"Are You Gonna Record This?"

Twenty years ago today (don't ask me why I know this), I bought my first album by The Cure, Wish. Before Wish, I thought they were cheesy as hell, mainly because I thought they looked ridiculous. I usually threw around some other pejoratives too..."goth," "depressing," "80s."

But...after actually LISTENING to The Cure's music, I realized Robert Smith consistently wrote some of the best melodies from the post-punk era through the early 90s, and happily, most of these songs still hold up today. (I mean, have you heard how good their b-sides are?)

If you've resisted their music for the same reasons that my younger self did, I'd encourage you to give The Cure another chance. Enjoy.

One Andrew Pettitte

Andy Pettitte pitching what will probably be his last minor league rehab start before NY calls him up. (Empire State Yankees v. Pawtucket Red Sox, Frontier Field, Rochester, NY.)

To my knowledge, Jim in Fall River was not in the stands that day. Listen:

Life's Rich Pageant

What a day of sports contrasts: grief over Junior Seau, relief for the NY Rangers, joy for Jered Weaver. And life goes on, strange and poignant as ever.

Stay classy, Queens.

Gushing With Excitement

Posted this to Facebook the night it happened, but forgot to upload here. Back on January 4, I watched the driver of an SUV do this in Oakland. That's her and her friend walking around the vehicle. Whoops.

Did Billy Joel Crash Into Ron Rosenbaum's House?

I'll be more charitable than the author of this piece and say this: Billy Joel's music isn't bad, it's just been presented in the wrong context. Hear me out.

He's always belonged in musical theater, with all its hammy, melodramatic, inoffensive goofiness. He could have been the heir to Andrew Lloyd Webber, and he'd probably have a healthier fan-to-hater ratio. Why did it take so long for Movin' Out to happen? He's right in his wheelhouse with that stuff (see video above).

In the pop/rock/Top 40 world, BJ's music always came across as somewhat out of place. Like I used to say, it isn't bad, it's just pop music for people who don't like pop music.

SIDE NOTE #1:
My guess is the author was also trying to be somewhat humorous about his hatred. Besides, he gets paid to stir the pot, so to speak.

SIDE NOTE #2: The title of the post refers to this (my favorite Billy Joel moment and headline).

Fear of Pop (Ben Folds ft. William Shatner) - "In Love" (Live on Conan, 1999)

A lost classic. "At puberty, I was sworn to secrecy by the International Brotherhood of Lying Fickle Males..."

Side note: I think the origins of Shatner's The Practice / Boston Legal character, Denny Crane, might be found in this song...

Signs You Probably Had A Great Life

#37: Your pic is on the ladies' room door at Liverpool Lil's in San Francisco, and you have your own bus depot in Queens.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "Lucy" (1990)

This might just be one of the greatest songs of all time, whatever that means. If you only know Nick Cave's noisier work, the warmth and tenderness of this tune comes as a surprise. Anyway, great lyric and melody, heartfelt performance (probably somewhat MacGowan-inspired)...and stick around for the harmonica in the 2nd half. Trust me.

Home (Pt. 2)

Home (Pt. 1)

Star Collector

Sure, the public saw him as a pop star and teen pinup, but man, no one played rock tambourine like Davy Jones. (And this song features one of Davy's best Monkee vocals too). Rest in peace, Mr. Jones.

Not Available at Their Online Store

Found: an infamous White Elephant party gift from my Google days, which I gave to an unsuspecting co-worker, who then regifted it for my birthday the following year. I was going for the most tasteless, weird and inappropriate stuff, short of anything sexual, that I could find. I succeeded.

Contents (L-R): hollandaise sauce, box of fuses, pack of smokes, anchovies. 

So Long, Kid

Gary Carter: absolutely one of my favorite ballplayers as a child. Energetic, confident, and a great offensive & defensive catcher in the Berra/Bench mold. One of the best and most fun to watch on that '86 Mets team with all its characters.

As for the above video, I had never seen this, and for some reason didn't remember how great his final Mets home at-bat was (nor that it was also Keith Hernandez's last home game as a Met). Poignant and joyous stuff. Today's a sad day for baseball. R.I.P. Kid.

The Clash - "Straight To Hell" (1982)

An old favorite. Been playing this (and the unedited 7-minute version) several times over the last few days. A fitting epitaph for the last days of The Clash (if you don't count "This Is England").

Whitney

Music snobs and macho fools: get over yourselves and pay your respects to a genuine talent. Sure, some lesser performers followed in her wake, but the same could be said about anyone with influence. More than anything, it's a shame about the drugs. RIP, Whitney Houston.

The Superior Man(ning)

So, are we ready to stop this nonsense and just call Eli an elite QB yet? 2nd Super Bowl Trophy, and that makes 4 for the franchise. Scoreboard, haters.

NOTE:
Alternate semi-clever title for this post: Can't Spell "Elite" Without Eli.

Swan Oyster Depot

After 6 1/2 years living in San Francisco, figured I should finally eat here, especially since it's good enough for this herocially cynical bastard.

I wasn't disappointed. Before any of our group were seated, they served us beer at the door while we waited. Classic. And yeah, the food was excellent. No excuses, SF transplants -- go to Swan Oyster.

Bobby Brown - "On Our Own" (1989)

Thanks Dan Leech for the flashback. This was a crazy jam for little Phil back in the day...98PXY, oh yeah.

He Stole Home!

Happy birthday, Jackie Robinson.

Blur - "Popscene" / "Trouble In The Message Centre" (Live 1994, Showtime home video)

I've watched this too many times to count. On VHS.

Giiiiiiiiiiiants!

(Also, happy birthday to my father, a long-suffering Jets fan.)

Bad Bibles

Ladies and gentlemen: I'm excited to tell you that the new EP from my band, Bad Bibles, is here, in all its wild glory. If you know me personally, or have heard my other projects, forget any music you've heard me make before.

Download free at Bandcamp or SoundCloud.

Big Blue

Giants, baby! Can't wait til I get to NYC this week. #Psyched

The War On Drugs - "Come To The City" (Live on KEXP, Seattle, 2011)

One of my favorite songs of the last few months. Sort of a hybrid of Spacemen 3, Velvets' 1st record, Neu!, '70s Dylan, and U2's "Bad." Find the original studio version, it's excellent.

"Lead me back to the place I'm from..."

Even a Blind Bronco...

Ouch. "When people shout about LeBron James, at least we're talking about the most talented basketball player on earth. But Tim Tebow is the face of the next leap. Where an otherwise irrelevant character makes for good debate, so the news entertainment industry frames his every move as significant, and soon this irrelevant character has been news for long enough that eventually he does do something noteworthy, and he becomes the biggest story in America."

Also, this:

Neu! - "Hallogallo" (1972)

SMALL OBSERVATION:
Jam bands: all you need is one chord, no solos, and a good arrangement. Suddenly, 10 minutes feels like 3. See how they did that there?

BIG IDEA:
This music is Futurism at its finest. On a much deeper level, it's fascinating how Germany and Japan, having lost WWII and without a recent past to be proud of, raced dramatically toward the future and more or less invented the 21st century. They had no other choice, really.

PETTY QUIBBLE:
Billy Corgan stole the main guitar riff and reused it in the intro to Cherub Rock.

The Royal Mint Retweeted Me

(Updated Jan 18 w/ video)



Great soccer offside rule 50p coin by The Royal Mint for London 2012 Olympics. Attention United States Mint and MLB: America needs a balk quarter.

Jay-Z ft. Jens Lekman - "Put Your Arms Around The Encore"

It sounds exactly like it looks.

In Which Larry Baer Becomes The New Peter Angelos

Fan-designed, unofficial San Jose A's mockup from the Sportslogos.net forum. Let the countdown to 2015 begin!

(Image copyright 2012 Neal Dorfman).

Alligator Lizards In The Air?!?

The post-Beach Boys California sound. Yacht Rock wouldn't exist without this music. Fantastic.

(Theory: America's music is somehow MORE American sounding because they were Army brats far away from home; therefore it's a mythical American sound & landscape they were expressing. Discuss. Or not.)