Excellent, thanks, Tommyrot!
I was wrong about Vanderslice. Don't know whose list I like more, but, what the hey, here's my early summer listening list off the top of my head:
- Calexico, Hot Rail, which shimmers like the first glimpse of a far-off West Texas city in the desert heat.
- Spacemen 3, Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To, which, by coincidence, I'm listening to right now, though I'm completely drug-free. Excellent back porch psychedelia.
- The Kinks, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, on which nostalgia never sounded better.
- The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds, which, like all summers, starts in youthful hope and ends in heartbroken cynicism. Well, like all my youthful summers, at least.
- Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, which evokes feelings that I'm still not sure how to address. Gimme a cold cerveza and a stoic sundown.
Jim James from My Morning Jacket
Just noticed this. Jimmy James was the station owner on Newsradio (he was named after the Beastie Boys song.) So to celebrate two of my great loves, music and Newsradio, here's
The Newsradio Summer Listening Guide (song, artist, episode -- in episode order):
1) Led Zeppelin II, "Led Zeppelin II" Episode: #2.21 - 28 April 1996, co-starring Jordan Baker (a.k.a. Sheila Rosenberg, Willow's mommy) as Ruth:
Mr. James: I have made an addition to my list of potential wife candidates:
Dave: Oh really, what's her name?
Mr. James: Ruth. You know, from the Bible.
Dave: Which one was she?
Mr. James: The one named Ruth.
2) "Life's Been Good", Joe Walsh,"President" Episode: #3.1 - 18 September 1996. Mr. James' theme song for his Presidential campaign.
3) "Daydream", The Lovin' Spoonful, "Daydream" Episode: #3.7 - 13 November 1996
4) "Hot for Teacher", Van Halen, "Kids" Episode: #3.16 - 12 February 1997 ("In the immortal words of Van Halen-before that dumbass Sammy Hagar came along and ruined everything-'I'm hot for teacher.'" Phil Hartman was the voice of Waldo in the "Hot for Teacher" video. Speaking of which... My school wasn't like that. My post-school life hasn't been like that. And I'm nervous and my socks are too loose.)
5) "Makin' Whoopee", Songs for Swingin' Lovers, Frank Sinatra, "Stupid Holiday Charity Talent Show" Episode: #4.8 - 16 December 1997. Sinatra doesn't sing it on the show, but I like his version. Bill accompanies Beth and gives her some... um, helpful advice:
Bill: Sing it PRETTY. Like me.
Beth: My mother always told me I had a pretty voice.
Bill: Well my mother dressed me up like a girl until I was nine. They make mistakes.
Honorable Mention:
1) "Wild Thing", Tone Loc "Friends" Episode: #2.6 - 14 November 1995/"Xmas Story" Episode: #2.10 - 19 December 1995 (Tone Loc and Toby Huss, who played Sinatra in the old MTV spots, guest star as security guards in both episodes.)
2) In Through the Out Door, Led Zeppelin "In Through the Out Door" Episode: #2.13 - 4 February 1996. Picked because it's a fine album, plus an appearance by Milos the janitor.
3) Zoso, Led Zeppelin, "Zoso" Episode: #2.15 - 25 February 1996. Also known as Zep IV; their best. This is the ep where Beth designs and markets hats a la Donald from Fat Albert.
4) It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Public Enemy,"Rap" Episode: #3.12 - 8 January 1997. Not actually played on the show but the guest star is Chuck D.
5) "Slow Ride", Foghat, "Sleeping" Episode: #3.21 - 7 May 1997. The song Bill plays for Jimmy to pull him out of his coma. Also a reminder of my AOR childhood.
6) "St. Elmo's Fire", Another Green World, Brian Eno, "The Public Domain" Episode: #4.3 - 29 October 1997. A conceptual choice so's I could pick one of my favorite episodes: Guest appearance by Paul Gleason, who was the principal in "The Breakfast Club", which starred Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy & Judd Nelson, all who were in "St. Elmo's Fire". This is one of the Andrea the Efficiency Expert episodes (played by Lauren Graham), which is my favorite run of episodes. Bill spends the episode a la Mark Russell, playing the piano and singing political satires. Andrea hires Steve (Gleason) to "help" Dave. Dave desperately tries to get Bill to behave, fearing that all their jobs are on the line. Bill says, "Let me talk to him." Against his better instincts Dave lets Bill do it, at which point Bill punches Steve in the nose. "THAT was your plan?!" "I'm sorry. I panicked." Steve, now terrified of Bill, kowtows to him until he can make his escape. I'm very fond of slapstick comedy, especially people getting whacked in the head.
ETA: The criteria were: a) like the music b) like the episode c) local interest (e.g., the Jordan Baker Buffy connection) could figure into the calculus.
I'm not sure if summer listening is exactly a theme to this post, but I've been on a recent re-issue kick for two groups/artists.
First off, the recent Japan reissues, of which I got Quiet Life, Gentlemen Take Polaroids, and Tin Drum, which reminded me how awsome Japan could be (also got the most recent Sylvian, which I haven't spent enough time with to have an opinion). There's a lot of Roxy in this music, but there's a whole lot of other wonderful grace notes as well.
The other re-issues are the first four Eno albums with songs/lyrics (Discreet Music doesn't really count in this) and I'm listening to Here Come the Warm Jets as we speak. DAMN! What a wonderful album. I'm going to work my through to my favorite (also the first Eno album I bought) Before and After Science.
I'm not much for Japan, but early Eno is almost beyond compare.
Nice Newsradio list, Joe. I'm in awe at the intersections of your encyclopedic knowledge.
The other re-issues are the first four Eno albums with songs/lyrics (Discreet Music doesn't really count in this) and I'm listening to Here Come the Warm Jets as we speak. DAMN! What a wonderful album. I'm going to work my through to my favorite (also the first Eno album I bought) Before and After Science.
Cool! I've been looking for early Eno CDs, with no luck. I think Before and After Science was my first Eno album too. That is, if I don't count My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (the Eno/Byrne album).
Y'know, I don't think it's fair of me to discount Japan so easily. I've only heard a few tracks, none of which I found particularly gripping, but it may have had to do with a number of factors, including the mostly awful mix they were on (which, fwiw, was a technopop mix from years back that seemed designed to highlight the worst of each artist; I've since come around to appreciation for some of the other artists on that mix).
Edit - I overexplain just because.
Do folks who love early solo Eno also like the first two Roxy Music albums? (Eno was in Roxy for those two albums.) 'Cuz they are good and stuff.
I love Roxy in all its incarnations. I think the first album has higher highs, but For Your Pleasure is the more consistently good of the two Eno albums. I don't think Roxy hit its peak, though, until Country Life/Siren.
Hayden, I wouldn't say Japan is for everybody - very delicate and precise, but they don't sound dated in any way. Give Quiet Life a listen, because it's much less precious than the other two (and has some kick-ass guitar that later got phased out of the band's sound). I will admit that Sylvian's vocals are like a more mannered Bryan Ferry's, but he's got a different edge - as a reviewer said shy rather than dissipated or jaded.
I'd also HIGHLY recommend the Fripp/Sylvian collaboration The First Day, but I'm a total Crim head, so take that with whatever grains of salt you will.
Totally with you on the early Eno, though. The man had something going on. Whether how it changed was for the better or for the worse, I don't want to get into (because I like a lot of his ambient stuff), but those four "conventional" albums are SUBLIME.
I should probably check it out again. Hey, I listened to King Crimson's Red the other day for the first time in about 12 years. Gotta say, it was pretty damn good.
