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.

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

Aronoff played drums for Richard Thompson for most of the Amnesia tour ("Our usual drummer broke his ribs. Wild rock and roll living, you know?"), and is on the live cuts from 1988/89 on Watching the Dark.

"Pictures of Lily" is still Onan's Greatest Hit. Ed Ward's 5 Royales piece is my favorite essay in Stranded, and Greil's discography the most valuable (for me) in the long run. What did you think of Christgau's take on the Dolls, David?

Ed Ward's 5 Royales piece is my favorite essay in Stranded,

That's a great piece. Also the one about the gospel songwriter (Dorsey?).

and Greil's discography the most valuable (for me) in the long run.

Oh hell yeah. I spent years and years tracking down Hackamore Brick and Savage Rose because of that discography.

What did you think of Christgau's take on the Dolls, David?

I feel affectionate toward it because he does obviously love them as much as I do (or Morrissey for that matter). I think he gets some of the stuff right, particularly about the band's dynamics, how they worked the stage.

In other ways, Christgau's as inappropriate a choice to explicate them as Cronenburg was to be the director for M. Butterfly. Genderfuck isn't really something he's got an intuitive feel for. So while he loves them for their joie de louche and the way they rock and their record collections he's a little uncomfortable with the cheesiness of it.

Also, I just think Christgau spent so much time writing pithy that he's not at his best in longer essays.

I don't know - I'd love to write a 33 1/3 book about the second Dolls record.