Show #116 February 8, 2014

The All Kindsa Girls RAIN DANCE is dedicated to Rainy Jane!

Rainy Jane- Davy Jones Rainy Jane
Rainin' Like Soft Fun- The Orange Humble Band Assorted Creams 
She Brings the Rain- The Grip Weeds Infinite Soul: The Best of the Grip Weeds
Sound of the Rain- The Dils Made In Canada Double-7"
I Wish It Would Rain- Wreckless Eric Big Smash 
Standing In The Rain- Squire Big Smashes
Stood In The Rain- Four O'Clock Balloon Yellow Pills Vol 4 The Best of American Pop!
Standin' In The Rain- The Finders Calling Dr. Powerpop
^Only Happy When It Rains- Garbage Garbage
Singing In The Rain- Just Water Singing In The Rain
Walk In The Rain- The Pop The Pop
As The Rain Goes- Stryker Stryker 7"
The Summer Rain- Shoes Shoe's Best
Cold As The Rain- The Signals Person To Person
*Let It Rain- The Boys Boys Only
*Let It Rain- OK Go Oh No
*Let It Rain- The Dream Syndicate Tell Me When It's Over: The Best of
*Let It Rain- UFO Let It Rain
Another Rainy Weekend- Nushu Hula 
The Sun And The Rain- Madness The Business
Rain- The Jam Direction, Reaction, Creation
When it Rains...- X See How We Are 
Just A Little Rain- The Cryers The Cryers 
Sheltered From The Rain- The Angels The Angels 
>Flowers In The Rain- The Move Flowers In The Rain 
Rain- Status Quo Rain
Delaware Rain- Ric Menck The Ballad Of Ric Menck 
Right As Rain- The Neighborhoods ...The High Hard One...
Crying In The Rain-Rockpile Seconds Of Pleasure 
Another Song About The Rain- Cracker Cracker 

^Power Pop Peak:  #55 Billboard Hot 100 9/18/95

*SacroSet:  Let It Rain (please!)

>Power Pop Prototype:  1967

Never doubt the enduring power of rock and roll!  Case in point, after hearing nothing but dour California drought news the entire month of January I decided to do something about it with the ALL KINDSA GIRLS RAIN DANCE!  I started working on the program the day before the Super Bowl and what do you think happened that night- it started to rain!  What's more, the following Thursday while I was in the studio recording the show it started raining again and didn't stop for four days.  In fact, when the show aired that Saturday night there was flooding all over Sonoma- though we knew better than to complain about it.  Unfortunately it ended up being mere "drops in the bucket" compared to what we need but still, I made it rain!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

As I often do when putting a theme show together I went to youtube and searched on "Let It Rain" and up came this really funny video from Along Came Polly featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman:


I had completely forgotten about his part in this movie, which I think I watched on a flight.  After films like The Master, Ides of March and The Savages, you forget how funny Philip Seymour Hoffman could be.  I decided to include the video (at least the audio portion) in the show's SacroSet of songs called "Let It Rain."  Little did I know Philip Seymour Hoffman would be dead less than a week later...

PSH as Plutarch Heavensbee

I was already ambivalent about the Super Bowl as the Patriots had been wedgied, pantsed and wet-willied right out of Denver two weeks earlier.  That game was straight up embarrassing!  Anyway, my friends Frank and Joanna were coming up to watch the Super Bowl and I was looking forward to seeing them.  When Jaime and I got back from church that morning my daughter Nica bounded down the stairs to tell us that "Plutarch Heavensbee- the guy who plays him, is dead!  Of a HEROIN overdose!"  Nica and I are big fans of the Hunger Games books.  When Hoffman, one of my favorite actors, signed on for Catching Fire I took it as a sign of personal validation.  It meant a lot to me that a guy who had several Oscar nominations and one win believed in the The Hunger Games enough to commit to three movies.  That was the thing about Hoffman, in parts big or small, in blockbusters or indie films, he always brought something interesting to the table.  You could argue that Catching Fire was just a paycheck but I don't think that's the way Hoffman operated.

As is the fate of many character actors, I saw Hoffman in several films before I really "saw" him, including My New Gun with Diane Lane (who I've loved since The Outsiders), Scent of a Woman, Leap of Faith and Nobody's Fool.  I didn't see Twister when it was in theaters so I didn't catch Hoffman's performance as a lunatic storm chaser until later.  I'm glad it turned out that way because it meant Philip Seymour Hoffman first came to my attention in Boogie Nights.  His character Scotty J's desperate crush on Mark Wahlberg's Eddie Adams (a.k.a. Dirk Diggler) was just heartbreaking.  Hoffman could have come off creepy but I think he made the character sympathetic:

After Boogie Nights I went back and saw director Paul Thomas Anderson's first film Hard Eight, which also features a great Hoffman performance as hillbilly shooting craps.

 
That's it for him in the movie, yet even with limited screen time, Hoffman certainly makes an impression.  It's worth noting too that the title of the movie "Hard Eight" is first referenced in this scene.

I think Hoffman will be remembered most for the deep sadness and internal struggle in his characters, whether it's Lancaster Dodd in The Master or Gust Avrakatos in Charlie Wilson's War or Andy Hanson in Before The Devil Knows Your Dead.  It's hard for me then to separate his performances as these fictional characters from the living, breathing person who stuck a needle in his arm and died of a heroin overdose, leaving three children without a father.  If that is the cost of great talent then happily count me as one of the teeming mass of untalented.  I know it's my morbid side, but I have wondered if there are young actors out there toiling in obscurity who would trade with Hoffman, for all of it- talent, ambition, critical esteem, fame, wealth, artistic freedom, an Oscar.... and death at 46.  On the other hand, I'd like to think that Hoffman himself would take that trade too, choosing to live in obscurity to a ripe old age, maybe as the star of his small town community theater.

The Great Lester Bangs

One of my favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman performances is in Almost Famous.  He plays legendary rock critic Lester Bangs mentoring young writer William Miller (a stand in for writer/director Cameron Crowe).  Early in the film the two meet in a diner:


Then, late in the film they have this phone conversation:

Lester Bangs: Aw, man. You made friends with them. See, friendship is the booze they feed you. They want you to get drunk on feeling like you belong.  
William Miller: Well, it was fun. 
Lester Bangs: Because they make you feel cool. And hey, I met you. You are not cool.  
William Miller: I know. Even when I thought I was, I knew I wasn't.  
Lester Bangs: That's because we are uncool. And while women will always be a problem for guys like us, most of the great art in the world is about that very problem. Good-looking people don't have any spine. Their art never lasts. They get the girls, but we're smarter.  
William Miller: I can really see that now.  
Lester Bangs: Yeah, great art is about guilt and longing and love disguised as sex, and sex disguised as love... and let's face it, you got a big head start.  
William Miller: I'm glad you were home. 
Lester Bangs: I'm always home. I'm uncool.  
William Miller: Me too!  
Lester Bangs: You're doing great.  The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool.  My advice to you. I know you think those guys are your friends. You wanna be a true friend to them? Be honest, and unmerciful.  

The bitter irony is that Lester Bangs died the ultimate "cool" rock star death:  from a drug overdose (Darvon, Valium and NyQuil of all things) in New York City on April 30, 1982.  He was 33.  I suppose we should be happy we got 13 more years from Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Click on these links to download this week's show (pause and un-pause if they get stuck):
Hour 1
Hour 2

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
Hour 2

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