The World Spins On Regardless

Best Mick Jagger Impression Ever

Lots of people have been talking this week about how great Mick Jagger was on the season finale of Saturday Night Live last weekend.

Which reminded me of when Mick put out his first solo album. And I heard "Private Revolution" by World Party and was convinced it was Mick Jagger.

These days, no one remembers Mick's solo work.

But I'm still listening to World Party.

(And yeah, that's Sinead O'Connor singing backup in the video. But most everything else on the record came from Karl Wallinger -- despite the stop-motion photography and the "band" playing under the tree...)

Double Kick Drum By the River In the Summer

Playing Kiss Covers

The railroad bridge wasn't in use anymore.

But there was a small park.

And a friend of mine had rented a room on the top floor of an apartment building on a hill.

It looked over the park. And a river. Or maybe an inlet. Or an isthmus. Or a channel.

In any case, it overlooked the water.

And one weekend there was a block party. With loud bands playing songs everyone knew.

The bands weren't good.

But they were okay.

And one by one, the neighbors came out into the street.

It wasn't officially closed, but someone had traffic cones. And someone else had a sawhorse.

And they blocked off two blocks. By the water.

Hibachis followed. And small charcoal barbecues. And coolers with beer.

And we wondered around for hours. Everyone wanted to feed us. Everyone wanted to drink with us.

All the immigrant girls with the home-dyed blonde hair wanted to talk to us.

It was fantastic.

And then, as if on cue, everything shut down. People cleaned up. Families took away the sawhorse and the cones.

The bands packed their gear.

10 minutes later, the cops arrived. Said they were investigating a report of an illegally closed street. A block party with no permits.

And the blonde girls flirted. The cops could smell barbecue but could see nothing.

So they left.

And the street seemed normal again.

Except the neighbors all smiled at each other. As if they shared a secret.

Which, I guess, they did.

Searching for Some Kind of Elusive Truth

I Guess No One Can Imagine A Future Anymore

The moon-faced girl with the imaginary friends glided through the hotel lobby.

She was on her way somewhere, imagining her life. I caught her eye for a second.

And that was all it took. She had it all planned.

The who, what, where, and when.

But it didn't lead anywhere. It wasn't any fun. It wouldn't help her. Or anyone.

And later, when I met her through a friend and we went to the see the fireworks on the Fourth of July, she couldn't remember the hotel. Or the plans she made. Or the places she wanted to go.

But I knew.

And that knowledge wasn't something that came lightly. Or something I could forget about easily.

And that made all the difference.

Bonus World Groove

God's Gonna Love Ya... 'Cause God's Pretty Funky

The B-side of World Party's hit song "Ship of Fools" (in the U.S. anyway) was a great 60s-style organ groove track called "World Groove (Do the Mind Guerilla)." It wasn't on their first record and wasn't a bonus track when the album came out on CD.

It wasn't available on CD until about a month ago, when it surfaced on Arkeology, a 70-track collection of unreleased tracks, B-sides, demos, and live recordings.

And now it's on YouTube, ripped from vinyl.

So enjoy:



And I've always liked to think that the lyrics here are a nod to John Lennon's "Mind Games" song, which talks about "playing the mind guerilla, chanting the mantra peace on Earth."

Go Here, Read This, Listen to That

Rare, Unavailable, and Hard to Find has video of World Party at a local Record Store Day event.

There are a couple of great Peter Yarrow (from Peter Paul & Mary) posts up at Echoes In the Wind (here and here).

And JB from The Hits Just Keep on Comin' eulogizes Donna Summer. As does Holly from The Song In My Head Today.

And finally, Barely Awake in Frog Pajamas talks indie record stores & mall girls.

Craigslist Ads And the New Wave Songs That Love Them #12

The World Makes Its Rotations

You were in Griffith Park, endlessly spinning around until you fell down.

I asked if you were okay an you smiled and said I should spin with you.

I couldn't because I was on medication.

But the medication is done. So I'm ready to spin.

Meet me in the same place. Sunday at noon.

East Side Story Squeezed Down

31 Years Ago

The original plan was for a sprawling double album that genre-hopped (in the same way the White Album had down 13 years earlier).

Each side would have a different producer: Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, and Paul McCartney.

But the Edmunds and Lowe sessions each produced one track and Paul McCartney begged off to do his own album.

So Costello mostly produced the sprawling genre-hopping record that squoze down to the amazing single-record classic East Side Story.

Still, I can't help but wonder what might have happened if Squeeze and McCartney had actually gotten together -- especially since the press was tripping over itself to declare Difford & Tilbrook the new Lennon & McCartney.

Guess we'll never know.

So I'll have to be content with this: