And All the While Graham Dreamed On...
Who couldn't use a little XTC for a Monday morning?
In rotation: 9/20/19
4 hours ago
Monday, September 17, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Thank You For Being a Facebook Friend
Stranded Dirty & Branded
A couple of years ago, I became Facebook friends with Andrew Gold.
(I'd never met him, but one of my real-life friends was friends with him, so I sent him a request and a note about how much I always enjoyed his 1980 album Whirlwind. I guess people usually only talked to him about "Thank You For Being a Friend" or "Lonely Boy," so maybe whenever anyone knew anything else about him, he was thrilled. But really, his career was pretty deep. He played nearly all the instruments on Art Garfunkel's cover of "I Only Have Eyes for You" in 1975 and 4 years earlier, helped engineer Joni Mitchell's Blue. In any event, he accepted my friend request. He may even have written on my wall.)
And then, he died. A little over a year ago, in June. In his sleep, at age 59.
And a few weeks later, I logged onto Facebook. Which told me that 4 of my friends had a birthday. So I wrote messages on 3 walls.
But the 4th was Andrew Gold.
And I literally stopped still in my tracks, trying to figure out what the proper etiquette is for the Facebook wall of someone whose work you admired, who accepted your Facebook friend request (perhaps in a moment of weakness), but whom you never knew, and now he's dead.
It's a First-World problem for the digital age.
By 1980, Andrew Gold's days of being a chart-topping solo artist were pretty much over. He was invited to join 10cc, but couldn't for business reasons. So he later joined a group with Graham Gouldman of 10cc called Wax.
You could argue that Gold should have stayed with the soft-rock singer-songwriter stuff he was known for. You could say he should have just silently admired New Wave music without feeling he had to try the style himself.
You could say all that.
And you could be right.
Still, years later I heard this song. In the middle of the night. Playing on a college station. While I was driving through New Hampshire. And I found a phone, called the station, learned who it was, and hunted down the record.
Sure, the lyrics are a bit strained. And the production has that early 80s gloss that hasn't aged well.
But every time I hear it, I'm right back in New Hampshire. At 3:00am. Looking for a phone booth.
But Facebook has no emoticon for that...
(Bonus points for the loud needle drop and surface noise on this clip)
A couple of years ago, I became Facebook friends with Andrew Gold.
(I'd never met him, but one of my real-life friends was friends with him, so I sent him a request and a note about how much I always enjoyed his 1980 album Whirlwind. I guess people usually only talked to him about "Thank You For Being a Friend" or "Lonely Boy," so maybe whenever anyone knew anything else about him, he was thrilled. But really, his career was pretty deep. He played nearly all the instruments on Art Garfunkel's cover of "I Only Have Eyes for You" in 1975 and 4 years earlier, helped engineer Joni Mitchell's Blue. In any event, he accepted my friend request. He may even have written on my wall.)
And then, he died. A little over a year ago, in June. In his sleep, at age 59.
And a few weeks later, I logged onto Facebook. Which told me that 4 of my friends had a birthday. So I wrote messages on 3 walls.
But the 4th was Andrew Gold.
And I literally stopped still in my tracks, trying to figure out what the proper etiquette is for the Facebook wall of someone whose work you admired, who accepted your Facebook friend request (perhaps in a moment of weakness), but whom you never knew, and now he's dead.
It's a First-World problem for the digital age.
By 1980, Andrew Gold's days of being a chart-topping solo artist were pretty much over. He was invited to join 10cc, but couldn't for business reasons. So he later joined a group with Graham Gouldman of 10cc called Wax.
You could argue that Gold should have stayed with the soft-rock singer-songwriter stuff he was known for. You could say he should have just silently admired New Wave music without feeling he had to try the style himself.
You could say all that.
And you could be right.
Still, years later I heard this song. In the middle of the night. Playing on a college station. While I was driving through New Hampshire. And I found a phone, called the station, learned who it was, and hunted down the record.
Sure, the lyrics are a bit strained. And the production has that early 80s gloss that hasn't aged well.
But every time I hear it, I'm right back in New Hampshire. At 3:00am. Looking for a phone booth.
But Facebook has no emoticon for that...
(Bonus points for the loud needle drop and surface noise on this clip)
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
More Than All the Derelict Cars
Somewhere in Grow-A-Mustache-Land
Paige played drums.
We were supposedly in love. (We didn't know what that meant -- we were 8.)
So we did what all eight-year-olds did. We started a band.
Paige would play drums, of course.
Danny would play bass. (I'm not sure why.)
I'd play guitar. Electric guitar.
There was someone else, but I don't remember who it was. (We were 8.) Or what they played. If anything.
Now, Danny didn't know how to play bass. Or even what a bass was.
And I certainly couldn't play the guitar. (Did I mention we were 8?) Even if I could play guitar, my parents never would've gotten me an electric guitar -- they barely let me turn lights on and off and would've convinced themselves I'd electrocute myself when I plugged in the amp.
But we had a name. It was a stupid name -- a pun on the name of the town we were from.
And we had a logo. Danny drew it and it looked really cool. (Well, cool for when you're 8, anyway.)
Paige wanted to paint the logo on her bass drum. But her Mom wouldn't let her.
She thought we should learn songs first. Or at least get instruments.
Her Mom was officially no fun.
More importantly, we were 8.
And who knew at age 8 where the hell you even go to get an electric guitar.
The band broke up the next year. Over artistic differences. (Paige decided she wasn't in love with me anymore. She was in love with Danny. Danny was in love with playing baseball.)
If only we'd stayed together, we would've been huge.
If we had instruments. And learned to play them. And were any good.
Huge. (Or whatever the 8-year-old equivalent is.)
Paige played drums.
We were supposedly in love. (We didn't know what that meant -- we were 8.)
So we did what all eight-year-olds did. We started a band.
Paige would play drums, of course.
Danny would play bass. (I'm not sure why.)
I'd play guitar. Electric guitar.
There was someone else, but I don't remember who it was. (We were 8.) Or what they played. If anything.
Now, Danny didn't know how to play bass. Or even what a bass was.
And I certainly couldn't play the guitar. (Did I mention we were 8?) Even if I could play guitar, my parents never would've gotten me an electric guitar -- they barely let me turn lights on and off and would've convinced themselves I'd electrocute myself when I plugged in the amp.
But we had a name. It was a stupid name -- a pun on the name of the town we were from.
And we had a logo. Danny drew it and it looked really cool. (Well, cool for when you're 8, anyway.)
Paige wanted to paint the logo on her bass drum. But her Mom wouldn't let her.
She thought we should learn songs first. Or at least get instruments.
Her Mom was officially no fun.
More importantly, we were 8.
And who knew at age 8 where the hell you even go to get an electric guitar.
The band broke up the next year. Over artistic differences. (Paige decided she wasn't in love with me anymore. She was in love with Danny. Danny was in love with playing baseball.)
If only we'd stayed together, we would've been huge.
If we had instruments. And learned to play them. And were any good.
Huge. (Or whatever the 8-year-old equivalent is.)
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
And Starring Martha as the Dog
Where the Holy Sheepdogs Go
Can't get this song out of my mind today:
This song always seemed unfinished to me. Great hook, but sections that he never bothered to flesh out.
Yet that song got released...
And this one stayed in the vaults:
Go figure.
Can't get this song out of my mind today:
This song always seemed unfinished to me. Great hook, but sections that he never bothered to flesh out.
Yet that song got released...
And this one stayed in the vaults:
Go figure.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Your Antidote to the Political Conventions
Whether you lean left or right, I hope you can rock this hard when you're 73:
(And judging from the synthesizer, I'm guessing Ian wants to pick Pete Townsend as his running mate...)
Monday, September 3, 2012
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