Show #133 April 25, 2015

Giddy up Lorraine!

Lorraine- Bad Manners Lorraine 
Wrong Side Of 25- The Connection Let It Rock 
No. 1 Boy- The Rezillos Zero 
It's Alright, It's OK- Hawks Hawks 
Just Listen- Adam Schmitt Illiterature 
^It Must Be Love- Madness The Business 
Lovers- The Runaways The Runaways 
The October Paradigm- The Effection Soundtrack To A Moment 
*Stupid Marriage- The Specials The Specials 
*Missing Words- The Selecter Missing Words 
*Ranking Full Stop- English Beat Ranking Full Stop
*Easy Life- The Bodysnatchers Dance Craze 
Rainbow Quartz- The Grip Weeds How I Won The War 
I Love You Better- David Grahame Yellow Pills Vol 4 The Best of American Pop! 
Girlfriend- The Leftovers Eager to Please 
**Yes Yes Yes- The Ska-Dows Yes Yes Yes 
**Ska Trekkin'- The Tigers Ska Trekkin' 
**Smart Boy- The Akrylykz Smart Boy 
I Love A Mystery- Hoodoo Gurus Gravy Train 
Make Believe- Lisa Mychols Above, Beyond and In Between 
Hook, Line And Sink Her- Just Boys Hook, Line And Sink Her 
***Rudie Can't Fail- The Clash London Calling
***Romance- The Members 1980- The Choice Is Yours 
***Tom Hark- The Piranhas Play Kwela 
Weather Advisory- Legendary Wings Do You See 
Do Ya, Do Ya, Do Ya- The Yum Yums ...Play Good Music 
Skinhead Love Affair [as Buster's All Stars]- Bad Manners Christmas Time Again 
>My Boy Lollipop- Millie Small My Boy Lollipop 
Twist and Crawl- English Beat Keep the Beat - Very Best of 
Doesn’t Make It Alright- The Specials The Specials 

^Power Pop Peak:  #33 Billboard Hot 100 8/20/83

*SacroSet 1:  2 Tone Records
**SacroSet 2:  Lesser Known UK Ska Bands
***SacroSet 3:  Punk Bands Go Ska

>Power Pop Prototype:  1964

One the great things about being a music fan in the late 70's and early 80's is that there were always great new records to listen to.  Punk Rock, Power Pop, Boston Rock, Paisley Underground, Jangle Pop, New Wave, Post Punk, Hardcore- every time Cousin Rich and I came off the escalator at the Harvard Coop there was some new treasure to discover.  And there were no geographic limitations- we'd buy records from bands all across the USA, from England, Ireland and Scotland as well by groups from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, France and more.  There was one consistent element to all this music, however:  it was 100% white. 

Of course I never thought about it back then, but in 1980 don't think I owned one record by a black artist.  I didn't get into Hendrix and Funkadelic until college and the Bad Brains were still a few years away.  That all changed when I bought The Specials first album.  In a rare event, it was not Cousin Rich who hipped me to the band but my friend Ted.  He and I were in the same homeroom in Intermediate School (what they called Jr. High in Duxbury) and I thought he was hilarious but in high school home room I was grouped alphabetically with the "L's" while he was with the "M's" so we lost touch.  

A few years later I heard that Ted and his group of friends were all into the same music as Cousin Rich and I. Thanks to his job at the Chart House restaurant, Ted had money to buy records and, something I'd never thought of before, cool clothes, sunglasses, etc.  He wore this blue jacket with these patches on it of bands called The Specials, The English Beat and Madness.  I didn't know those groups but I thought the graphics were cool.  How can you not love the references to early 60's Madmen-era magazine advertising.  I bought The Specials album along with The Beat's I Just Can't Stop It and was blown away by both records.  What I learned was that this music was called "Ska," and is now known as "2nd Wave" or "2 Tone Ska" (after The Specials' record label).  This music had some of the same social messages as punk rock but was upbeat and fun.  Songs about racism, poverty and the working class with a catchy, catchy beat!  What's more, my record collection had just broken the color barrier- though at the time I was barely aware of this fact.  

2 Tone Ska didn't last long but for a few years was a huge phenomenon in England.  Along with the 2 Tone bands I played tonight there's Madness, the most successful 2nd Wave group, and Bad Manners along with a goodly number of also-rans/bandwagon jumpers.  My favorite in the latter category is The Tigers.  Not only did they put out novelty song "Ska

To boldly go....

Trekkin'" about the TV show Star Trek, the group is made up of members of prog rock dinosaurs Van Der Graaf Generator!  How did that come together?  "Hey guys, put down the keytars and let's come back to the 27 minute prog opus about Ozymandias we've been working on for the last 18 months...right now it's time to giddyup! giddyup! giddyup!"  Bands like The Clash and The Members were also influenced by Ska yet their songs are nowhere near as hilarious as "Ska Trekkin'."

RIP 2 Tone Ska 1979-1982

2nd Wave Ska's relatively short lifespan, arguably from 1979 to 1982 or so, can't be blamed solely on fickle music tastes.  On their second records many of the bands started experimenting with different sounds that to my ears weren't as interesting.  A lot of the songs on More Specials sound kind of like Muzak to me and while I like The Beat's Wha'pen in, my opinion it's not nearly as good as their first record.  Madness became more of an R and B/pop group as well.  It seems like most 2nd Wave bands wanted to move beyond the core Ska sound as soon as possible.  This is interesting to me because it dovetails with what happened with the music the first time around.

It wasn't until the mid-80's that I found out out about Ska's first wave in early-60's Jamaica.  (Give me a break- this was before the Internet.)  The film Legends of Ska from this year's Sonoma International Film Festival is all about that era.  It's clear to see how much of an influence this music had on 2 Tone Ska- The Specials' "Gangsters" is a re-working of the 1964 song "Al Capone" by Prince Buster, whose song "Madness" is where the 2nd Wave group got their name.  Bad Manners' "My Girl Lollipop" is a cover of tonight's Power Pop Prototype "My Boy Lollipop" by Millie Small, which was the first international Ska hit in 1964.  Even the 2 Tone Logo is an homage to Peter Tosh on the cover of The Wailers 1965 debut:

Bunny Wailer, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh

Timeless Cool

Some might quibble that the logo has a white face, but 2 Tone founder Jerry Dammers is a white guy and there is no denying his deep love for Jamaican Ska.  He reignited interest in Jamaican artists like Prince Buster, Derrick Morgan and The Skatalites that continues to this day.
  

Early 1960's Mutt and Jeff Sound System

Jamaican Ska was birthed by market forces.  Sound Systems (huge mobile DJ parties with beer and barbecue for sale, like a rave with better music) were in heavy competition to play the latest R and B records from the U.S. (Check out Fats Domino's 1959 hit "Be My Guest" for an early influence on the Ska rhythm).  When this music started drying up (The Shirelles and The Everly Brothers apparently failing to meet Jamaican rump shaking standards), Sound System operators, like the aforementioned Prince Buster, started making their own records and Ska was born.  After only a few years though, Jamaican Ska gave way to rocksteady and reggae.  Here's my interview with Brad Klein, director of Legends of Ska:



While the 1st Wave of Ska was mostly black Jamaican guys and the 2nd Wave was racially mixed Brits, including women like Pauline Black of The Selecter and all-female group The Bodysnatchers, 3rd Wave Ska consisted mostly of white dudes, a lot of whom came out of the punk rock scene.  

Less Than Reel Big Goldfish

With little of the musical innovation of 2 Tone Ska and almost none of its social consciousness, 3rd Wave Ska is one of my least favorite kinds of music- right up there with Jacuzzi Jazz.  To me it's essentially white frat boy party music with horns.  I used to joke that God invented Ska so trumpet players could get laid.  Of course 3rd Wave Ska ended up being the most commercially successful iteration and was a big deal in the mid-1990's.  During those years when my band V.O.I.D. was playing there would always be at least one Ska band on the bill- it got to the point where even seeing a trombone backstage would fill my mouth with bile.  Years later, when I heard Po the Kung Fu Panda's catch phrase, before I knew the correct spelling, I thought "that's a little random, but I couldn't agree more- SKA DOUCHE!"

I'm past all that now and while I still change stations every time Sublime comes on the radio, I will always appreciate the artistry, genius and personal cultural awakening I experienced through 2 Tone Ska.

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ALL KINDSA GIRLS #133

Show #132 April 4, 2015

Hey Joanne... LET'S DANCE!!


Joanne- Times Square Joanne 7" 
Let's Dance- The Ramones Ramones 
*Do The Boob- Real Kids Real Kids
*Do The Twisteroo- The Twisteroos Twisted! 
*Do The Robot- The Saints (I'm) Stranded 
Toys In The Attic- The CRY! Dangerous Game 
#37 [Feels So Strange]- Greenberry Woods Rapple Dapple 
Born In Toulouse- Chixdiggit! Double Diggits! 
^Do The Bartman- Bart Simpson Do The Bartman 
*Do The Standing Still- The Table Do The Standing Still 
*Do The Push- The Starjets God Bless The Starjets
Dancehall Domine- The New Pornographers Brill Bruisers 
Time Will Tell On You- The Rock Club Yellow Pills Vol 3 More Great Pop 
Sucking Out My Faith- Happiness Factor Self Improvement? 
*Do The Gal-I-Gator- Travoltas Teenbeat 
*Do The Pop- Radio Birdman Radios Appear 
*Do the Vampire- Superdrag Head Trip In Every Key
You Are Here- The Rubinoos 45 
Gonna Grab It- Rosetta Stone Retrospective Roller 1977-1979 
Topshop Bands- The Greatest Liar The Girl With The Chesnut Eyes 
*(Do The) Instant Mash- Joe Jackson Look Sharp! 
*Do the Chisel- The Soft Boys 1976-1981
*Do The Mutilation- The Revillos Attack of the Giant Revillos 
Perfect Girl- Spinning Jennies Starstruck 
The Other Side of You- Lime Spiders Nine Miles High 1983-1990 
Dreamcrusher Machine- The Shazam Meteor 
>Do The Strand- Roxy Music Do The Strand 
*Do The Panic- Phantom Planet Raise The Dead 
*Do The Dog- The Specials The Specials
The British Are Coming- Weezer Everything Will Be Alright In The End 
Feel The Noise- Paul Collins Feel The Noise 
Don't Wanna Lose- Ex Hex Rips 
Let's Dance- Pezband Pezband 

Power Pop Peak:  #11 Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 11/20/90

*SacroSet[s]:  "Do The" Dance Songs

>Power Pop Prototype:  1973 


Like a lot of white guys I was deeply ambivalent about
dancing when I was growing up.  Out on the dance floor I'd seen countless variations of what Billy Crystal would later call "the white man's overbite" in When Harry Met Sally and it wasn't pretty. 

The W.M.O.

That said, I have always loved music and it has always made me want to move.  I've never understood those people who can sit through a rock concert and complain bitterly if anyone in front of them stands up.  

I'm a lifelong spastic bedroom dancer- when the door is closed and the music is loud.  My first experience dancing in public was in Jr. High, a dance at Duxbury Intermediate School to be exact.  It's funny but guys in my school would rag on each other about anything- shoes, pants, shirt, legs, arms, torso, face, hair, etc.- but I don't recall hearing anyone razzed for their dancing.  I think this is because we ALL looked ridiculous out there- every single one of us.  If it

I could Gopher some Barbi Benton!

weren't for the chance to touch girls I bet we'd all rather have been home watching that legendary Saturday night double header Love Boat/Fantasy Island.  We might have been missing Barbi Benton!

 
For most white guys it seems like dancing, or even the possibility of dancing, is inextricably linked with alcohol- lots and lots of alcohol. I don't drink though so I had to come up with another plan.  Back in high school I decided that, along with the unpleasant facial expressions, another area where guys go wrong dancing is with the use of their arms.  Even James Freakin' Brown couldn't make the "butter churn" look good; this move is to be avoided at all costs, especially when danced "ironically."  (I hate ironic behavior so much- for God's sake people, COMMIT!)  

Friends Don't Let Friends Churn Butter

Anyway, to this day my "dance" calls for the arms to flop around limply at my sides.  The flopping part is very important because with rigid arms in a lowered position you risk looking like this:

Lord of The Douche

Another key to my "dance" is to keep the knees bent while leaning forward slightly at the waist.  This keeps you loose and helps avert a huge dancing buzzkill- making eye contact with another helpless dude on the dance floor.  Plus it makes you look like you are listening intently to the music and concentrating on your feet.  One more thing- in my "dance" you MUST move your feet laterally.  Moving up and down with your feet planted is to be avoided at all costs and in the name of all that is holy DO NOT jut out your chin.  Of course, more important than any of my patented "dance moves" is feeling the music and not giving a crap what anyone else thinks.  It's funny but this is exactly how I feel when I'm dancing at a rock show watching a band blow the doors off the place- the thought of how I look never even crosses my mind.  That's the thing I've always

Hey! Ho!  Let's Go!

loved about Sid Vicious' lone positive contribution to our world a dance called The Pogo.  The Pogo is a reflexive jump for joy, the rock and roll equivalent of a whale breaching.  When the jocks discovered that punk was an ideal outlet to channel their 'roid rage and/or latent homosexuality, my beloved Pogo devolved into slam dancing and moshing. 

I never liked the "Pit"

No doubt "Dance Like Nobody's Watching" is a hackneyed expression but that doesn't make it any less true- especially for white guys like me.  So it really doesn't matter if this is what we LOOK like dancing:

When this is what we FEEL like dancing.

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ALL KINDSA GIRLS #132

Show #131 March 21, 2015

Tonight I say Sorry Suzanne for so many weeks away...
 
Sorry Suzanne- The Hollies 30th Anniversary Collection
I'm Sorry- Travoltas Endless Summer 
Carried Away- Sloan Commonwealth 
Bad For You- Hoehn and Duren Blue Orange 
Now We're Through- Richard and the Taxmen Now We're Through 7" 
Land of 1000 Girls- Scruffy The Cat Time Never Forgets: The Anthology 
Laser Show- Fountains Of Wayne Utopia Parkway 
Waiting To Pull The Trigger- Parallax Project I Hate Girls 
^Sorry- Buckcherry 15 
Black Eyed Girl- The DomNicks Super Real 
The Pain Don't Come So Easy- Silver Sun A Lick And A Promise 
Kings and Queens- Allo Darlin' We Come from the Same Place 
Step Down- The Cavedogs Joy Rides for Shut-Ins 
It's True- The Meanies Waiting For You 7" 
*Sorry- The Smithereens 2011 
*Sorry- City Thrills City Thrills EP 
*Sorry- Nerf Herder Nerf Herder 
*Sorry- Greg Kihn Most Fun You Can Have with Your Clothes On: Beserkley Story 
Never Let You Go- Philip John Master The Monster 
Elm Tree Eulogy- Sugar Stems Only Come Out At Night 
Sorry Sorry- Rooney Rooney 
I Just Care About Me- Stiff Little Fingers No Going Back 
Sorry Sorry Sorry- The Scientists The Scientists 
Everything The Same- Richard X. Heyman Cornerstone >Sorry- The Easybeats The Definitive Anthology 
Uniform- The Secrets Titan: It's All Pop! 
Catch My Heart- Sunnyboys Get Some Fun 
Reader's Wife- Billy Karloff And The Extremes Let Your Fingers Do The Talking 
Back To The Shack- Weezer Everything Will Be Alright In The End 
Sorry- Galaxie 500 This Is Our Music

^Power Pop Peak:  #9 Billboard Hot 100 3/8/2008

*SacroSet:  Sorry Songs

>Power Pop Prototype:  1966

This year marked the 18th Sonoma International Film  Festival- it's been in town almost as long as Jaime and I have.  I go every year and always manage to see something great.  For the last five years I've also done filmmaker interviews for SVTV 27, the local cable station.  Bob the Radio/TV Chief Operator e-mails all the producers and directors the Monday of festival week and by Thursday he's got twenty or so interviews scheduled.  That's when I get to work researching the films.  Most have websites where I get background information and watch a trailer, or if its a short, maybe the entire film.  

Each interview is only ten minutes so I come up with three or four questions and we're good to go.  My favorite interviews are the ones that go off script.  Most of the men and women I talk with are working the "festival circuit," living out of suitcases taking their films from town to town doing countless interviews along the way.  Knowing this I pride myself on avoiding boring questions ("what is your film about?" "what did you shoot on?" etc.) which the filmmakers seem to appreciate.  Bob gets a lot of good feedback from them afterwards which is pretty gratifying.  Here's this year's crop:



I'm a big fan of the TV show Justified and I got to interview Rick Gomez who plays AUSA David Vasquez.  He co-wrote and starred in the film The Week with three other Justified cast mates including Joelle Carter who plays Ava Crowder.   It's a prickly romantic comedy and one of Gomez' most endearing co-stars is his dog.  Our family dog Lacey hates/fears me so I was truly jealous of the unabashed love Rick Gomez' dog has for him in The Week.  Rom com is usually not my thing but the film's plot and characters easily transcend the usual pitfalls of the genre.  As if that's not rare enough, BOTH Jaime and I liked The Week- a rarity for a film with a zero body count. 

One of my other SIFF favorites is The House On Pine Streetan outstanding entry in the "haunted pregnancy" sub genre that includes films like Rosemary's Baby, Grace, and Inside but is completely gore-free.  I interviewed Aaron Keeling who co-directed with his twin brother Austin. The eerie, mute 14 year old twin girls in The House On Pine Street inspired my favorite question of the 2015 festival:  "so, twins are creepy...." which isn't really a question at all.  Anyway, I hope Pine Street gets distribution because it is a very smart, well made film.  

My top picks from the festival this year are both foreign films that have yet to secure a theatrical run in the US.  The first is The Connection which gives the Gallic perspective of William Friedkin's 1971 classic The French Connection.  Oscar winner Jean Dujardin (The Artist) plays Pierre Michel, the magistrate prosecuting the French cartel and he is a total boss.  Since it is a French film and they didn't have to allot 30 minutes for car chases you get to see all sides of Michel, including the stress his job puts on his family.  They do the same thing with Gatean Zampa, the film's bad guy.  I also appreciate how The Connection has the look and feel of those great 70's films like The Day of The Jackal and Three Days of The Condor.

The first film I saw at SIFF this year is also my favorite.  A Hard Day is just that.  It reminded me of Scorsese's Afterhours and Demme's Something Wild, yet unlike the hapless klutzes in those films, we learn early on that Gun-su, the main character in A Hard Day, is a dick.  So rather than making me anxious, as Afterhours and Something Wild do (even though I like both films) watching it rain down crap on Gun-su in A Hard Day is very entertaining.  He deserves everything he gets right up until the film introduces us to somebody even worse.  Black comedy is hard to do, but A Hard Day has it in spades.  

Click the links below to stream/download this weeks show:
Hour 1
Hour 2

Show #130 VALENTINE'S SPECIAL February 14, 2015

The Valentine's Special is dedicated to Valentina... along with the cast and crew of Carrie:  The Musical!

Valentina- Jack Green Humanesque 
Heart- Rockpile Seconds Of Pleasure
Valentine's Day- Three Hour Tour Three Hour Tour - 1969 
Valentine's Day- David Bowie The Next Day 
Valentine's Day- The Dollyrots Valentine's Day 
Heartbeat- The Knack Get the Knack 
Heartbeat- Allo Darlin' We Come from the Same Place 
Heartbeat- Jim Freeman and the Golden Gate Jumpers Romantic 
Heartbeat- The Outlets I Remember 
Valentine- Fools Face Tell America 
Valentine- Get Up Kids Something to Write Home About 
Valentine- The Replacements Pleased To Meet Me 
Valentine- Old 97's Fight Songs 
I Found Her- Boys Life Boys Life 
Lonelyhearts- The Atlantics DIY: Mass. Ave. The Boston Scene (1979-83) 
Lonely Hearts- Candy Whatever Happened To Fun 
Lonely Heart- Dirty Angels Dirty Angels 
Valentine- Bobby Bare Jr's Young Criminals Starvation League From The End Of Your Leash
Valentine- The School All I Wanna Do 
Valentine- Smoking Popes The Party's Over 
Valentine- The Wombats Jump Into the Fog 
Young Hearts- Free Energy Stuck On Nothing 
Young Hearts- The Cute Lepers Smart Accessories 
Young Reckless Hearts- Warm Soda Young Reckless Hearts 
Heartache- The Dictators Manifest Destiny 
Heartache- Protex I Can Only Dream 7'' 
Heart Songs- Weezer Weezer (Red Album) 

I hadn't done a Valentine's Day show in a few years so when February 14 fell on a Saturday this year I figured it was time.  Mrs. Love's birthday is February 7th so if I've done right by her (and I always do) I'm off the hook a week later when Valentine's Day comes around.  This year is I even convinced Jaime to come in and co-host the first hour of the show- a first for All Kindsa Girls!

It was all Carrie:  The Musical all the time this January and February.  I've been acting in plays for years but this was my first time as Production Manager and man is it a lot of work!  Securing rights, getting music tracks (unfortunately a live band is just too expensive these days), finding rehearsal space, hiring a director, musical director, choreographer, stage manager, lighting, set, sound, graphic design, front of house and concessions people, working with the venue on ticket sales and tech week, getting the poster made (above) and programs made, searching for costumes and props- it never ends.  That said, it was a lot of fun too.  We had an amazing cast and the production team was first rate.  

In this show cell phone usage is....mandatory!

Director Libby Oberlin did a fantastic job and was very open to other people's ideas.  Stephen King's 1974 novel Carrie and the original 1988 Broadway production pre-date smart phones.  Even in the 2012 revival there's only one passing mention: "Norma's already posted it."  Talking about the show last winter we decided that phones had to be a major part of the show.  Libby even used my idea for the opening number "In."  It opened in complete darkness until you see the kids faces illuminated by their phones.  VERY cool! 

High Schoolers and ISIS...compare and contrast

Libby created an open, positive and safe space from the first rehearsal- very important so the kids could be the horrible, abusive monsters the script calls for.  They were having such a good time she had to keep giving them notes about not smiling or looking happy while they were saying and/or doing heinous things to each other.  Every rehearsal began with cast members checking-in on how they're feeling and ended with them sharing, in one word, something they wanted to reinforce.
 
Moira, our Stage Manager, is always great to work with and came through with some amazing set pieces including a bank of lockers, commercial sewing machine and not one but two antique prayer kneelers.  Seriously- where do you find prayer kneelers in 2015?!?  I had a hard time picturing them when she first described the kneelers but now I can't imagine doing the show without them.

Every home should have a prayer kneeler!

Carrie's self discovery begins...

Sue asks Do Me A Favor?  DON'T DO IT TOMMY!!

From the start one of the things I was most looking forward to in Carrie: The Musical was doing a show with my daughter Nica.  We've watched each other in shows for years but this is the first one we've done together.  She was "good girl" narrator Sue Snell and I was teacher Mr. Stephens and it was every bit as fun as I thought it would be.  Nica didn't ask for any special treatment

NOT a "teachable moment"

and for the most part we related to each other like cast members- which was awesome.  I got to see her as the other cast members do- talented, professional and composed but still a lot of fun backstage. 


When you tell people you're doing a production of Carrie:  The Musical the first question you get is "what?  they did a musical of Carrie...really?" followed by "how are you going to do the blood?"  It's funny, but that was also Topic #1 at our first production meeting last fall.  At that and subsequent meetings we spent hours talking about the blood- it was my #1 "awake at 3am staring at the ceiling" anxiety.  Rules of stagecraft forbid me from giving anything away but I can

Promocalypse Now!

safely say our blood drop was FANTASTIC!!!  Tony our set designer did an amazing job- it looked very cool and was 100% safe. What's more, Mike our sound guy found this deep rumble for the scene that just about shook the fillings out of your teeth.  (The only thing I can compare it to is the old "Sensurround" films like Earthquake and Midway.)  Finally, Mikey the choreographer came up with a bunch of moves- that I dubbed "flooreo" (get it?!?)- for when Carrie is torturing us that I'm told looked very cool.

Once You See You Can't Unsee

I'm very proud of our production.  I haven't talked about how well written Carrie:  The Musical is, how it explores so many relevant themes, how it resonated with the audience and the kids in the cast.  I'll just let the lyrics to the show's Epilogue do that for me:  

SUE: No doubts. No more fears. I see you shine and the dark disappears.
TOMMY: One day you finally see her
BOYS: One day you finally see her
GIRLS: One day you finally see her
TOMMY: Finally see her
EVERYONE: Finally see her
SUE and TOMMY: For years, you look
EVERYONE: You look at someone passing by
GIRLS: And then one day you see her
BOYS: And then one day you see her
EVERYONE: One day you finally see her. Now
SUE: How can I not see?
EVERYONE: Me? Am I so blind?
GIRLS: I could say, say
BOYS: I could say
EVERYONE: Thank God that's not me. But what does it cost to be kind?
BOYS: Blinded. And silent, too scared to be
EVERYONE: And to finally see. And to finally see. 
SUE: I felt as though this girl revealed her self to me.  And now, I know
BOYS: I Fin'lly see
GIRLS: I Fin'lly see
SUE: That once you see, you can't unsee.

 

 

Show #129 January 24, 2015

For Cecile... but really for
Jaime on our 23rd Wedding Anniversary!

Cecile- The Marshalls Wicked Good Music! 
Color Eyes- L.A. Burgers L.A. Burgers 
Navigation By the Stars- The Successful Failures Captains of Industry, Captains of War 
Don't Think About It- The Vertebrats A Thousand Day Dream 
Superstar- The Merrymakers Bubblegun 
Got A Hold On Me- The Britannicas High Tea 
When You're Not Around- Chino Mala Leche 
Sometimes- The Stranglers Rattus Norvegicus 
^Starry Eyes- The Records DIY: UK Pop II (1978-79) Starry Eyes 
Modern Pests- The Cute Lepers Can't Stand Modern Music 
Everything But Love- Dogs Legendary Lovers 
Jacob's Ladder- The Monochrome Set The Lost Weekend 
Call Yourself A Man- The Heats Have An Idea 
One Last Night- The Atlantics Big City Rock 
*Big Brown Eyes- The dB's Stands for Decibels 
*Eyes Of Green- Joey Ramone ...Ya Know? 
*Red Eyes- Helmet Boy Helmet Boy 
*Hazel Eyes- Redd Kross Researching The Blues 
*Pale Blue Eyes- The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground 
*Brown Eyes- Gary Charlson Titan: It's All Pop! 
Yesterday's Love- Any Trouble Where Are All the Nice Girls? 
The Sky Is Falling- The Semantics Powerbill 
Popular Girl- The Strand Seconds Waiting 
Run Mascara Run- The Rubinoos 45 
Things Have Changed Now- Blue Ash Front Page News 
Is There Anybody In My World?- Little Murders Stop Plus Singles 1978-1986 
>Brown Eyed Handsome Man- Chuck Berry The Anthology  
Can I Crash Here- The Flys See For Miles (1978-1980) 
Postcards- Warm Soda Young Reckless Hearts 
Cemetery Gates- The Smiths The Sound Of The Smiths 
Bright Eyes Darkened- Slobberbone Everything You Thought Was Right Was Wrong Today 

^Power Pop Prototype:  #56 Billboard Hot 100 9/29/79

*SacroSet:  Color Eye Songs

>Power Pop Prototype:  1956

Today is my wedding anniversary- Jaime and I have been married for 23 years!  If you ask either of us the secret of our longevity the answer might surprise you.  Yes, there's love, trust, and  communication- the bread and butter of therapists, writers and all those who make their living in the marriage support industry.  Yet for Jaime and I the answer is much simpler:  Couch Time.  Every night of the week we are both home we spend at least an hour sitting beside each other on the couch watching something on TV.  Would it be better if we held each other's chins and gazed longingly into each other's eyes for that hour?  Maybe but- c'mon we're talkin' 23 years people!  The key to Couch Time is that it is a shared experience, something we both want to do.  So let, me explain the rules of Couch Time:

1. We both watch the same thing (which is not as easy as it sounds- see below);
2. No laptops, no cell phones, etc. (I'd add our kids to this list of annoying distractions to be avoided, but Jaime has this 24/7 concept of parenting that I often find tedious);
3. The consuming of snacks (both of us), martinis (Jaime) and Diet Coke (me) does not commence until the chosen program has begun;
4. No talking during the program (this is my rule- in 23 years Jaime has not kept it once, but that's why they invented the pause button). 

No doubt #1 on this list is the greatest challenge- finding something we both want to watch.  The issue is that for me, words on a movie poster like "harrowing," "bleak," "a seething vortex of mendacity," "violence that would make ISIS blush" and "in Sinhalese with English subtitles" are not deal breakers.  Truth be told, if the Rotten Tomatoes score is high enough, I will actively seek out films with these attributes.  Jaime not so much- especially when it comes to violence.  Back in the day though, she was on board.  In 1994 we went to see Once Were Warriors at the Lumiere Theater on California Street in San Francisco.  Scenes from that film are seared onto my brain- it is a difficult to watch and beautifully made film.  To this day it informs my thoughts about women who live with violent men and how our modern world chews up and spits out indigenous cultures.  Jaime would no doubt agree with the "relentless sledgehammer of a film" assessment above, but she was as moved by Once Were Warriors as I was.

Mallory will see you now....

Jaime liked Natural Born Killers even more than me- the violence, the sex, the violence, the media satire, the violence, the social commentary- she was down with all of it.  What's more, while I hope no one "likes" the James Gandolfini/Patricia Arquette scene in True Romance- easily one of the most brutal ever in a Hollywood movie- Jaime and I both thought it was a great film.  I imagine about now you're thinking two

Tony Soprano is a choir boy next to this guy!

things.  First, "Tarantino wrote some amazing films before he started making cartoons like Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained."  And second, "what changed Jaime's taste- why won't she watch violent movies with Rick anymore?"  

My theory is that having children changed my wife on a cellular level.  She has always been a very sympathetic person- this is trait I believe she and I share.  When I'm watching well written, acted and directed movies I have an unguarded sympathy for the people up on the screen.  Truth be told, I cry a lot more in movies than I do in real life.  When Jaime had our children, I think her internal switch clicked permanently from "sympathy" over to "empathy."  Instead of feeling FOR the people on the screen, she is feeling WITH them- every punch, stab, shot, etc.  Once I made this connection, it was easy to see why Jaime could literally no longer stomach violence in

movies and TV shows.  When she sees me watching something like Sons of Anarchy or John Wick (both of which I wholeheartedly love) she'll ask "why do you want to put that into your body?"  The question makes it seems like these are products I'm physically consuming- which for her they are.  She would probably throw up during even the most tame Sons of Anarchy episode- especially this last season.

Jaime recently pointed out that in the last few years she had seen very few of the movies and TV show on my annual Top 5 Lists.   This is not solely due to my interest in (my wife would say "obsession with") violence, but it's a major factor.  There certainly are a lot of movies like Snowpiercer and Spring Breakers joining TV shows like Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead on each year's list.  In my defense I can site several non-violent movies like Boyhood and The Spectacular Now on past lists, yet when I try to apply the same standard to TV, well that's not so easy.  You have to go back to Happy Endings in 2011 to find a Top 5 TV show of mine that did not include a murder.  Ouch!  We need another season of Louie up on Netflix stat!

When I was growing up I loved James Bond movies and TV shows like S.W.A.T.- I've been watching people shoot at each other my whole life.  Not everything I watch is violent of course- we are in a golden age of TV comedy with Black-ish, Veep, Key and Peele, Silicon Valley, etc.  I haven't seen The Affair or Masters of Sex yet, but it's easy to see that they've substituted sex for violence to hold your interest- which I have absolutely no problem with, mind you.  As for sex and violence free dramas, those are harder to come by.  Jaime and I like Rectify and The Good Wife but those seem to be exceptions.  I really liked the first season of Downton Abbey but in Season 2 they jumped the shark trying to amp up the drama.  (Could the horribly burned soldier be the lost heir of Downton?  For one episode he could!)  That's the thing- the essence of drama is conflict and it is tough to sustain without creating the life and death situations you encounter in most violent TV shows.  

Jaime gets mad when I tease her about her distaste for screen

violence; "c'mon babe, Hugh Grant can only make so many movies, give the guy a break!"  Yet to be fair, she loved Broadchurch, True Detective and Orphan Black- all of which include some pretty dark stuff.  Yes there have been speed bumps- she didn't speak to me for a day after we watched the "White Bear" episode of Black Mirror (she didn't even finish it, I watched the last 25 minutes on my laptop in the proverbial doghouse).   At the same time, we are halfway through Fargo, which is downright nasty, and she's enjoying it as much as I am.  Jaime doesn't like the violence, but there is enough story there to make it tolerable.  I'm thankful for this because it makes for some high quality Couch Time!  Happy Anniversary Darlin'!

Link to this show is below (click to stream or to download, right click and "Save Link As")
ALL KINDSA GIRLS #129