Huh...I would have figured "The Pina Colada Song" to be older, because it was also on my "First Pop Songs I memorized" list. Sorry, Fred, if that makes you feel old.

I listed "I Touch Myself", you know? I have no cred. Except that it's not "My Ding-a-Ling"

Heh. I was thinking the other day about what songs would be on the CD "Onanism's Greatest Hits."

Dancing With Myself, Billy Idol; Turning Japanese, The Vapors; I Touch Myself; My Ding-A-Ling; She-Bop...

Then I decided it was a dumb topic.

I was just thinking the other day that "Fall At Your Feet" might be one of the most perfect pop songs ever.

It was a permanent staple on my early 90s mix tapes. They should have been much, much bigger in this country. My two concert regrets: Not seeing Stevie Ray Vaughn open the final leg of his final tour in Tulsa, and not seeing Crowded House at the nearly acoustically perfect Macky Auditorium in Boulder.

And BTW, I wish I had 1/2 the musical knowledge of Corwood or 1/10th the musical brain of Hec. I'm just a thirtysomething torn between critical rock snootiness and a secret love for the perfect pop hook. I'm the Jimmy Swaggart of music lovers.

Hmmm...let's see, 1989...

18. She Drives Me Crazy, Fine Young Cannibals
21. Blame It On The Rain, Milli Vanilli
24. If You Don't Know Me By Now, Simply Red
29. Toy Solider, Martika
31. The Living Years, Mike and the Mechanics
40. Good Thing, Fine Young Cannibals
47. Love Shack, B-52's
58. Sowing The Seeds Of Love, Tears For Fears
68. Love Song, Cure
76. Stand, R.E.M.
83. This Promise, When In Rome
84. What I Am, Edie Brickell and The New Bohemians

dw's got the secret pop slut love.

Dave Marsh's contribution to the Stranded book was a mixed tape of songs about Onanism.

Hec! Thanks so much for the music that arrived in the mail yesterday. I'm just about to listen. I'll have to figure out a treat to send back out your way soon.

Hooray!

(imagine that in a Zoidberg voice, it's more fun. In fact whenever I say "Hooray!" imaginine me saying it like Zoidberg because that's the way it sounds in my head. Maybe even the full, "Hooray for Zoidberg!" Also, whenever I say "Heh" it sounds like Crash Davis in Bull Durham.)

'86 was a pretty good year for pop. And Mellencamp was almost single handedly keeping some kind of rock and roll in the top 40 (Kenny Aronoff being his secret weapon. Did you know that Marshall Crenshaw toured with Aronoff on drums and the amazing Graham Maby (Joe Jackson's bass player - just think for a second about the bass playing on "Got the Time.")?

And Lisa Germano was Melloncamp's violinist.

Dave Marsh's contribution to the Stranded book was a mixed tape of songs about Onanism.

Not surprising, since a list of such songs appears in his book of Rock Lists.(It's in both of the editions I have; don't know if a newer edition ever came out)

Man, I loved the hell out of that "Sugarcube" video. I'd seen the "Tom Courtaney" one before, but I love the use of Marshall Crenshaw in it.

Hey, David, did you know that Phil Freeman's organizing a group of young writers (I think Rob Sheffield's the granddaddy of the group) for a follow-up to Stranded called Marooned (to be released concurrently with a new publication of Stranded)?

Huh huh huh. They said onanism. Although I've recently had some little drip in Homicide fandom point out that that wasn't technically "correct" usage. But he had just been posting to himself before that, hence my quip.

Hey, David, did you know that Phil Freeman's organizing a group of young writers (I think Rob Sheffield's the granddaddy of the group) for a follow-up to Stranded called Marooned (to be released concurrently with a new publication of Stranded)?

That's cool. It's long overdue. I was very disappointed when it was reissued without revision.

The Ellen Willis piece on the VU in Stranded is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music writing.