reiflin) at the Hiro Ballroom. The show did not disappoint. Hitchcock was his usual talkative self in between songs, spinning tales about Mick Jagger, elephants, God, Jesus and what seemed to be hundreds of other topics. This show also featured a guest appearance by Soft Boys/Egyptians drummer Morris Windsor, who added some fine backing vocals to the last third of Hitchcock's set. Included in that portion was "Madonna of the Wasps," which I have loved from the first moment I heard it on WICB back in college.

I was looking for Hitchcock clips on YouTube this week, and stumbled across the original video:

Somehow the song has a completely different (and longer) intro than the album version. I have no idea why, and can't seem to find any explanation about it on this here world wide web. And then I happened upon this performance from Letterman in 1989:

Now THAT's a weird intro. I can only imagine the look on Dave's face.

And just for kicks, here's the title track to Hitchcock's new album, Ole! Tarantula:

Song of the Week 11/10/06

Journey - "Don't Stop Believin'"

Sometimes corporate rock is fun. Especially after a few drinks. After seeing someone sing this song with the band, then a bunch of people sing along to the original at a great party, and then a couple of folks duetting on it at a bar in my neighborhood, how could I pick anything else?

Wow, check out how short those shorts are on the drummer:

Song of the Week 11/3/06

Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes - "I Don't Want to Go Home"

As I've written many times in the past, thank you WFUV. I randomly decided to listen to their stream at the office yesterday, and this track came up in the mid-afternoon. And my, it sounded so good. Myself and my co-worker Dave both started bobbing our heads along. I quickly downloaded it, and then listened to it once again just before we left for the day. And today the song inspired me to make a mix of songs with "home" in the title. And I do believe I will have to listen to that mix on the way home before I drop it off at one of my favorite haunts, Sample.

This evening I was trying to recall when I first heard this song, and I think I never heard it until I moved to New York. That seems kind of odd, since Albany definitely was open to Springsteen's fellow Jersey-ities. But I'm positive I heard it first on WNEW. (Ah, I remember those old call letters.) I also had no idea until Dennis Elsas back sold the song that Steve Van Zandt wrote it.

(Please don't tell the Springsteen fraternity I didn't know that--they'll throw me out in a heartbeat.)

Song of the Week 10/27/06

AC/DC - "Highway to Hell"

We did this song last night, with my old roommate and best friend Joe playing lead guitar.

Best.

Birthday.

Moment.

Ever.

Wow. Hope the footage came out.

Song of the Week 10/20/06

The Hold Steady - "Party Pit"



The first time I heard the Hold Steady I thought, "What the fuck is up with this guy's voice?" Craig Finn's vocals sounded somewhere between throaty spoken word performance and a strangled cat. I had read on, well, every blog I visit regularly that this album was "amazing," "earth shattering," and "a drunken fest." Even the Times got into the act with a huge one page spread in the Arts & Leisure section a few weeks ago. And they were a Brooklyn band, but from that horrible indie area of Williamsburg. All of these factors made me dismiss them quickly.

Then on Monday night I was listening to the World Cafe, and they had picked the band as their Next Artist for the week. So I sat there and listened to "Chips Ahoy!" And I realized that Craig Finn's voice had nothing to do with murdering cats. It was more like a raspier John Easdale (the frontman of the great Jersey band Dramarama). And the song sounded like a pre-Born to Run Springsteen outtake.

I was sold.

Tuesday I downloaded the album.

Wednesday I was convinced it was a good album.

Last night it moved into my Top 10 for the year as I listened to it on my way to Shea...and my way home from the heartbreaking loss. "Party Pit" particularly (ooh, alliteration!) caught my ear. It's snapsnot of that reckless party time at the end of high school and begining of college with a great refrain that carries the last third of the song: "Gonna walk around and drink some more/Gonna walk around and drink." That was what I wished I could do after the game last night, but the rain and the fact I had to work and that I was drop-dead exhausted from going to the previous night's game made that impossible.

Today I come into work, head to my friend John's blog, and what is title of the top entry? "Gonna walk around and drink some more..." Freaky. John had just seen them in L.A., and decribed it as "one of the greatest rock shows I've ever seen, and I've seen a couple. Just a joyous uncynical rock show, put on by hard working pros in their 30s. Nice to not be quite so much older than every single soul."

Now I have to see them.

And most likely, drink myself silly when I do.

Song of the Week 10/13/06

Skee-Lo - "I Wish"

I saw a mention of this song on some other blog, and I immediately knew I had to download it. It sounds just as good as it did in the summer of 1995 when I was staying in Hoboken and it was cranking from cars on Washington--and my friend Chris's Toyota Forerunner.

Ah, nostalgia.

Oh, and the video is damn funny too:

Song of the Week 10/6/06

The Pretenders - "Mystery Achievement"

I'm pretty sure I have written before about my theory that every best of album by any artist has to be missing one great song from their catalog. In the framework of that theory, it's no surprise that The Pretenders' The Singles had to leave off "Mystery Achievement." I've never had that song on CD before, and now with the reissue of Chrissie Hynde and company's debut album, I finally do.

I don't think I have much else to add about the song. Hmm...I do recall liking to read the entire seven day forecast over the intro to that song back in my college radio days, but that's about it. It's a kick ass song, and sounds great in my iPod.

Trouser Press 101 9/30/06

Thanks to all who came out for Trouser Press 101 at Magnetic Field. This may be my favorite ever playlist of the TP nights we've done so far.

Thin Lizzy - "Don’t Believe a Word"
Big Country - "In a Big Country"
Velvet Underground - "Run Run Run"
Undertones - "Let’s Talk About Girls"
Specials - "Free Nelson Mandela"
Human League - "Things That Dreams Are Made of"
Cure - "In Between Days"
20/20 - "Yellow Pills"
Holly & the Italians - "Do You Say Love"
Rubber City Rebels - "Paper Dolls"
U2 - "Bad"
Bigger Lovers - "1/2 Richard’s"
Sundays - "My First Hour"
Ivy - "The Best Thing"
The Smiths - "Girlfriend in a Coma"
Thane Russal - "Drop Everything and Run"
Elvis Costello - "Days"
Jesus and Mary Chain - "April Skies"
Denim - "Middle of the Road"
Vibrators - "Into the Future"
Run DMC - "It’s Tricky"
Killer Pussy - "Teenage Enema Nurses in Bondage"
Shoes - "Too Late"
Smugglers - "She’s Another Thing (That I've Done Wrong)"
Time Zone - "World Destruction"
Plimsouls - "Everywhere at Once"
The Who - "The Ox"
Damned - "Love Song"
TV Personalities - "3 Wishes"
Stone Roses - "I Wanna Be Adored"
Status Quo - "Rockin’ All Over the World"
Marshall Crenshaw - "Fantastic Planet of Love"
T. Rex - "Hot Love"
Pretenders - "Brass in Pocket"
Eurythmics - "Love Is a Stranger"
New Order - "Bizarre Love Triangle"
Siouxsie and the Banshees - "Cities in Dust"
David Bowie - "Heroes"
Richard Hell - "Blank Generation"
Pere Ubu - "Final Solution"
Skids - "Into the Valley"
Rezillos - "Top of the Pops"
Blondie - "Attack of the Giant Ants"
B-52’s - "There’s a Moon In the Sky (Called the Moon)"
Magazine - "About the Weather"
INXS - "I Send a Message"
Ian Dury - "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick"
Gang of Four - "I Love a Man in Uniform"
Devo - "Uncontrollable Urge"
The Nails - "88 Lines About 44 Women"
Meat Puppets - "Up on the Sun"
Graham Parker - "Soul Shoes"
dB’s - "Love Is For Lovers"
Julian Cope - "Beautiful Love"
Scruffy the Cat - "You Dirty Rat"
The Jam - "That’s Entertainment"
Damned - "New Rose"
Husker Du - "I Apologize"
Ramones - "Pinhead"
New York Dolls - "Looking For a Kiss"
The Cars - "Bye Bye Love"
Cheap Trick - "Baby Loves to Rock"
Hoodoo Gurus - "Bittersweet"
Los Lobos - "Will the Wolf Survive"
Mott the Hoople - "Sucker"
The Smithereens - "Blood & Roses"
Violent Femmes - "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me"
Sonic Youth - "Teenage Riot"
Patti Smith - "Frederick"
R.E.M. - "Seven Chinese Brothers"
Nick Lowe - "I Knew The Bride (When She Used to Rock and Roll)"
Madness - "It Must be Love"
Haircut One Hundred - "Love Plus One"
The Joboxers - "Just Got Lucky"
The Replacements - "Swinging Party"
World Party - "Sweet Soul Dream"
Jazz Butcher - "D.R.I.N.K."
Echo & the Bunnymen - "The Killing Moon"
The Kinks - "Celluloid Heroes"

Song of the Week 9/30/06

The Long Winters - “It’s a Departure”

The past couple of weeks have been all about Seattle’s The Long Winters. In between prepping for the Trouser Press entry I was polishing off or getting myself psyched to see them on Friday night, I listened to a lot of the band’s music in September. Frontman John Roderick writes such interesting lyrics and delivers them in such a unique and passionate voice that I’m amazed it took me this long to discover them (or that someone, anyone I knew would have turned me onto them). I missed their show in Austin, but didn’t stress about it since I knew I would go see them at Bowery Ballroom. Before the show I met up with my friend Michelle (a HUGE fan of the band—she has their album covers on one of her walls for goodness sake) and her brother Steve at a Lower East Side bar. As we talked about various topics, Michele told me she thought the new Long Winters album Putting the Days to Bed was “incredible” (I'm paraphrasing, I do believe). I mentioned “(It’s a) Departure” as a favorite because of the great line, “I like the old days/But not all the old days/Only the Good Old Days!” Roderick’s delivery of that line slays me ever time. When the band hit the stage, Roderick made some cracks about how big their rock show would be, and then chuckled and said that “the song is a departure.” I belted out a very loud “YEAH!” and started singing along. I’m not sure that Michelle and her crew heard me scream all the way up front, but I bet they were rocking out just as much as I was.

Song of the Week 9/22/06

Bastards of Melody - "Fuck Waking Up"

Full disclosure: I work with the three guys in Bastards of Melody in the live karaoke group Bunnie England and the New Originals. But in the year or so I have been the MC for Paul, Paul and Troy, I have never seen them perform their originals as BoM. So all week I was looking forward to seeing them play a set at the Parkside Lounge in what used to be called Manhattan's Alphabet City. (The area of Ave's A through D.) And the guys did not disappoint me, delivering a strong vibrant set of songs that made me want to air guitar. Think Replacements meets Cheap Trick and you'll have an idea of what they sound like--and why I like them. Their set went great until they asked me to come up and sing "Surrender" as their last song...and I promptly forgot the words to the second verse. It must have been the lack of beer that caused it, as I've done the song at least 25 times with them and only messed it up once. Simply put, I was mortified afterwards.

The song the Bastards did before I ruined their set was "Fuck Waking Up" from their 2003 album Break Up. It's a damn good song, and one of my favorites from an album that's filled with strong tracks (and I found myself humming it when I woke up Sunday morning.). My visiting friend Nancy even got a free copy of it , just because Paul needs to clear out his basement. However, I still suggest you download it from iTunes so the guys can make some cash.

Song of the Week 9/16/06

Nada Surf - "Blankest Year"

This song has become my favorite tune on Nada Surf's The Weight Is a Gift. And as I got myself mentally ready for ACL, I knew they would play it during their set. What I didn't know was that they'd be joined by two horn players from Calexico--who blasted the riff at top volume--causing me to jump around and dance with pure joy. But I did stop to get a pic:



Aw fuck it, it WAS a party. I'll have more about the party that was my trip to Austin in the Top 20 this year.

I Suppose This Should Have Been A Song of the Week

I'm not sure why Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" never made it. I mean, I have a collection of over 20 different versions of the song in the ol' iPod. This article in Slate gives a great overview of all of the covers and why artists feel compelled to cover a song that's been everywhere this summer.

And here's my favorite cover version, as of right now. However, that could change at any moment:

Song of the Week 9/8/06

World Party - "Sweet Soul Dream"

Whew, that's one bitter entry below. Sorry about that. Thankfully this week features something that can be in short supply in these parts -- hope and positivity.

My co-worker Dave raved about the World Party show he saw in early August out in Los Angeles. So I took the initiative to get myself on the guest list for the band's show at Irving Plaza Saturday night. I've been a big fan of the band--basically frontman Karl Wallinger and whomever he chooses to play with--ever since I heard "Ship of Fools" on PYX 106 20 years ago. I saw them once before, way back in 1993 opening for 10,000 Maniacs. And all I can remember from that show is that most fans at SPAC seemed to not know who World Party was and they wondered why I was standing up and cheering when they broke into "Way Down Now."

My interest in the band waned a bit with their 1997 album Egyptology--and that's because I was a moron and didn't realize that "She's the One" is quite possibly one of the best love songs of the past decade. "She's the One" is one the library cuts that WFUV plays regularly (and with them that means once every two to three weeks) and it drive me nuts not being able to get it because the album was out of print. Thankfully my co-worker Dave had a copy and in January was able to send me the song for my Ipod.

Last year Wallinger got the rights back to all of his albums, including 2000's Dumbing Up which was available stateside only as an import. In the spring he reissued all of them and came to the U-S to do some acoustic shows to promote them. This in itself was miraculous, considering the man had a brain aneurysm five years ago! I don't know all the facts about his recovery, but from all accounts Wallinger is very lucky man to be on the planet right now, and even luckier to be able to speak and sing again.

I can't even imagine what it must feel like to get a second chance after staring down death, but I can now say I can see how it can impact a person's take on their own songs. During Saturday night's performance at Irving Plaza, Wallinger had a grin etched on his face for 90 minutes straight. The pure joy the man got from playing with what is a kick ass band (drummer Chris Whitten is great secret weapon) came through in every song he sang. Wallinger's vocals on the studio versions of songs such as set opener "Put the Message in the Box" and "Is It Like Today" always seemed to me a little bit detached, as if he needed to put some distance between himself and his words. Not on this Saturday night. Wallinger's passion for these songs rang through loud and clear.

Saturday's set went deep on Goodbye Jumbo songs, with seven cuts played. And with many lyrics in those songs about not letting life pass you by ("See the world in just one grain of sand/You better take a closer look/Don't let it slip right through your hand") it was obvious that the meanings to many of his own word had changed for Wallinger. Even "Way Down Now," which is not the most uplifting song, came across now as anthem of carrying on. And damn, this audience was glad Wallinger carried on. Irving Plaza wasn't sold out, but the rapturous ovation Wallinger and company got throughout the evening was so loud I thought I was at the Garden. And it was obvious that Wallinger was touched by all of it. Someone left him a bouquet of flowers at his feet, and I could have sworn that he looked a little choked up when he went to the mic to thank the anonymous fan who had left them.

(Here's a sample of Karl in action today. The audio is pretty poor, but the feeling is still there.)


As for our Song of the Week, "Sweet Soul Dream" has always been my "buried on side 2" gem of Goodbye Jumbo. I didn't think Wallinger would play it, especially after one guy yelled out for it three times during one gap between songs. (And no, it wasn't me.) But that dude and I got our wish, and Wallinger sang it with, well, pardon the pun, a whole lot of soul. I think he especially dug into these lines that open the second verse:

"I don't need a body
A body's nobody to me
I'm just a cell
I'm leaving well
When I get you to give me the key."

Welcome back Karl, to your body and soul.

Song of the Week 9/1/06

The Gentlemen - "Through With You"

This song sounds really good when you're really fucking pissed at someone when they blow off meeting you without leaving a message saying they weren't going to meet you and that you can just go into the ballpark and you don't have to fucking stand there for 50 minutes wondering what the fuck the delay is and then when you finally go in and it starts raining and then the people behind you have small children who yell in your ear for an inning and kick your seat repeatedly until you get so fucking fed up you have to get the fuck outta there.

Whew, I feel much better after that run on sentence. At least the Yankees lost.

And man, does this song fucking bring the rock.

Song of the Week 8/25/06

Dan Hartman - "I Can Dream About You"

I must credit the great Jefito Blog for prompting this 1984 summertime hit to get stuck in my brain this week. He wrote a great piece (right here) about this song and made me discover that the version I had from Hartman's somewhat lame best of Keep the Fire Burning was not the version I was used to, it was a lengthy remix. In fact, even the album version (which Jefito had as a download) was not the version played on FLY 92 (Albany's CHR station) when I was 14 year old just making the transition from Top 40 to album rock. It was this version here:



And while doing some research, I discovered that in some parts of the country, it was this version that got played:



I never saw MTV until 1987, but I do remember seeing the top version of the video on the afternoon video show on channel 6. The bottom one (with the different vocal mix and faster tempo) I guess was the one used to promote that weird MTV inspired film Streets of Fire (which did have Diane Lane, and that's always a plus). Oddly enough, the version on the soundtrack is the "hit" one in my mind. Damn, all these different versions are giving me a headache, I must cease and desist writing about it.

I will add that in the summer of 1984, I thought this song was this shit. It's still pretty damn good today.

Ooops?!!?

I recently noticed that I never posted up the playlist for the Trouser Press night Ira and I did back in February. Click here to check it out, and get ready for Trouser Press 101 on September 30th at Magnetic Field.

Co-Songs of the Week 8/17/06

Elton John - "Philadelphia Freedom"



Bruce Springsteen - "New York City Serenade"


"Philadelphia Freedom" may be the only Elton John song left on this planet that I actually like. And during the past two weeks HBO has been running their documentary about Billie Jean King (it's top notch, and worth watching), which of course has segment about World Team Tennis and Elton John and Bernie Taupin writing this song for King's team. After hearing it a few times--and with a trip to Philly for a Mets game coming down the pike--I knew I had to download it and use it for one of the mixes I was making for our excursion.

I've been on a Springsteen kick as the well the past week, and have been especially fixated on tracks (studio and various live versions) from The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. "New York City Serenade" is a gorgeous nine minutes and 55 seconds of song, closing out an entire side of epics. (Side 2 of the 1973 album also features the seven-minute plus cuts "Incident on 57th Street" and "Rosalita.") I was looking to put together a mix disc of New Jersey artists for someone I know moving to the Garden State, and closing it off with this dream-like tale of kids and homeless folk and the "fish lady" in New York wrapped it all up on a great note. And it contains one of my favorite lyrics from the Boss:

"It's midnight in Manhattan, this is no time to get cute
It's a mad dog's promenade
So walk tall or baby don't walk at all."

Indeed.

Song of the Week 8/11/06

The Monkees - "Mary Mary"

I was born after the Monkees TV show went off the air--and I never saw MTV until 1987, long after the video channel had propelled the band's music back into the mainstream. To me, they were a band from the '60s--not a prefab band, just a band that made some good pop hits. This week Rhino is reissuing the band's first two albums--The Monkees and More of the Monkees--in deluxe two disc editions with each album in stereo and mono, along with tons of bonus tracks

These reissues are awesome.

I have listened to "Mary Mary" from More of the Monkees over and over again since I got the reissues on Thursday. I could swear I heard a cover of this song recently, perhaps the past two months, but I just cannot place it. So the original will just have to do.

Song of the Week 8/4/06

Soul Asylum - "Lately"

Thursday night I saw Soul Asylum again. Unlike the last gig a few weeks ago, this was a full on headline set at Irving Plaza. And I'll be damned if they weren't just as good as their show last fall at the Bowery Ballroom. I knew that one of their songs would end up as Song of the Week because I listened to every Soul Asylum track I had in the iPod twice during my commutes this week. And when they broke into the third song of their set, "Lately," I knew that I had found my pick.

"Lately" is perhaps the most topical song Dave Pirner has ever written. Inspired by a story in a local paper about a woman waiting for her husband to come home from Iraq--and to see his child for the first time--Pirner paints a picture that too many families have been going through the past three years. The song especially resonated with me this week, as one of my friends found out that her brother was finally coming home from Iraq just in time to be there for his daughters birthdays. These lines seem especially worth highlighting:

"You gotta bring your soldier home
All those stones have all been thrown
You gotta give a kid a chance to get a look at his kid
And hope that he can live with whatever he did."

The band's performance of "Lately" Thursday night was, simply put, fucking rocking. Dan Murphy made his guitar howl at the end of the song, setting the tone for a night where he was on fire during every song. I went looking on You Tube to see if someone had perhaps posted some footage from the show, but what I found was infinitely more interesting:



I love how today's technology allows anyone to create a video to their own liking and then post it for the whole world to check out.

Song of the Week 7/28/06

Electric Six - "I Buy the Drugs"

Let me make a bold statement:

Electric Six are the best band of the 21st century.

(I told you it was bold.)

Let me rephrase that--Electric Six are the best band that has released albums only in this century. 2003's Fire is a certifiable classic and the follow-up Senor Smoke is almost as good. The band's third album, Switzerland, is due out September 12th. And the four tracks that have streamed on their My Space page have me thinking that we've got a potential album of the year candidate coming in just a few weeks.

"I Buy the Drugs" is the first single. I have been listening to it constantly since I (cough, cough) recorded it off My Space. This week the video made You Tube. So sit back and relax, the Electric Six are going to take you to school:



Singer Dick Valentine may be one of the Top 10 frontman ever in rock. Ever.

(Oh, and the address Valentine sings in the bridge--that's a real address. Google it and you'll find out.)

Steve's Indie Scrapbook 7/28/06

Thanks to all who came down for the second edition of the Scrapbook. Next time, I will reunite with all my old mates in TV Eye. Here's the playlist so you can check out what you might have missed.

The Replacments - "Bastards of Young"
Husker Du - "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely"
Soul Asylum - "Cartoon"
R.E.M. - "Can't Get There From Here"
Social Distortion - "Bad Luck"
Dinosaur Jr. - "The Wagon"
King Missile - "Detachable Penis"
Lemonheads - "Into Your Arms"
Camper Van Beethoven - "Pictures of Matchstick Men"
Guided By Voices - "Teenage FBI"
The Stone Roses - "She Bangs the Drums"
The Clash - "Police on My Back"
Dramarama - "Last Cigarette"
Dead Milkmen - "Bitchin' Camero"
The Smithereens - "Only a Memory"
The Rave-Ups - "Positively Lost Me"
Jesus & Mary Chain - "Just Like Honey"
The Jam - "Beat Surrender"
Franz Ferdinand - "Tell Her Tonight"
Interpol - "PDA"
The Psychedelic Furs - "Dumb Waiters"
Happy Mondays - "Step On"
Big Audio Dynamite - "Just Play Music"
Julian Cope - "Charlotte Anne"
The Fall - "Hit the North"
Guadalcanal Diary - "Always Saturday"
Joe Jackson - "You Can't Get What You Want"
Elvis Costello - "Kinder Murder"
Supergrass - "Alright"
Blur - "Chemical World"
Buffalo Tom - "Summer"
Too Much Joy - "Crush Story"
Scruffy the Cat - "My Baby She's Alright"
The Shins - "So Says I"
Elliott Smith - "L.A."
Nada Surf - "Blankest Year"
Husker Du - "Crystal"
Ramones - "Somebody Put Something in My Drink"
The Raconteurs - "Steady As She Goes"
Oasis - "Slide Away"
The Cult - "Rain"
Love and Rockets - "No New Tale to Tell"
The Cure - "Fascination Street"
Echo & the Bunnymen - "Seven Seas"
Midnight Oil - "Best of Both Worlds"
Electric Six - "Radio Ga Ga"
The Figgs - "Bad Luck Sammie"
Snow Patrol - "Eyes Open"
Wilco - "Monday"
Fountains of Wayne - "Red Dragon Tattoo"
The Go-Go's - "Turn to You"
Weezer - "The Good Life"
They Might Be Giants - "Ana NG"
Icicle Works - "Whisper To A Scream (Birds Fly)"
The Hives - "Main Offender"
Superchunk - "Slack Motherfucker"
The White Stripes - "I Think I Smell a Rat"
Reigning Sound - "Time Bomb High Shcool"
Black Flag - "Six Pack"
The Gravel Pit - "The Ballad of The Gravel Pit"
The Afghan Whigs - "Gentlemen"
The Gentlemen - "Sour Mash"
The Minutemen - "Political Song For Michael Jackson to Sing"
Mudhoney - "Touch Me I'm Sick"
New Pornographers - "Letter From an Occupant"
Romeo Void - "A Girl In Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)"
Juliana Hatfield - "Everybody Loves Me You But You"
Sugarcubes - "Deus"
Bob Mould - "See a Little Light"
The Pogues - "The Ghost of a Smile"
The Pixies - "Gigantic"
Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians - "Balloon Man"
Jeff Who - "Barfly"
Hoodoo Gurus - "What's My Scene"
Mojo Nixon - "Elvis Is Everywhere"
Cake - "I Will Survive"
The Pursuit of Happiness - "I'm An Adult Now"
Talking Heads - "Take Me to the River"
Folk Implosion - "Natural One"
Uncle Tupelo - "Gun"
XTC - "The Mayor of Simpleton"
Matthew Sweet - "Sick of Myself"
World Party - "Way Down Now"
The Strokes - "Reptilia"
Spoon -"Advance Cassette"
Joe Strummer - "Coma Girl"
The Long Winters - "Pushover"
Phantom Planet - "California"
The Posies - "Dream All Day"
Adrian Belew - "Men in Helicopters"
The Bears - "Fear Is Never Boring"
The English Beat - "Save It For Later"
The Specials - "Rudi, A Message to You"
Blondie - "The Tide Is High"
Madness - "It Must Be Love"
The B-52's - "Private Idaho"
Geggy Tah - "Whoever You Are"
The Flaming Lips - "Do You Realize"
The Jam - "Going Underground"

Song of the Week 7/21/06

Nada Surf - "Inside of Love"

So please forgive me for one more week of this musical self-pity party. Next week we'll get back to something lighter, like this or this. Anyways, it's not like I'm worried about turning off or depressing my readership, as 96% of the time I am my own readership. (How egotistical of me, eh?)

Throughout my adult life (for our purposes, let's say since the time I went off to college at age 17) I've always identified with those depressing, "My girl doesn't like me anymore/my girl left me/my love for that girl will always remain unrequited"-type songs. These songs run the gamut from hard rock (The Gentlemen's "When We Broke in Two") to wuss rock (any Coldplay song I ever liked) to somewhere in between (much of the Old 97's catalog). During the past two decades I've never had a song a) strike me as so perfect for my life years after I initially heard it and b) have the lyric pretty much describe the entire story of my romantic life exactly right in just a few verses. This week I discovered just such a song, recorded by three talented guys that live in my borough.

While doing laundry on Monday night I was listening to Nada Surf's great 2005 The Weight is a Gift album (it's well worth buying, trust me). I took a little walk up the hill past Green-Wood Cemetery rocking out to "Do It Again" and "Always Love" and then headed back down when the album hit "Blankest Year." Weight was done long before I got back to the laundromat, so I decided to stay in the Nada section of the iPod and started Let Go. As I got about 10 feet away, "Inside of Love" came on and the first two lines stopped me dead in my tracks. And right there, in front of the Clean Rite on McDonald Ave in Kensington, Brooklyn, the lyrics to "Inside of Love" acted like krazy glue on the bottom of my Chuck Taylors. I couldn't move, I could only listen and be stunned that I had never gotten, never grasped, never sensed, never knew that these five year old lyrics from singer-guitarist Matthew Caws encapsulated my life in the 21st century.

At that moment I couldn't think, felt like I couldn't breath and--perhaps most importantly--couldn't even remember which washer had my clothes. I had to sit down, it was just too much for what was left of my brain and tangled emotions. After a few moments, I gathered myself, put the clothes in the dryer and waited anxiously so I could get home and check the CD booklet just so I could confirm I wasn't insane. (Or better yet, more insane than I already am.)

So now dear reader, I present to you the lyrics that, well, I think were written about me, with my in depth analysis about them:

"Watching terrible T.V.
It kills all thought
Getting spacier than
An astronaut"

In the past three months I've had people (well, these people were mostly bartenders, but not all of them) ask me where I've been hiding on weekends. I've used a combination of spring allergies and being poor as my excuses (and yes, I have been battling both), but that's not the whole truth. Sometimes I would come home from work on a Friday, turn on the T.V., not even eat dinner and curl up on my futon and try to find the stupidest program or movie on to numb my brain so I wouldn't think about how bad I had messed things up, how I would never get certain chances back and how I was going to be eating meals alone until I was 80 (if I was fortunate to live that long). And when Caws sings "It kills all thought," he ain't kidding. I mean, I watched Hitch, Herbie: Fully Loaded and The Pacifier multiple times on these weekends at home. Only Mets games kept a sliver of thought going.


"Making out with people
I hardly know or like
I can't believe what I do
Late at night"

Um, yeah, got this one covered. By my rough estimate, since this century began I have made out with at least 15 (could be more) women after midnight at various bars in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and 75% of them are people I didn't really like, or didn't recall their name, or didn't even care if I ever got their name to try to remember. And yes, there have been too many things that I can't believe I did late at night (sometimes even early in the morning too). I believed that this was just a good way of making up for the lost time I had in college and working upstate. Now, I'm not so sure--I think I just wanted to be a whore for the hell of it. (And the great stories to tell the kids later on in life.)

Then the chorus rolls around:

"I wanna know what it's like
On the inside of love
I'm standing at the gates
I see the beauty above"

Yup. Always on the outside, looking at other folks relationships. Now this part isn't always bad. I have been lucky enough to be there when some great people I know have met and ended up falling deeply in love, and I like seeing people I like be happy. I guess that's the whole beauty line right there.

Onto the second verse:

"Only when we get to see
The aerial view
Will the patterns show
We'll know what to do"

Well, I'm doubtful I'd know what to do. I have done some amazing self-sabotage of potential relationships with that 800 pound monkey on my back. (His name is Mr. Commitment-Phobe, and he likes washing cats for some reason.) Someday I will write a book compiling my greatest hits in this regard, and then I will hit myself over the head repeatedly with this book until I beat some sense into my skull.

"I know the last page so well
I can't read the first
So I just don't start
It's getting worse."

Exactly. I know how this is going to end, how it's ALWAYS going to end, so its just easier making out with or sleeping with the girl whose name I have to get the next day from a bartending friend of mine.

(Not that that has ever happened.)

(Okay, not that it's happened more than once.)

After one more go around on the first chorus, we head to this chorus:

"I wanna know what it's like
On the inside of love
I can't find my way in
I try again and again"

Indeed, I haven't found my way, but that's not for actually trying once in a great while.

"I'm on the outside of love
Always under or above
I can't find my way in
I try again and again"

Yeah, you're right again Mr. Caws. And then a killer change comes in this chorus:

"I'm on the outside of love
Always under or above
Must be a different view
To be a me with a you"

Ah yes, that's what it boils down to--the ability to change. To take those parts of yourself that are emotionally unattractive (or make you look emotionally unstable) to others and either hide them (not the best course of action) or change them because you think that will help deepen a bond with someone. Of course that's a crock--change is only good if you're doing it for yourself, not because it might get you some nookie down the road. And as for someone who can be quite resistant to change, this is most likely my inherent fatal flaw.

"I wanna know what it's like
On the inside of love
I'm standing at the gates
I see the beauty above."

Why is the beauty always above? Does he like 6' 4" women or something?

And then, the kicker:

"I wanna know what it's like
On the inside of love
Of course I'll be alright
I just had a bad night.
I had a bad night."

I have said "I had a bad night" to myself the next day and to others multiple times after various hook-ups. And a bad night doesn't always mean those things "I can't believe what I do late at night"--it also means those times spent babbling about how this girl or that girl of my dreams just doesn't feel the same way. Oh yeah, everybody loves hearing those stories. They can't get enough of them!

So there you go--Steve Reynolds, ages 31 to 36, summed up in song in just four minutes and 58 seconds. Amazing. When I first listened to this album Monday night in front of the Clean-Rite, the play count in my Ipod was 2. After the past 6 days it's up to 26. This may be the first time a Song of the Week has actually helped my mental state and set me on a better path of life.

(Or perhaps send me down a path of stalking the singer of Nada Surf, who knows?)

I swear, next week I will be writing about something like Eddie Murphy's "Party All the Time." Or perhaps Paper Lace. It's summer, and these Songs of the Week should be a little more fun.

Damn you brain and feelings!

Song of the Week 7/14/06

Oasis - "Slide Away"

One of the latest trends in the rock club scene here in hot ol' NYC has been bands covering other folks' albums. It's been the rage at Arlene's Grocery in the East Village for a couple of years now. Friday night the folks at Magnetic Field decided to give it a try for the special occasion of William's birthday. He's one of the owners, he's a man who loves his Pavement and loves dousing himself in beer while on stage for Live Band Karaoke. Yet he surprised me by asking local faves Tide to tackle Oasis's Definitely Maybe. It didn't seem like an album he would like--unlike myself.

Long-time RT20 readers will know of my love for the battling Gallagher brothers, so I need not rehash what I wrote in the 2004 list. I still love this album and was anticipating this gig for a couple of weeks by giving it a few spins in the Ipod. I also listened to Tide's music on their MySpace page during the week and thought that these guys could do a good job because they share some of that same Brit-pop sensibility. And when they kicked into "Rock n' Roll Star" I was not disappointed. It wasn't an Oasis tribute per se--it was a good band (with tons more stage presence than Oasis has ever had) playing a good set of songs. And to get that for free on a Friday night is no small matter nowadays.

"Slide Away" has always been the hidden gem on this album. I liked it when I first became a fan of the band, but my understanding of it has deepened over the years as I've attempted (and always failed) at one relationship after another. And after another successful failure recently (this time by my own withdrawal just before giving it one last shot because it likely would have hurt us both for a long time...sigh), I couldn't wait to sing along with these lines:

"Slide away - and give it all you've got
My today - fell in from the top
I dream of you - and all the things you say
I wonder where you are now?

Hold me down - all the world's asleep
I need you now - you've knocked me off my feet
I dream of you - we talk of growing old
But you said please don't !

Slide in baby - together we'll fly
I've tried praying - and I know just what you're saying to me

Now that you're mine
I'll find a way
Of chasing the sun
Let me be the one that shines with you
In the morning when you don't know what to do

Two of a kind
We'll find a way
To do what we've done
Let me be the one that shines with you
And we can slide away."

Oh yes, I was singing along loudly. Then something rather funny happened. Tide's guitarist Michael Boyd looked up from his ax, stared directly at me, and started nodding and mouthing the words as if he knew exactly why I was screaming along. I discovered afterwards that thankfully he didn't, because then I would have had an X-Files pyschic-type moment, and I certainly didn't want that. Afterwards Boyd and I chatted about the song, and we basically determined that it was fucking awesome. And when I left Magentic Field that night, I listened to it twice more, leaving people on the street wondering just exactly what words I was mouthing along to.

Song of the Week 7/7/06

Fastball - "The Way"

I made my first trip out to Shea Stadium last week and in celebration I put together a playlist of baseball and Mets-related songs (three versions of "Meet the Mets!") to entertain me as I hopped on the 7 train. Obviously I had to include Fastball just for their name. Even though I'm a bigger fan of "Better Than It Was" from All the Pain Money Can Buy, I decided to go with the hit single (get it, single?) "The Way." Eight years and a zillion overplays later, this track still sounds amazing to me. Each note, each instrument, each sample and each harmony is perfectly arranged. If anyone wants to teach a course on what made a great pop-rock song in the late 20th century, they need to look no further.

I ended up listening to my Shea-inspired playlist a few times over the rest of the week--and I think the volume my earbuds reached when "The Way" played took care of what was left of my eardrums. Oh well.

Song of the Week 6/30/06

Soul Asylum - "Stand Up and Be Strong"

Multiple times in the history of the Reynolds Top 20 (and this blog) I’ve written about my love for Soul Asylum. Monday the band added yet another chapter to the glorious history I’ve experienced with their music over the past 17 years.

The band was booked to play at a event at the Hard Rock Cafe for Free FM, the talk radio successor to the former Howard Stern station K-Rock. Everything about this event made me have flashback to my own radio days--and why I quit. Some of the highlights included: interns who didn't know what they were doing; a contest where male listeners had to sing Aerosmith songs with a dildo in their mouth; and a homemade bikini contest.

(Shudder.)

The topper of all of this was when the host of the shindig, "The Radio Chick," came out and basically asked her fans to not boo Soul Asylum when they went on. Yeah, that's how great this crowd was--and it didn't faze the band one bit. When Dave Pirner sang the line "All is well here in hell" (from The Silver Lining's "All Is Well") and then proceeded to point at the crowd in a very subtle way, I knew that they didn't give a fuck. They just wanted to play for themselves. Pirner and Dan Murphy rocked with wild abandon, while drummer Michael Bland hit the drums as if they had personally offended him. To perform a show this great with a crowd that could care less (and thinned as their hour-long set went on) was just a testament to the greatness of this band.

Then something funny happened when they broke into "Stand Up and Be Strong," the first single from The Silver Lining. I swear, people started listening. Something about this anthem (perhaps the first positive song Pirner has ever written) hooked a few folks standing around me. Their heads started bobbing, and I'm pretty sure I saw someone else pump their fist. And it's hard not to be hooked by this song. The studio version is one of the band's best songs post-Grave Dancer's Union, but live it takes on this huge life of its own. Just before the last chorus, the band stops so it's just Pirner and his guitar. He then sings "Stand up and be...stand up and beeeee," and then the rest of the band kicks back in, and it's perhaps one of the most life-affirming, fist-pumping, fuck you everyone that has screwed me over the years moments in music.

Ever.

Seriously--it's that great of a moment. The band is going to be on Leno July 10th doing this song, and I suggest you watch it and prepare for the chills to run down your spine when they get to that part.

Song of the Week 6/23/06

Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - "This Is Us"

I was fortunate enough to luck into a pair of most excellent seats (special thanks to Aerosmith for making Sal go to Boston) for Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris at Radio City Music Hall Thursday night. Their duets album All the Roadrunning hadn't really caught my ear yet, but I figured Knopfler usually doesn't disappoint and Emmylou is, well, Emmylou, so how could I turn down an opportunity to see this show?

The stage was set for a good night when the lovely A.B. and I met my friend Hank and his pal George for drinks across the street from Radio City. We had a blast drinking Indian River Light; playing with the little buzzer they give you while waiting for a table; and trying not to laugh at the tall dude with the porno moustache--and shirt. (WOW.)

As we entered the venue, A.B. told me she had never been in Radio City, which I'm sure I could have eventually figured out as she looked around in wonder at what is easily New York's most beautiful music venue. It's funny how jaded -- or perhaps better put -- how accustomed I've become to what the inside of all the venues look like. Watching her was like discovering the theater again for the first time.

The show started out a little rough (especially vocal mix-wise) but settled down after a few tunes. When Knopfler pulled out the Dire Straits classic "Romeo and Juliet," it was, in a word, breathtaking. I think I even saw A.B. get a bit misty during that one. Heck, I thought I was going to get a bit misty. And then when Knopfler and Harris started singing "This is Us" -- the first single from All the Roadrunning -- something clicked. I thought, "Holy crap, this song is great, this show is great, this is one of the best nights I've had all year, I need to listen to this album more and this song every day." As if to emphasize that point, after that song was over A.B. leaned into me and said, "I really like that song."

Yup, me too.

(P.S. -- Click the link on "This Is Us" at the top of the page for a European tour bootleg version of the song. Or click here for the entire set)

Song of the Week 6/16/06

The Isley Brothers - "Summer Breeze"

Summer is really here. Temps in the 90s; thoughts of putting the A/C unit in my bedroom window; listening to tons of Beach Boys on my day off on Friday; sweating in a theater and drinking more beer because of it. So much beer was drank (nothing like a 40 of Tecate to make local theater better) that I started singing "Summer Breeze" outside the theater when I felt a little cooling wind. Then I come into work today and while cruising through some music blogs I found this cover.

OH.

MY.

GOD.

BEST.

COVER.

EVER.

Download it now while you can (follow the link above). You won't be disappointed.

Song of the Week 6/9/06

Bruce Hornsby and The Grateful Dead - "The Valley Road (Live)"

I spent much of the week listening through the upcoming Hornsby box set Intersections 1985-2005 in hopes that I'd be getting him for an interview for work. Alas, that looks like it won't happen. The four disc/one DVD set is heavy on previously unreleased live tracks, including this one representation of Hornsby's time as a member of the Grateful Dead. I was a fan of Hornsby's until the mid 90s when he started moving away from the tighter songs structures of his first three albums. That's why I'm so surprised at how much I love this Deadafied rearrangement. Hornsby, Jerry Garcia and other keyboardist Vince Welnick (RIP) nail some great three part harmonies; Garcia rips off a classic solo; and the whole band just basically kicks the shit out of this song. They sound like they're having a ton of fun backing Hornsby here, and it makes me regret not going to see the band during his brief tenure in the beyboard seat.

(For those who might care, Intersections is in stores July 25th.)

Song of the Week 6/2/06

Egghead. - "Donna's Always Mad at Me"

I saved Egghead. and tons of Neil Young for the end of "Listen to Everything in My Itunes" project. (I finished this morning, finally.) Egghead. was a band comprised of three of my best friends in the world -- singer-guitarist Mike Galvin (a.k.a. Johnny Reno), singer-bassist John Bowie and drummer Mike Faloon. Part of my reason for moving to New York was so I could see them play more often. They played smart punk/power-pop songs, were lots and lots of fun to see and pretty much were always in my musical thoughts. Heck, I wrote liner notes for their posthumous compilation Dumb Songs For Smart People -- and even produced a limited edition box set of their six year career with a really big booklet that took a lot of time to figure out how to copy correctly.

"Donna's Always Made at Me" was instantly one of my favorite songs when I first heard it. (I think in 1994 at an Ithaca gig? Or was in it 1995 at Spiral? Someone help me out in the comments.) And hearing it in its studio and live versions over the past week was like welcoming an old friend back home, one that was a bit less jaded and had a lot less damage done to his liver and couldn't stop smiling and laughing at every Egghead. show.

I paid a lot to see the Pixies reunite--I'd pay a lot more for one more Egghead. show.

Song of the Week 5/26/06

Frank Zappa - "I'm the Slime (Live)"

My neverending project to listen to every song on my IPod is down to the last 300 or so tunes. This past week I have been ripping through the last of the "F" section, which is all Frank Zappa. When I came upon Zappa in New York, I wondered to myself why I had put this live album on here. Then "I'm the Slime" blasted into my ears on the train ride home, and I knew why. This version features Zappa doing the song normally, and then just before the bridge he yells, "Take it away Don Pardo!" Then Saturday Night Live announcer Pardo recites some of the song's best lines, in his over-the-top manner that can best be described as side splitting:

"You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't go for help...no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold."

Then throughout the rest of the song when Zappa sings "I am the slime," Pardo yells, "No I'M THE SLIME! I'M THE SLIME!" It's priceless. Perhaps the funniest moment in my IPod.

Song of the Week 5/19/06

Harry Nilsson - "You're Breakin' My Heart"

I first heard this song on Howard Stern ages ago. Well, that's not correct--I only heard the biting chorus on Stern, and nothing else from the song until this week when Legacy sent out copies of the remastered Son of Schmilsson. It's hard not to love a song that's so incredibly catchy, but could never get airplay due to one of George Carlin's dirty words:

"You're breakin' my heart
You're tearin' it apart
So fuck you."

Just brilliant.

Song of the Week 5/12/06

Guns N' Roses - "Welcome to the Jungle"

Friday afternoon I continued my draining effort to listen to everything in my ITunes by visiting the "G" section, and cranking up Appetite for Destruction. It seemed appropriate with the Axl Rose-led lineup in town for four shows. And then Friday night I was at one of my favorite Brooklyn places, Sample, and I was telling the bartender Adam how I had to work the next to write up a story about GNR's first show. And he was like, "GNR is in town? Who's in the band? And when can I get your Ipod so I can play Appetite?" After some whiskey, I gave in, and soon "Welcome" was blasting into my ears ago.

I suppose with a full moon and hearing "Jungle" twice, I should have known things would get weird Friday night. Let's just say that at one point I thought, "I need to run out of this bar..." and leave it at that.

Steve's Indie Scrapbook 5/6/06

Thanks to all that attended my first scrapbook at Magnetic Field. I have never gotten so many compliments in an hour of spinning as I did during the first hour Saturday night. Here's the playlist for those who can't remember the night.

Replacements - “Alex Chilton”
Dinosaur Jr. - “Start Choppin’”
Dead Milkmen - “Punk Rock Girl”
Spoon - “Sister Jack”
R.E.M. - “Begin the Begin”
Social Distortion - “Ball and Chain”
L7 - “Pretend We’re Dead”
Sugar - “Helpless”
Husker Du - “Could You Be the One”
Weezer - “Why Bother”
Julian Cope - “World Shut Your Mouth”
Guided By Voices - “Bulldog Skin”
Soul Asylum - “Sometime to Return”
The Cult - “Love Removal Machine”
Pixies - “Head On”
The Minus 5 - “Dear My Inspiration”
Lemonheads - “It’s a Shame About Ray”
Hoodoo Gurus - “Like Wow-Wipeout”
Public Image Limited - “Public Image”
The Smithereens - "A Girl Like You”
Buffalo Tom - “Soda Jerk”
Matthew Sweet - “Girlfriend”
The Pogues - “Sunnyside of the Street”
The Godfathers - “Birth, School, Work, death”
Scruffy the Cat - “Bus Named Desire”
The Zambonis - “Hockey Monkey”
Urge Overkill - “Sister Havana”
The White Stripes - “Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl)”
Big Audio Dynamite - “E=MC2”
Dead Kennedys - “California Uber Alles”
The Clash - “Know Your Rights”
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down”
Old 97’s - “Time Bomb”
Wilco - “Nothingeveregonnastandinmyway(again)”
????? - “?????????” (Can’t read my own handwriting, dammit)
The Figgs - “Wasted Pretty”
Eels - “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man (Live)”
The Gentlemen - “Top Heavy”
Electric Six - “Gay Bar”
The Bears - “Fear Is Never Boring”
Brendan Benson - “Spit It Out”
The Waterboys - “The Whole of the Moon”
Guided By Voices - “Chasing Heather Crazy”
Oasis - “Rock n’ Roll Star”
The Replacements - “I’ll Be You”
Cracker - “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)”
Ramones - “I Believe in Miracles”
Blur - “Parklife”
Elliott Smith - “Baby Britain”
Tahiti 80 - “Heartbeat”
Gnarls Barkley - “Crazy”
Talking Heads - “Nothing But Flowers”
Minutemen - “This Ain’t No Picnic”
Pavement - “Cut Your Hair”
Jenny Lewis - “Handle With Care”
Death Cab For Cutie - “Crooked Teeth”
The Decemberists - “July, July”
Ben Folds Five - “Alice Childress”
World Party - “She’s the One”
Fountains of Wayne - “Radiation Vibe”
Old 97s - “Rollerskate Skinny”
Radiohead - “The Bends”
The Shins - “Caring is Creepy”
Liz Phair - “Never Said”
Spoon - “Everything Hits at Once
The La’s - “There She Goes”
Morrissey - “Suedehead”
New Order - “Regret”
Peter Murphy - “Cuts You Up”
Charlatans UK - “The Only One I know”
Crowded House - “Something So Strong”
The Flaming Lips - “Race For the Prize”
Cake - “Satan Is My Motor”
Billy Bragg & Wilco - “California Stars”
Young Fresh Fellows - “No One Really Knows”
XTC - “Mayor of Simpleton”
The Figgs - “Said Enough”
Nada Surf - “Always Love”
Talking Heads - “Love > Building on Fire”
B-52’s - “Summer of Love”
db’s - “Love Is for Lovers”
Bright Eyes - “Lover I Don’t need to Love”
Madness - “It Must Be Love”
Calexico/Iron & Wine - “History of Lovers”
Josh Rouse - “Love Vibration”
Wilco - “I’m Always in Love”
Jeff Buckley - “Lover You Should Have Come Over”

Song of the Week 5/5/06

Pearl Jam - "World Wide Suicide"

I am finally warming up to the new self-titled Pearl Jam album. This song, I loved instantly. It's the best single the band has released since "Given to Fly," and it flat out rocks. And the fact that a song takes a jab at our current political leaders has gotten this much airplay is somewhat comforting.

But seriously, what's the deal with the avacado?

Song of the Week 4/28/06

Rihanna - "SOS"

Dear lord, will there be anything catchier than this song this year? Whoever decided to use Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" as the sample for the song is a pure production genius. I listen to it once, I want to listen to it again. As a co-worker said, "It sounds like a mash-up of two really good songs."

Of note--this is the youngest artist (18 as of February) to garner Song of the Week honors. I will now go bang my head against the wall next to my desk.

Song of the Week 4/21/06

George Harrison - "Cheer Down"

I have sold a lot of CDs over the years to a) pay for beer; b) pay for moving to New York; c) to pay for vodka; d) to clear space out of my tiny apartment and e) to pay off my credit card debt. The biggest regret I have in selling discs over the past 13 years is selling George Harrison's Best of Dark Horse 1976-1989. At the time I sold it to my co-worker Sal I had no idea it was out of print, and worth much more than the 7 bucks I sold it for. I kicked myself a few times (especially when Harrison passed away in 2001), but when we reported that his back catalog was being remastered I was happy. I became very upset when that remastering did not include the three new songs that were on Best of Dark Horse. "Poor Little Girl" and "Cockamamie Business" are good songs, considering they were recorded specifically for the compilation. And "Cheer Down," well, that's one of my favorite Harrison solo songs ever. It came out a few months before the compilation on the soundtrack to Lethal Weapon 2. That summer was my first away from home, as I worked at the college station in Ithaca. I listened to a lot of music that summer when I was not on the air, and I couldn't get enough of "Cheer Down."

Finally this week I asked Sal if he could bring Best of Dark Horse back in so I could burn it into my Itunes. He just so happened to have it in his desk, so I snatched it and walked briskly to my computer. A few minutes later I was never so happy to hear the slide guitar of George Harrison. Pardon the cliche, but cheering down never cheered me up so much.

Exposed! The Grandmother of Sammy Hagar and Rhea Perlman

She's not really, she's just an 87 year old granny who happened to be a convicted murderer who eluded police for THREE DECADES.

Brings a new meaning to "It's About Time." Turn your clocks back!

Song of the Week 4/14/06

Dio - "Rainbow in the Dark"

I wrote two stories last week that were about Ronnie James Dio. That's about two more stories than I write in a whole year about Ronnie James Dio. The metal midget (seriously, he's about 5' 2") had his wife put out a statement that he wasn't reuniting with Black Sabbath this year, and in fact, he was going to be out promoting his new Holy Diver Live album. Yes, it's that classic 1983 album, done live. Whew, talk about the well running dry.

In any case, I listened to the three Dio songs I have on my Ipod on the way back to Brooklyn Friday night and eventually found myself in Great Lakes. This was the first indie rock bar in Park Slope, so you expect to hear Death Cab for Cutie, Pixies, punk, etc. So I was a bit stunned when "Rainbow in the Dark" came blasting out of the jukebox. And what was even funnier is that some guy all the way at the front of the bar started singing along as loud as I did (well, as loud as I wanted to--that dude was loud). Raising up the devil horns (pictured above) never felt so good.

Song of the Week 4/7/06

Josh Rouse - "Winter in the Hamptons"

Moria the concert pal and I went to see Josh Rouse last night at Town Hall in Manhattan. It was a good show, yet kind of odd because Rouse made a big deal about having a string quartet tour with him, but he only used them on six or seven songs during a 95-minute set. It seemed as though he could have gotten more of his money's worth.

In any case, when he led the crowd into a sing-along of "Winter in the Hamptons," I started focusing on the lyrics, and a couple of lines really struck me as perfect for the way I feel right now:

"Here we go, singing our songs with our soul
The winter has gone, where do we belong
We have stayed too long"

It's been a long winter, indeed. (I"m not talking weather-wise.) And singing along with Rouse and the crowd at Town Hall felt good. Singing along with a song that has somehow mapped a direct link to your soul (or whatever it is inside us) makes some of the stress that life brings melt away.

Or maybe it was the six pints of Rolling Rock, whatever.

Co-Song of the Week 3/31

Young Fresh Fellows - "Hillbilly Drummer Girl"


Tina Turner - "Better Be Good to Me"


I've rarely had two such diverse songs dominate one week like this. The Tina story is easy--somehow my-coworker Doug brought up "Better Be Good to Me" in one of our stupid conversations that dominate our days. Of course, I immediately downloaded the track and cranked it up. And when Doug did his own Tina impression, I knew we had a winner. We listened to the song every day at work--and fruitlessly looked for the video where Tina just rips it up on stage somewhere. Damn, she was hot for a 60 (maybe older?) year old woman in 1984.

"Hillbilly Drummer Girl" is a bit of a longer tale. This week I saw two shows from The Minus 5, the group led by Young Fresh Fellows frontman Scott McCaughey. Scott started this band 13 years ago as a vehicle for his non-Fellows material and stocked it with a rotating cast of musicians. Within the past five years, he's solidified the lineup to an amazing four piece--Peter Buck on bass, John Ramberg on guitar and vocals and Bill Rieflin on drums. I've seen this lineup perform four times, and those shows are easily the best out of the nine Minus 5 gigs I've made it to.

Their two shows this week were two of the best concerts I imagine I'll attend this year. The second show at the Mercury Lounge was slightly better for one reason. (Well, two reasons if you count the smoking guest appearance by Lenny Kaye on guitar.) Scott walked up to the mic at one point and said, "This next song is a cover. It's by one of the best bands you'll ever see, and this song is probably one of the best you'll hear this year." Then McCaughey kicked off that killer riff that starts off "Hillbilly Drummer Girl." I started jumping up and down, screaming "yeah, YEAH!" All of the people around me at the front of the stage gave me some extra space for the rest of the show after that little display. And then two people came up and asked me, "Who does that song originally?" "Ugh," I thought, "How could these people not one of the best Fellows songs ever?" After the show was over I went up to Scott, gave him a hug and thanked him for breaking out that song, telling him he had no idea what it meant to me.

Now the Minus 5 have covered a Fellows song before--"I'm Not Bitter" from Down With Wilco was first on a rare Fellows LP--but I never expected this song to ever make a Minus 5 set. Hey, the Fellows have played New York three times in the past 12 years, so I'll take what I can get. And for it to be this song, well, it's almost too much.

I discovered the Fellows in college, really dug playing them throughout my time on 92 WICB and even played songs from them on my "alternative" show in Syracuse from 1992 to 1995. After moving to New York, I sort of forgot about them until I discovered my co-worker Jodie was a huge fan. One week we preceded to go on a Fellows spree, buying all the albums we didn't own, playing them at work, annoying our co-workers all the way. All these years later, whenever I hear "Hillbilly Drummer Girl," I think of her and the crazy, mixed-up and (once in a while) most perfect times in my life. (It also doesn't hurt that The Figgs recorded a cover of "Hillbilly Drummer Girl," making it even more appealing to my ears.)

The past few months I've been going through another emotional rollercoaster that makes me think back to those times almost a decade ago. So having the Minus 5 play this silly song about a female drummer going to Memphis on Tuesday night somehow how brought it all together. I'm not sure if it was relief, sadness over what could have been, sadness that what I hope for in the present day I know will never happen or just the extreme lack of sleep I've had all this year due to stress on all sorts of fronts, but during those three plus minutes Scott was singing and the band was rocking, it all melted away. I felt like that college kid again; I felt like that guy who had been in New York for a year and unexpectedly stumbled upon love; I felt like that guy from last summer who was cheerful to be around and truly enjoyed life for the first time in years. I felt good. I don't think I could adequately explain to Scott (who I feel lucky enough to be friendly with) how much his music has meant to me over the past decade, or how much that performance of "Hillbilly Drummer Girl" meant to the healthiness of my soul. But who knows, maybe that brief sweaty post-show hug said it all.