10. You've probably heard about the FedEx driver who refused to deliver packages to any homes bearing Biden/Harris or Black Lives Matter signs. As always, I've got a different complaint: who wrote the various news stories that neglected to say where this took place? Because if you're proud of where you live and the news mentions they'll be doing a story on some sort of maniac, you're going, "Don't let them be from Washington...don't let them be from Washington...dontletthembefromwashington!" I had to search several sites before I found that this joker resides in Washington State--that lack of detail is journalism that has failed.
9. It's an awful time for the Biden administration now; plenty of it is their own fault... disorganization, shabby diplomacy to other countries, in-fighting. Which provides more ammunition for the dishonest, disruptive people on the GOP side. The sad state of affairs is that the good guys and gals are clubbing themselves in the foot. And "Democrats" like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema and killing the Dems' chances.
8. Our library has tossed several patrons for not wearing masks, who get angry about the state mandates. Read: selfishness. The pandemic is like a world war for everyone; can you imagine what might have transpired during WWII had there been a mass movement to subvert the government's plan to ration items and keep our nation strong during the turmoil? Want to do something for the good of the country? Get vaccinated!
7. The single most moving television feature I've seen in ages was on CBS-TV's "60 Minutes" Sunday (October 3). Anderson Cooper's heartwarming and heartwrenching piece on 95 year old Tony Bennett and Alzheimer's Disease depicted Bennett's marriage, his friendship with Lady Gaga and the two shows (probably his last) they did together at Radio City Music Hall in August. A stunning segment, to say the least--please find it on YouTube and be prepared to cry.
6. My favorite oldies station KGHO had quite a run the other day when Gina and I were doing errands: the Kinks' "Apeman," Jackson Browne's "Here Come Those Tears," the Shangri-las' "Past, Present and Future," the Beatles' "No Reply," The Go-Gos' "Vacation," Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues," and CCR's "Bad Moon Rising." If I'd have put a classic rock station on the radio, I may have heard Metallica's ghastly version of Bob Seger's "Turn the Page" or Def Leppard.
5. I'm currently reading Tony Fletcher's All Hopped Up and Ready to Go: Music from the Streets of New York, 1927-1977 (W.W. Norton, 2009). This remarkable book covers the amazing venues, scenes and movements birthed in Harlem, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Greenwich Village: bebop, Afro-Cuban jazz, leftist/radical folk music, doo-wop, R&B, classic songwriting/production teams, rock, punk, rap/hip hop and disco. Likewise, All Hopped Up touches on every major figure who lived or spent time in the Big Apple during that era, musical or not (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Machito, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo, Eleanor Roosevelt, Woody Guthrie, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, the Rascals, Andy Warhol, the Velvet Underground, the New York Dolls, Patti Smith, the Ramones, Afrika Bambaataa).
A favorite passage concerns disk jockey Alan Freed, who moved from WJW/Cleveland to New York's WINS in 1954 and electrified those who hadn't heard R&B before, including future songwriter/producer Richard Gottehrer (the Strangeloves, Blondie, the Go-Gos). A transistor radio was useful for kids whose parents were against "mixing the races," says Gottehrer: "I would listen under the pillow. When you think of the significance of Alan Freed and what it meant to the world of a teenager, what sounds today pretty simplistic was overwhelming. To hear Alan playing a song, banging on a phone book, yelling 'go go go'..." Author Fletcher adds: "For many teenagers, it was the sound of freedom itself."
While notorious slumlord Fred Trump isn't in All Hopped Up, the equally hateful Robert Moses is represented. He's the guy who intentionally designed the low clearance overpasses/bridges that lead to NYC's beaches; buses are unable to go under those bridges, and it's poor people and minorities whose mode of transportation is a bus. Denying beach access to lower income citizens is just one example of Robert Moses' racist agenda; he was both a masterful builder and a devious disgrace to humanity. Typo count: not bad for 400 pages. Marvin Schlacter's mention has Scepter Records listed as "Specter"; the soul-disco group the Trammps reads as "Tramps"; and Johnnie Ray is shown as "Johnny," adding to that legacy of misspellings. But all in all, fabulous work.
4. Bigotry against Asians continues, this time from Detroit Tigers broadcaster Jack Morris, who made a slur about Angels' megastar Shohei Ohtani in August. Recalling the ending scene of 1983's A Christmas Story, where the family ends up dining in an Asian restaurant, Morris mocked Ohtani by saying you've got to be "velly velly careful" pitching to him. It was during the 2016 World Series that the Astros' Yuli Gurriel was suspended for a racist gesture at an Asian pitcher--he pulled on the skin near each of his eyes to change the shape of them--and received just a five game reprimand that didn't begin until 2017.
3. What a year for the Seattle Mariners! They missed the playoffs by that much (to quote Maxwell Smart) and ended up with 90 wins, their highest total since 2003. It was not expected to be a season of intense competition from the Mariners, so manager Scott Servais deserves immense credit for successfully shifting the roster to replace injured players (gold glover Evan White from last year as well as 2020 Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis were out almost all of 2021), as does the front office and especially the players--Kyle Seager drove in 101 runs, Mitch Haniger 100. Seattle was a blast all year, and the third youngest team in the majors, so we've got great things coming up.
2. Although he wasn't an original member, Darrell Bath of the UK band the Vibrators died recently. Their 1977 debut Pure Mania (Epic) is a favorite from that era, decidedly less intense or angry than the Sex Pistols, with a Ramones-like exuberance in some of the songs ("Yeah Yeah Yeah"), and dead seriousness in others ("No Heart"). Back in the '70s, the Vibrators' Pure Mania didn't leave my turntable for weeks. I prefer the convenience of a CD, so I tried to acquire the disc through our Inter Library Loan System, hoping a library elsewhere in the US would let me borrow a copy. But then the word came back: "a few libraries have this title but none are willing to lend it." The final message? No one wants to loan their Vibrators. Insert your own punchline here.
1. Sad to lose Commander Cody (George Frayne) in the past week. Perhaps the Commander's greatest talent was not his wonderful piano playing but putting together the Lost Planet Airmen, at times the best roots/bar band in America (possibly matched only by Missouri's the Morells). Finding extraordinary guitarist Bill Kirchen was just one of Frayne's big achievements. And I'll never forget my first Armadillo World Headquarters show in Austin--it was one of two nights that the group's Live from Deep In the Heart of Texas (released in 1974) was taped. That was one glorious time!