Show #115 January 25, 2013

Tonight it's all for Rosemarie!

Rosemarie- Superchunk Majesty Shredding 
Insane- Rollercoaster Rollercoaster 
Waiting For The Drums- The Bye Bye Blackbirds We Need The Rain 
Comic Book Heroes- The Tearjerkers Fool 7" 
Catch Me- Cherry Twister Cherry Twister 
In The Street- Big Star The Ardent Studio Sessions (1972-1973) 
You're So Damn Hot- OK Go OK Go 
Don't Wait Up For Me- The Beat The Beat 
^Moneytalks- AC/DC The Razor's Edge 
Red Dragon Tattoo- Fountains Of Wayne Utopia Parkway 
Remember Tonight- The Shivvers Til The Word Gets Out 
She- Starz Attention Shoppers! 
I'm Not Sure- The Chords This Is What They Want
Introduction to Girls- Breakup Society James At 35 
*Money Talks- Hates 30 Years of Hate 1978-2008 
*Money Talks- Shane Champagne S/T 10" EP
*Money Talks- Penetration Dont Dictate 7" 
*Money Talks- The Kinks Money Talks 
*Money Talks- Soul Asylum Say What You Will...Everything Can Happen
Didn´t Tell The Man- Radio Birdman More Fun! 
Kick Their Teeth Out- The Greatest Liar The Girl With The Chesnut Eyes 
Come Along- The Adicts Smart Alex  
When I Look In Your Eyes- The Romantics The Romantics 
A Girl Like You- 20/20 Look Out! 
Sandwich Time for the Smaller Children- LMNOP Elemen Opee Elpee 
>Money Talks- The Penguins The Cool Cool Penguins 
Fall Awake- Velvet Crush Stereo Blues 
Flipside Rock- Rob Tyner with Eddie And The Hot Rods Life On The Line 
I'm In Love (With Not Being In Love With You)- The Yum Yums ...Play Good Music 
Your Girl, My Girl- Screams Screams 
I'm All Right- Fast Cars Coming, Ready or Not! 
Money Down- Raspberries Side 3 

^Power Pop Peak:  #23 Billboard 12/8/90

*Songs Called "Money Talks"

>Power Pop Prototype:  1958

For good reason, I've always been wary of groups with the word "band" in their name.   The first artists that come to mind are either lite pop (Starland Vocal Band, Little River Band, Climax Blues Band) or southern rock (Allman Brothers Band, Charlie Daniels Band, Marshall Tucker Band)- not really my kind of music.  Calling your group "The [insert name here] Band" has always struck me as a little uninspired.  Why not just go with your own name.  Do the sidemen in "The Joe Blow Band" feel any more enfranchised than if they were just playing with "Joe Blow?"   It's a known fact that the clock started ticking on Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour's musical partnership as soon as their record company forced them to change from Oister (granted a TERRIBLE name) to The Dwight Twilley Band in 1974.  Seymour felt the name downplayed his contribution and he was absolutely right!

Shane-Champagne Band

There are other exceptions to my "no groups with 'band' in their name" rule like The Chocolate Watchband, Jim Carrol Band, The Greg Kihn Band, Tom Robinson Band and from my hometown of Boston, Shane-Champagne Band.  I first heard them on Boston powerhouse rock station WBCN so they seemed like a BIG deal.  Like most of the Boston groups I loved back then, Shane-Champagne Band were not punk, owing more to Buddy Holly than to The Stooges.  They were a straight up Boston rock and roll band, though granted they seemed more commercial minded than The Real Kids or DMZ. 

It still amazes me to think about it but in 1977 when I was 13 year old I got to see Shane-Champagne Band.... for free.... in Kingston, Mass.  I never found out who was responsible for booking the entertainment for the Class of 1977's prom but they did an amazing thing bringing Shane-Champagne to the Kingsbury Club.  (Despite the name, it's a tennis club and NOT a rock and roll club.)  

Five years later I was to graduate high school inside the steamy environs of the Kingsbury Club when the outdoor ceremony on the Duxbury High School football field was rained out.  By then I could not wait to get the hell out of town but back in eighth grade I was completely enthralled with high school.  Such innocence... such naivete... but come on they had Shane-Champagne Band play their freakin' prom!  

In my 8th Grade home room there was a kid named Mike Klein who sat a row over from me.  We used to talk about music a lot because years earlier he was one of the few people I knew who admitted to liking Kiss.  In 7th Grade Mike was the only person who didn't mock my binder with the painstakingly applied stickers from Kiss' Rock & Roll Over on the front.  (Man what a waste!  Why oh why did I think ANY of my classmates would find that cool?!?) Anyway, one day Mike tells me that his mom is on the high school prom hospitality committee and Shane-Champagne Band was the entertainment.  Not only that, but she needed two volunteers to serve punch that night and did I want to join him!  We wore white button down shirts and black bow ties we bought at the Duxbury 5 and Dime.  Mike's mom gave us red carnation boutonnieres and we were good to go.  

On prom night we got there early to help with setup and got to see the band's sound check which was incredibly cool.  Once the prom started Mike and I were worried about somebody spiking the punch and us getting blamed for it- how were a couple of 8th Graders going to stop anything?  I'm happy to say that while every second person made a joke about spiked punch no one tried, which was a big relief.  Shane-Champagne Band were awesome, they made quite a racquet!  (cuz it's a tennis club, get it... HA!)  Just great rock and roll songs interspersed with the requisite ballads for

slow dancing.  From behind my punch station it looked like a straight up rock show, not a prom.  By 1980 the group had dropped "band" from their name and moved in a more commercial direction.  It seemed like Shane Champagne were trying to jump on The Police's bandwagon as their self-titled 10" EP includes a couple of reggae-pop songs, one of them "Shadow World" which I liked okay and got some airplay on WBCN.  "Money Talks" from tonight's SacroSet comes from this record.

Speaking of money talking, before I close out this post I've got to mention "Angus Bucks."   After several years of ignoring the band, Cousin Rich and I jumped back onto the AC/DC train big time in the late 80's- seeing the band three times on the Blow Up Your Video Tour in 1988 and at least once on The Razor's Edge Tour in 1990.  It's was on the latter tour that during the performance of tonight's Power Pop Peak, "Moneytalks," the skies rained down thousands of Angus Bucks on the crowd.  

Economy unstable?  Try moving to an Angus-based currency!

Unfortunately Cousin Rich and I were not seated on the floor so we missed our chance to get our own Angus Bucks.  The good news is that every copy of the initial release of AC/DC Live (which documents that tour and is an amazing record) included an Angus Buck- so for all you know I got mine at the show.  The funny thing is that on e-bay each Angus Buck now sells for about $6 so they would've made for a solid investment.  This isn't the only example of the Angus Buck's value either.  Check this out from Wikipedia:

"Coinciding with The Razors Edge tour, the Soviet Union disintegrated.  As a token of thanks for his youthful followers, Boris Yeltsin arranged for AC/DC to add Moscow to the tour. The venue had to be relocated numerous times due to high demand, eventually settling on an airfield. Due to the volatile political and economic climate, the Russian ruble was suffering from severe inflation. For an extremely short period of time, Angus Bucks dropped on the crowd had more value than the ruble itself and were actually used for regular monetary transactions."

Don't know if it's true but I WANT to believe!

Download tonight's show below (if the download stops just pause and un-pause)
Hour 1
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Show #114 2013 YEAR-END DEDICATION SPECIAL January 11, 2014

Happy New Year from All Kindsa Girls!

All Kindsa Girls- The Real Kids Real Kids 
Amanda- Green Day ¡Tré! 
Rejuvenate Me- Brendan Benson You Were Right 
Margarita- Henry Essence Shake Some Action 8 (UK/Ireland) 
Betsy- The Probers Mad At The World 
Malady- Corin Ashley New Lion Terraces 
Polly- Sneakers Ear Cartoons 
Courtney- Nerf Herder How To Meet Girls 
^Stacy's Mom- Fountains Of Wayne Welcome Interstate Managers 
Amanda Ruth- Rank and File Rank and File 
Ricki- The Go Instant Reaction 
Somebody Has Finally Found Me- Richard X. Heyman X 
Charity- The Sighs S/T LP 
Shannon- The Volcanos The Volcanos 
*Electric Fever- Free Energy Love Sign 
*Make Up Your Mind- Sugar Stems Can't Wait 
*Get Away- Julian Leal Buttons: From Champaign to Chicago 
*Taken- Lisa Mychols Above, Beyond and In Between 
*Don't Come Back Now- The Bye Bye Blackbirds We Need The Rain 
Natalie- The Sidewalks Natalie 
Elaine- The Smithereens Green Thoughts 
Georgia O- The Nields Play 
Too Much Of A Good Thing- The Yum Yums ...Play Good Music 
Veronica- Wreckless Eric Big Smash 
Jenny- Sloan Hardcore 7˝ 
Unusual Me- Phil Angotti Life and Rhymes 
Rachel- Tommy Tutone Tommy Tutone 
Hayley- Flicks Hayley 
If I Only Could- Godfathers Jukebox Fury 
Sweet Jane- The Jim Carroll Band I Write Your Name 
Jeane- The Smiths The Sound Of The Smiths
Midnight to Stevens- The Clash Sound System Extras 2 

^Power Pop Peak:  #21 Billboard Hot 100 9/29/03

*SacroSet: 2013 Top 5 Records

In the late 20th Century (1999 to be exact) I began a New Year's tradition of e-mailing a small group of friends my Top 5 movies, videos, records and books of the previous year.  One of the things I love about great movies, records and books is discussing great movies, records and books.  Yes, I'm that guy at parties who's always going on about some "awesome" new discovery.  It's a good thing I was born when I was because if I had to act like one of today's young hipsters who sneer at everything and only "like" things ironically I'd be a freaking pariah.

Malkovich, Malkovich? Malkovich!

Looking over past lists at the Rick's Top 5 Lists blog, I have to say they really stand up.  Going back to 1999, there are some all-time great movies (Being John Malkovich) and books (About A Boy by Nick Hornby) on there.  I invite you to check out the Top 5's blog and hopefully you'll unearth some gems you haven't seen/heard before.

Reviewing old lists also shows major changes in our culture.   First the technology.  Back in 1999 I included a "Videos" category (meaning VHS) which by 2003 was "Videos/DVD's" then "DVD's/Videos," and starting in 2007, just "DVD's." Last year it became "DVD's/Web Streams" and my guess is that the DVD's days are numbered.  On the plus side, vinyl LP's remain a vital part of the "LP's/CD's" category, which I've renamed "Records" as it now includes LP's, CD's and digital downloads.  I'm betting "CD's" will eventually be the odd man out as most young people opt for downloads while the number of vinyl releases (many with a code for a free download) continues to increase every year.

The even greater change is the inclusion of the "TV/Web Shows" category, which showed up for the first time in 2008- the year Deadwood blew my mind.  I'd had favorite TV shows before then (like Freaks and Geeks and Lost) but for me the medium hit some kind of critical mass in 2008.  Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy, Life (featuring a pre-Homeland Damian Lewis); many would argue that in the intervening years TV has been better than movies.  One major factor is that the way we consume TV has changed.  Jaime and I discovered binge-watching in 2008 with Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Arrested Development on Hulu.com.  Needless to say, that was a game changer.  In 2013, only five years later, two of my Top 5 TV/Web Shows (House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black) were produced by streaming service Netflix.

I'm sorry to say, the ascendance of the "TV/Web" category goes hand in hand with the demise of the "Live Performances" category.  I just can't do the 100 mile round trip into San Francisco to see bands anymore- forget about weeknights, it's even hard to make it work on the weekend.  Part of that I can blame on my kids, but part of it is my lazy

ass fault.  So, I look back at things like "Hold Steady and Drive By Truckers at The Fillmore San Francisco 11/24/08" and wistfully shake my head.  Who knows, maybe I'll add "see live music" to the list of things I'm going to do when I retire...  On the plus side, when Jaime and I were in New York after Christmas we saw the musical A Gentleman’s Guide To Love and Murder and it was awesome! 

 So, without further adieu, here are my 2013 Top 5 Lists:

TOP 5 MOVIES

The Spectacular Now (BMOC)

Fruitvale Station (American tragedy)

Enough Said (man, it doesn’t get ANY easier)

Spring Breakers (ultimate bangerz)

(tie) Don Jon, Frances Ha (the pains of being pure at heart)

TOP 5 DVD’S/WEB STREAMS

War Witch (hear Komona)

Smashed (working the program)

Warm Bodies (zombie love)

Umberto D (thank God for our dogs)

Pitch Perfect (long live Fat Amy)

TOP 5 ALBUMS

Love Sign- Free Energy (more cowbell!)

Can’t Wait- Sugar Stems (Milwaukee’s finest)

We Need The Rain- The Bye Bye Blackbirds (pure pop from Oaktown)

Buttons:  From Champaign to Chicago- Various  Artists (joyful Illi-noise)

Above, Beyond and In Between- Lisa Mychols (SoCal pop chanteuse)

TOP 5 BOOKS

The Art Of Fielding- Chad Harbach (we all need a Mike Schwartz)

Telegraph Avenue- Michael Chabon (welcome to Brokeland)

The Professional- Robert B. Parker (Mr. Parker, you will be missed)

The Imperfectionists- Tom Rachman (end of an era)

In One Person- John Irving (a spinning top)

TOP 5 TV/CABLE SHOWS

House Of Cards (smoke filled rooms)

Orange Is The New Black (pied Piper)

Game of Thrones Season 2 (winter is coming...)

Orphan Black (Cosima is my favorite)

Walking Dead Season 3 (Michonne rules!)

I’d love to hear your favorites from 2013 so please leave a comment- I’m always on the lookout for quality viewing, listening and reading material.  Here’s wishing you all a healthy, happy and prosperous 2014!!

You can download tonight's show below (if the download stops, just pause and unpause)

Hour 1

Hour 2

Show #113 December 14, 2013 ALL KINDSA GIRLS SNOW DAY

The ALL KINDSA GIRLS SNOW DAY is dedicated to Suzy Snowflake!

Suzy Snowflake- Soul Coughing Made Especially For You
(It's A) Snow Day- Darlington Classics 2
Christmas Snow- Greg Pope Blue Ocean Sky
This Time Of Year- Mighty Mighty Bosstones A Santa Clause (It's A Punk Rock Christmas)
Waking On Christmas- The Smithereens Christmas With The Smithereens
I Saw Mommy Biting Santa Claus- The Dollyrots I Saw Mommy Biting Santa Claus
(Gimme A) Kiss For Christmas- John McMullan Hi-Fi Christmas Party
Seasons Greetings- Robbers on High Street Four Christmases Soundtrack
^Don't Eat The Yellow Snow- Frank Zappa Strictly Commercial
Christmas Time Again (I'll Be Good Next Year)- SPiN WXPN Local 12 Days of Christmas 2012
Christmas- Elton Duck Christmas 7"
The Blizzard of '78- Korps Xmas Snertz : Have a Very Gulcher Christmas!
(There's No War On Christmas) When Christmas Is In Your Heart- The Mockers s/t
Child's Christmas in Wales- John Cale Paris 1919
*Snow Day- Toby Lightman Snow Day
*Snow Day- Vegas With Randolph Snow Day
*Snow Day- matt pond PA Winter Songs EP
*Snow Day- Bleu A Big Bang Holidang
Christmas Time Again- The Connection Christmas Time Again
You Trashed My Christmas- The Primitives A Christmas Gift For You From Elefant Records
Christmas Night- Dwight Twilley Have A Twilley Christmas
A Christmas Carol (For The Losers In Love)- Vibeke Saugestad ...From All Of Me
I Hear (Click, Click, Click)- The Rosebuds Christmas Tree Island
Christmas Lights- The Hi-Risers Christmas Lights 7"
>Snow- Claudine Longet Love Is Blue
Christmas Again- The Kavanaghs Christmas Again
Come On Christmas- Barely Pink Come On Christmas
A Christmas Duel- The Hives vs. Cyndi Lauper Swedesplease Christmas Mix
Christmas Love- The Bratchmen The Easy Sound Of The Bratchman
The Last Christmas- Brainpool The Last Christmas
Merry X'mas Everybody- Sloan Holiday Single 2012
Christmas With The Snow- Marah A Christmas Kind Of Town
The Christmas Wish- Kermit The Frog A Christmas Together

^Power Pop Peak:  #86 Billboard Hot 100

*SacroSet:  "Snow Day" Songs

>Power Pop Prototype:  1968

I love living in California and it's a great place to raise a family.  That said, one thing my Cali born kids have never experienced is the transcendent joy that is the Snow Day.  As I described on tonight's show, the snow day ritual went as follows:

• you would hear about an incoming snow storm on TV and the radio;
• even if you'd never prayed before in your life, going to bed that night you'd say a silent prayer for snow;
• the next morning you wake up and run to the window to see your yard blanketed in white;
• you run downstairs to the kitchen where your mom has the radio on and listen for the alphabetical list of school closing announcements, again saying a prayer (likely offset by your mom's prayer);
• hearing your school district announced followed by "all classed cancelled" your head explodes with joy- it's a free day and you get to play in fresh SNOW!

The thing is, you're so pumped about your free day there's no way you can go back to sleep and it's 7 o'clock in the morning!  If it wasn't still storming outside, after breakfast my sister Sarah and I would usually head out into the snow and see what the neighborhood kids were doing;  sledding, making snowmen, having snowball fights, etc.  This would be good for a couple of hours until we'd get cold and head back home to discover that daytime television had not improved any since the last time we were home sick from school.  

After a blowout fight over choice of TV show, my sister and I would usually retreat to our rooms and the quiet, contemplative part of the snow day would begin.  Napping, reading, listening to music- all of these activities are more enjoyable on a snow day.  Lunch in our rooms and then when stir craziness precipitated another fight, it would be back out into the snow.  There were cranberry bogs at the end of our street and one year we built a toboggan run down a hill out onto one or the ponds they to used to irrigate- it was awesome.  Making it even better, when we got home in the afternoon we were often treated to that luscious snow day delicacy- HOT COCOA!  And not that Swiss Miss crap either, Mum made it on the stove top with milk and topped it off with a heaping dollop of marshmallow fluf.  It just doesn't get any better than that.

(click to enlarge)

Sad to say, but the joy of a snow day dissipates when you get older- especially when you realize they are going to shaft you with an extra day at the end of the year in June.  This turn of events is well represented by the graphic below depicting the modern high schooler's reaction to the snow day:

On our recent trip back to Massachusetts it didn't look like we'd be getting any snow.  In fact, about a week before we got there it had been 70 degrees.  The forecast changed a few days after Christmas though- not only was a storm coming, it had a cool name:  Hercules!  Before it had even started snowing that Wednesday several school districts on the South Shore cancelled classes for the next day.  That was probably premature because the real snow didn't start falling until midday Thursday- but second guessing District Superintendent snow day calls is practically a sport in Massachusetts.  By Thursday afternoon it was coming down pretty good and I took this picture of Jaime and the kids.  It's been a few years since I've driven in the snow so I was a little worried but it came back pretty quickly.  I actually kind of enjoyed fishtailing all over the road- they scariest part is the other drivers.  By Friday morning about a foot of snow had fallen and it was a for real snow day!  The kids didn't miss school but they did get to sledding thanks to Cousin Linda, Cousin Rich's wife.

Nica and Jack on Snow Day!

I'm going to close out this post with the lyrics to Bleu's "Snow Day" from tonight's SacroSet.  As you can see Bleu gets everything right- he's from Boston so he knows what he's talking about!

"Snow Day" by Bleu

Hey hey!
I woke up to the radio
And the glare of a blanket
Of fallen snow
When I heard the DJ speak to me
In a voice that was thick
As an evergreen
He announced all the schools
That were closing

On my knees and pray
For a snowy day
'Cause I need a break
And I wanna sled the day away
I need a snow day

Hey hey!
The leaves all fell
And the streets were cold
But the sky was as dry as a bone
When the clouds rolled in
Like a holy sign
We all built up a fort
At the bus stop sign
Trackin' snow in the door
At the five and dime
Get the marshmallows ready for cocoa time

On my knees and pray
For a snowy day
'Cause I need a break
And I wanna sled the day away
I need a snow day

Hey hey!

Stream/download tonight's show with the links below (if the download sticks just pause and unpause)
Hour 1
Hour 2