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.

dw's got the secret pop slut love.

Cursing boy bands from the pulpit, going to by-the-hour hotels to listen to the new Natasha Bedingfield single. 'Tis me.

I blame Diane Warren for writing "I Want It That Way."

I feel affectionate toward it because he does obviously love them as much as I do.

I don't know if the Voice's offices are in the same place that they were 30 years ago, but they're basically across the street from CB's. Not that Christgau loved the Ramones & Television & the Dolls just because they were local, but some of the affection is clearly because they really were neighborhood bands to him.

I'd love to write a 33 1/3 book about the second Dolls record.

Why not? Time constraints & other commitments notwithstanding. You have the talent and enthusiasm, and from the point of view of the publisher you have Bubblegum & LITG, so you aren't an unknown quantity.

It's only 6:30 & I'm leaving work -- woo and a big effin' hoo! And no, I am not being sarcastic. It's one thing not to have seen the sun for the last month when leaving work during the long months of short winter days, but it really sucks to have it happen all the time in summer if you're not doing shift work.

I don't know if the Voice's offices are in the same place that they were 30 years ago, but they're basically across the street from CB's. Not that Christgau loved the Ramones & Television & the Dolls just because they were local, but some of the affection is clearly because they really were neighborhood bands to him.

Sometimes one forgets this about New York Rock history. That was one of the great things the Voice did in one of its rock and roll Quarterly issues in its interview with Jerry Nolan. He grew up playing in garage bands in New York (and I don't mean out in LI - which had its own scene). So did Genya Ravan.

I loved that the dBs were in a loft on top of New York Rocker.

The Oscar Wilde Room at the Mercer Arts Center? An entirely mythical place to me, as vivid as a glam rock Camelot in my imagination.

See also his classic Split Enz song "I Got You."

Or Message To My Girl. Or anything else on Conflicting Emotions. But my favorite Split Enz song has to be Six Months In A Leaky Boat, which is the only song I know of to mention Aotearoa.

Not to be glib about the catastrophe, but Katrina is really helping Randy Newman's album sales. He has two in the Amazon Top 100 at this moment. Best Of is #68 as of this writing.

Wait. Why?

"Louisiana 1927" is getting a lot of airplay. It was on the first hour of Morning Edition on Friday, then Newman opened the telethon with it tonight.