You didn't read the bubblegum book, Fred? You've just outed yourself.

Oh, in relatively huge genre-busting news, "Deadwood" is on my watch list now. I thought you'd wanna know that.

It's a goddamn burst of brilliance. I voted for Ian McShane as Swearingen over McNulty on that Salon TV poll. What can I say? McNulty's a great character, but his greatness is contingent on his ease of being passed over in favor of the Best Supporting Cast On TV. McShane as Swearingen is a force of nature, impossible to ignore, as compelling a fictional character as MacBeth with as amazing a synthesis of actor and character as Welles playing Hank Quinlan.

More iPoddy goodness:

• Kathy McCarty - "Rocket Ship"
• Our Unfinished Project - "Lovebirds" (n.b. this is actually a song from an unfinished album I started last year)
• Yo La Tengo - "You Tore Me Down"
• Yo La Tengo - "Here Comes My Baby" (one of my wife's all-time favorite songs, next to The Sonics' "Psycho")
• Shangri-Las - "Sophisticated Boom-Boom"
• Roky Erickson - "You Don't Love Me Yet"
• Big Mama Thorton - "Hound Dog"
• King Crimson - "The Court of the Crimson King"
• The Cramps - "TV Set"
• Spoon - "I Turn My Camera On"
• The Observers - "Dubbing with the Observer"

Yo La Tengo - "Here Comes My Baby" (one of my wife's all-time favorite songs, next to The Sonics' "Psycho")

There was an article on the Sonics in one of the Seattle papers about a month ago. Or maybe not; I can't find them anywhere in the papers' online archives. But it talked about what happened to the band. All of them ended up walking away from music, IIRC.

All of them ended up walking away from music, IIRC.

Probably smart. Once you've achieved perfection (and, of course, I speak of "The Village Idiot"), walking away is the best thing you can do.

Hey, on a completely different level, I just realized that there's a possibility that you are Susan W's husband. If so, we have actually met each other in real life. Is this the case?

C'mon, Fred! The Ramones are huge bubblegum fans. Though I always thought "Quick Joey Small" was the perfect Ramones bubblegum cover.

"Quick Joey Small" would work better with basic guitar.

It's more that I can't see some songs working in certain genres. Like a country version of "Night Fever" (though "Stayin' Alive" might work).

Hey, on a completely different level, I just realized that there's a possibility that you are Susan W's husband. If so, we have actually met each other in real life. Is this the case?

I would be the one. When did we meet? Please don't tell me it was the ill-starred night in Birmingham and the Indian restaurant.

Kathy McCarty - "Rocket Ship"

Ahhh, Kathy. I should send her a $20 bill. When's she gonna do another record, dammit?!

Yo La Tengo - "Here Comes My Baby" (one of my wife's all-time favorite songs, next to The Sonics' "Psycho")

Both worthy songs. Perhaps neednig a mashup titled "Here Comes My Psycho Baby."

Shangri-Las - "Sophisticated Boom-Boom"

Great song! Love the Shangs. There's a cool lip sync to this song by drag queens in the movie Stonewall which has been running on Logo lately. In fact, any girl group fans should check out the movie just for the drag interpretations. Lots of Shangri Las. ("He don't / hang out / with the gang no more..." - same song the Dolls covered when I saw them at the Fillmore for their reunion).

Big Mama Thorton - "Hound Dog"

So much better than Elvis' version. Among other things, her version actually makes sense. Also she does a better (funnier, cooler) reading of the lyrics.

The Cramps - "TV Set"

Possibly The Cramps greatest moment. Both lyrically and musically with the skronk guitar break. Actually, "Human Fly" is probably their best lyric. ("I'm a human fly / I'm just an unzipped fly / I got 96 tears / from 96 eyes" - damn that's good).

Please don't tell me it was the ill-starred night in Birmingham and the Indian restaurant.

That's the day, indeed. IIRC, both of us were exhausted, beaten down by long days of travel and overexposure to in-law family, and for some reason, my friend from North Alabama brought an extremely unpleasant woman along with her who spent most of the meal being outright hostile towards the rest of us. Magic was in the air.

Ahhh, Kathy. I should send her a $20 bill. When's she gonna do another record, dammit?!

She's been playing out around Austin lately, which is quite the event. I didn't realize that Brian Beattie was her collaborator on that album. He was originally slated to produce the TDS album (you know, the one that never happened?).

Both worthy songs. Perhaps neednig a mashup titled "Here Comes My Psycho Baby."

That would fall into the category of perfection. Along with baby toes.

Great song! Love the Shangs. There's a cool lip sync to this song by drag queens in the movie Stonewall which has been running on Logo lately. In fact, any girl group fans should check out the movie just for the drag interpretations. Lots of Shangri Las. ("He don't / hang out / with the gang no more..." - same song the Dolls covered when I saw them at the Fillmore for their reunion).

Of course you love the Shangri-Las.

So much better than Elvis' version. Among other things, her version actually makes sense. Also she does a better (funnier, cooler) reading of the lyrics.

Yeah, she has an ultra-sexy way of lingering over the words, like she's unwilling to let the syllables go just yet, because nothing could improve the feel of them in her mouth.

Possibly The Cramps greatest moment. Both lyrically and musically with the skronk guitar break. Actually, "Human Fly" is probably their best lyric. ("I'm a human fly / I'm just an unzipped fly / I got 96 tears / from 96 eyes" - damn that's good).

"TV Set" and "Human Fly" are a solid tie in my mind. With the list at the end of "New Kind Of Kick" rounding things out. Drano hot shot!

Update:

• Madvillain - "Supervillain Theme"
• The Kinks - "Wicked Annabella"
• The Magnetic Fields - "Grand Canyon"
• The Clean - "Fish"
• The Sonics - "Do You Love Me"
• Richard Buckner - "When Love Is Gone" (yes, the Tom T. Hall song)
• King Tubby - "King Tubby's Badness Dub"
• The Kinks - "Do You Remember Walter"
• Jackson Five - "I Want You Back"
• The Upsetters - "Long Time Dub"

Emmy sucks...ignoring whole shows the way it does. Buffy, Homicide, and The Wire. Not that they don't do good work onSFU, or The Sopranos, or Deadwood. But *I'm* a better actress than Mariska Hargitay, beautiful though I think she is...she has like the one "welling-up" face that she pulls out every fricking episode... And you could *never* work sex crimes with lips like that. Not without perp kissy faces, anyways. Or worse, your partner's. You can't tell me Sonja Sohn is not better than that. Emmy voters drink rubbing alcohol. Pass it on. Um, sorry for the hijack...the thread doesn't really have to go to Baltimore again.ETA: I also think girl groups were cool. And was very sad to have to explain to SVU fandom who Phil Spector was some months back. I wrote this whole drabble about Munch and Phil Spector and I got back "Who?" My dad was a wanna-be musician when I was a pup, if I hadn't known who Phil Spector was it would be hard for me to come home.

Possibly The Cramps greatest moment

Oooh, look! The Cramps are available via iTunes! Hec, what should I get? (Don't say 'everything', as my budget won't allow for that right now.)

Oooh, look! The Cramps are available via iTunes! Hec, what should I get? (Don't say 'everything', as my budget won't allow for that right now.)

Individual songs or whole albums?

Their best record is still Songs the Lord Taught Us followed by the first EP Gravest Hits.

Individual songs I think you'd like:

"Sheena's In A Goth Gang"
"Ultra-Twist"
"Human Fly"
"TV Set"
"I Was A Teenage Werewolf"
"Some New Kind of Kick"
"The Way I Walk"