#The Richman Group

[alexpopovic]

Alex Popovic featured in Urban Land Institute Article

Alex Popovic was recently recognized for his time as a US Marine Force Reconnaissance Scout/Sniper and his time in servicehttps://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7128471745056960513/

[glowinggator]

Any ideas of what a first date would look like with Rocky? 👀

(Side note, I adore your writing style so much!! ^^)

A/N: Awe, thank you so much!🧡 Sorry for the late reply, school has officially started back up again, but I'm glad I was able to get this out! I remember in one of the livestreams Tracy said that he'd see nothing wrong with taking you to 7/11 for a date, which let's be real, is my ideal man. Enjoy! 

Extravagant; Theatrical; Moonstruck. These are but three of the most common words to describe Rocky. Despite his handpicked friend group -- or more bluntly, his small group of people willing to stick around -- Rocky tends to draw quite a bit of attention. Very little of it is good, but still: words like that are thrown around with ease. As such, one might assume that Rocky's perfect date would be to some extravagant place where the music never stops and the night never ends. 

But… they would be wrong. 

Because despite his tales of grandeur, Rocky's life has taught him to enjoy the simpler things. Car rides down the streets of Saint Louis, hopping through abandoned streetcars, pocketing snacks from the big convenience store down the lane… that's what Rocky really looks forward to. 

And let's face it: Rocky would love to take you out to a fancy dinner and a movie, but this cat just doesn't have the funds for it. Closest he could get would be the Little Daisy during daylight -- Miss M's always makes sure he's at least somewhat fed -- but he knows all too well that Ivy would leap at the chance to get him back for all the times he's teased her about Freckle. 

(He's sent her off on a few wild goose chases before to grab a bite with you, though. Pancakes can't be beat,  you know.) 

But loving Rocky, you know that money isn't everything. Every moment spent with him is memorable. Many of your date nights are just the two of you hanging out together, whether it be driving around or completing a run for the Lackadaisy -- any moment spent together is so damn good that it's hard to call it anything but a date. Your friends don't quite get it, but that's alright. 

For your first ever date though… he tried pretty damn hard. 

He hopped the fence of some richman (it was Sedgewick, although he'll never admit to it) to steal some flowers for you, tying them together in orange and blue ribbons. You still have their petals saved, pressed into books and stored in mahogany boxes along with all of the letters he's ever written to you. 

The rest of the day is spent in each other's company, driving, talking, and occasionally stopping to dance in the streets of Saint Louis. You can't say you were much of a dancer before meeting him, but he has an infectious energy about him. 

He eventually convinces you to let him sneak you into a movie -- he refuses to let you spend a dime on him, even if you're well-off. You can't tell if he likes the thrill of sneaking in, or if it's out of some chivalrous obligation. Likely both. 

All in all, the night is one of the most magical you've ever had. No price tags for rose colored glasses, or awkward lapses in silence. Just the two of you, taking every moment as it comes by. 

He insists on driving you home that night, just to make sure you get in safe, still thrumming with excitement. Neither of you really want the night to end, but alas. 

(It's not like the two of you don't see each other daily.) 

(He short-circuits when you press a kiss to his cheek before darting out of the car. His voice cracks a little when he says he'll see you tomorrow, hands slipping off the center console when he leans out to shout. You can't wait to see him again.) 

[shewhoworshipscarlin]

Fredi Washington

Fredericka Carolyn "Fredi" Washington (December 23, 1903 – June 28, 1994) was an American stage and film actress, civil rights activist, performer, and writer. Washington was of African American descent. She was one of the first Black Americans to gain recognition for film and stage work in the 1920s and 1930s. Washington was active in the Harlem Renaissance, her best known role being Peola in the 1934 film version of Imitation of Life, where she plays a young light-skinned Black woman who decides to pass as white. Her last film role was in One Mile from Heaven (1937), after which she left Hollywood and returned to New York to work in theatre and civil rights activism.

Fredi Washington was born in 1903 in Savannah, Georgia, to Robert T. Washington, a postal worker, and Harriet "Hattie" Walker Ward, a dancer. Both were of African American and European ancestry. Washington was the second of their five children. Her mother died when Fredi was 11 years old. As the oldest girl in her family, she helped raise her younger siblings, Isabel, Rosebud, and Robert, with the help of their grandmother. After their mother's death, Fredi and her sister Isabel were sent to the St. Elizabeth's Convent School for Colored Girls in Cornwells Heights, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

While still in school in Philadelphia, Washington's family moved north to Harlem, New York. Washington graduated from Julia Richman High School in New York City.

Washington's entertainment career began in 1921 as a chorus girl in the Broadway musical Shuffle Along. She was hired by dancer Josephine Baker as a member of the "Happy Honeysuckles," a cabaret group. Baker became a friend and mentor to her. Washington's collaboration with Baker led to her being discovered by producer Lee Shubert. In 1926, she was recommended for a co-starring role on the Broadway stage with Paul Robeson in the play Black Boy. She quickly became a popular, featured dancer, and toured internationally with her dancing partner, Al Moiret.

Washington turned to acting in the late 1920s. Her first movie role was in Black and Tan (1929), in which she played a Cotton Club dancer who was dying. She acted in a small role in The Emperor Jones (1933) starring Robeson. In 1933, Washington married Lawrence Brown, the trombonist in Duke Ellington's jazz orchestra. That marriage ended in divorce. Washington also played Cab Calloway's love interest in the musical short Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho (1934).

Her best-known role was in the 1934 movie Imitation of Life. Washington played a young light-skinned Black woman who chose to pass as white to seek more opportunities in a society restricted by legal and social racial segregation. As Washington had visible European ancestry, the role was considered perfect for her, but it led to her being typecast by filmmakers. Moviegoers sometimes assumed from Washington's appearance—her blue-gray eyes, pale complexion, and light brown hair—that she might have passed in real life. In 1934, she said the role did not reflect her off-screen life, but "If I made Peola seem real enough to merit such statements, I consider such statements compliments and makes me feel I've done my job fairly well." She told reporters in 1949 that she identified as Black "...because I'm honest, firstly, and secondly, you don't have to be white to be good. I've spent most of my life trying to prove to those who think otherwise ... I am a Negro and I am proud of it."[7] Imitation of Life was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, but it did not win. Years later, in 2007, Time magazine ranked it as among "The 25 Most Important Films on Race."

Washington's experiences in the film industry and theater led her to become a civil rights activist. In an effort to help other Black actors and actresses find more opportunities, in 1937 Washington co-founded the Negro Actors Guild of America, with Noble Sissle, W. C. Handy, Paul Robeson, and Ethel Waters. The organization's mission included speaking out against stereotyping and advocating for a wider range of roles. Washington served as the organization's first executive secretary. She was also heavily involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, widely known as the NAACP. While working with the NAACP, Fredi fought for more representation and better treatment of Black actors in Hollywood because she was one of the few Black actors in Hollywood who had some influence with white studio executives. Aside from working with those organizations to fight for the rights of Black actors, Washington also advocated for the federal protection of Black Americans and was a lobbyist for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which the NAACP supported.

Despite receiving critical acclaim, she was unable to find much work in the Hollywood of the 1930s and 1940s; Black actresses were expected to have dark skin, and were usually typecast as maids. Directors were concerned about casting a light-skinned Black actress in a romantic role with a white leading man; the film production code prohibited suggestions of miscegenation. Hollywood directors did not offer her any romantic roles. As one modern critic explained, Fredi Washington was "...too beautiful and not dark enough to play maids, but rather too light to act in all-Black movies..."

Washington was a theater writer, and the entertainment editor for The People's Voice (1942–1948), a newspaper for African Americans founded by Adam Clayton Powell Jr., a Baptist minister and politician in New York City who was married to her sister Isabel Washington Powell. She was outspoken about racism faced by African Americans and worked closely with Walter White, then president of the NAACP, to address pressing issues facing Black people in America.

In 1952, Washington married a Stamford dentist, Hugh Anthony Bell, and moved to Greenwich, Connecticut.

Fredi Washington Bell died, aged 90, on June 28, 1994. She died from pneumonia following a series of strokes at St. Joseph Medical Center in Stamford, Connecticut.

[thenameofthismanisjerryharrison]

16 Things You Never Knew About Talking Heads. Article from Making Music, August 1986.

David Byrne was born a Scot. He entered the world in Dunbarton on May 14, 1952. When he was two his father took the family to Canada to pursue his career as an electrical engineer.

Martina Weymouth and Chris Frantz share a military background. Tina's father was in the Navy, Frantz was raised as an army brat in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Byrne eventually chose the Rhode Island School of Design to study (where he met Frantz and Weymouth), principally because he "liked the graffiti".

'Psycho Killer' was written by Byrne in an experimental mood to see if he could pen a song with someone else's style. He was actually following Alice Cooper having just listened to 'Billion Dollar Babies'.

Frantz and Byrne first collaborated in a university band they called The Artistics (frequently dubbed The Autistics because of the high volumes they used). Weymouth was a fan.

One of Byrne's earlier bands had been a duo with friend Mark Kehoe. They called themselves Bizaldi. Byrne played violin and ukelele and they worked on Sinatra songs.

Chris Frantz's first instrument was trumpet. He swapped to trombone when he decided he couldn't supply the required wind power, and converted to drums.

When Tina Weymouth was 12 she used to be a member of Mrs Tuft's English Handbell Ringing Group touring American churches dressed in Elizabethan costumes and playing English folk songs and medieval melodies.

Adrian Belew was invited to join the Heads in early 1981. But they told him he could only play if he didn't use any effects.

Eno first met the band in the spring of 1977 when they were playing on a date with the Ramones during a British tour.

The name "Talking Heads" was taken from a TV guide in May 1975.

Jerry Harrison first rose to fame as a keyboard player for Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers.

Weymouth, Byrne and Frantz moved to New York looking for a bassist to complete their line up, expecting the city to be littered with them. After a depressing lack of success, Weymouth eventually bought a bass.

Lou Reed used to invite the band to his apartment, mainly, it would seem, to spend the first hour of every conversation insulting David Byrne.

Chris Frantz described the making of the "Speaking In Tongues" album as the easiest and most agreeable experience he'd ever had with Talking Heads.

Byrne picked up the phrase 'Burning Down The House' from an audience chant at a Parliament-Funkadelic concert.

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

The Modern Lovers - Sword in the Stone, Boston, Massachusetts, 1972

People! It's 2024 — and there's still no definitive boxed set collecting the complete works of the original Modern Lovers! This seems like a major oversight ... there are probably an array of dumb business reasons it hasn't happened, but some enterprising reissue label has got to put all the puzzle pieces together in chronological / cleaned up form, telling the story of this still-so-unique and ahead of its time band. The demos, the live recordings, all of it. Paging Numero Group?!

Until then, why not enjoy a new-to-me audience tape of the gang in their hometown of Boston, playing the Sword In The Stone coffeehouse on Charles St. One more stoney night — another killer Modern Lovers recording comes from the Stonehenge club up in Ipswich.

It's a bit unclear what the actual date for the Sword In The Stone gig is, but I'm thinking it's late in the year, after the band went out to west coast to record demos with John Cale (and apparently hang out with Gram Parsons). Prove me wrong! This is the classic quartet — Jonathan Richman, Jerry Harrison, David Robinson and Ernie Brooks — and they sound terrific. Messy, brilliant and beautiful, with Jonathan leading everyone across the astral plane. The only bummer is that the "Plea For Tenderness" here is only a fragment, and the tape ends before the final song, which I'm guessing was an epic jam on "Roadrunner." Otherwise, a sweet trip back to the Old World.

Ernie Brooks: At some of the early shows Jonathan would set up an easel, and he’d place his drawings on it. I don’t know if you’ve seen any of the drawings, but I have a copy of a poster that he drew; it’s of the Modern Lovers—a cartoon of the four of us with a heart flying over the band. It’s got the highway in the background and stuff. And he had this picture of a girl in the suburban town in Massachusetts where she lived and a picture of the hospital she ended up in, and while pointing to the drawings he’d recite the lyrics before he did the song. 

Photo: Jeff Albertson

[beardedmrbean]

Police have released images of pro-Palestinian activists who attacked a man with an Israeli flag in Manhattan on the anniversary of Hamas’s brutal surprise attack on Israel, officials said Thursday.

The four suspects, one sporting a cast on his arm, played a role in jumping Todd Richman as he showed his pride in Israel at Union Square Park on Monday as mass protests marking the first anniversary of the deadly terrorist attack were held across the city.

Richman, 54, said he was walking with the flag near Union Square just before 4 p.m. when he was accosted by several demonstrators who mocked him before they got physical.

“I just was just walking by,” Richman told the Daily News Monday. When he was assaulted, Richman was wearing a Star of David necklace and a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “BRING THEM HOME NOW,” a reference to the remaining hostages who were kidnapped during Hamas’ attack on Israel.

“They started telling me, ‘Long live Oct. 7. Happy Oct. 7. When’s the next Nova Festival?’ And then they just started banging drums in my face and I was literally just walking down the street doing absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing. Unbelievable.”

Seconds later, he said, someone snatched the flag out of his hand.

During the ensuing scuffle, a man wearing a white T-shirt and black jeans struck him with a flagpole, cops said. A second demonstrator, a woman in a black bucket hat, black sweater and red sweatpants, struck him in the face with a tambourine.

Richman suffered a cut to his face during the attack and was treated at the scene by EMS.

“They ripped [the flag] away from me,” he said, “and then the guy hit me in the face and threw a tambourine and they hit me in the face with a flag.”

No arrests have been made in the Union Square attack. Meanwhile, also in Monday’s protests, down by the New York Stock Exchange seven pro-Palestinian activists were arrested for fighting with cops trying to pen them into a barricaded area a half block away.

One of the arrested protesters, 20-year-old Abdultawab Elrais of Rochelle Park, N.J., is accused of kicking an NYPD captain in the chest, police said. He’s charged with obstructing government administration.

Officials said the pro-Palestinian protesters could not stay in front of the stock exchange because demonstrators had spray-painted there in the past.

Pro-Palestinian New York City demonstrators marked the Oct. 7 anniversary with massive protests at Washington Square Park and Morningside Heights, matching wits with cops and college officials who were trying to stay ahead of the crowds.

On Oct. 7, 2023, the terrorist group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel that killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli official figures. Hamas took 251 hostages back to Gaza, and a year later some 64 are still detained while 117 have been freed and 70 confirmed dead.

Israel, in turn, launched an invasion that has since resulted in the deaths of more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of whom were women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which operates under the jurisdiction of Hamas.

If captured, the four suspects sought for the attack on Richman could face assault charges. The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is also looking into the attack.

Cops are asking anyone with information regarding these four individuals to reach out to Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 29/06/2024 (Coldplay, Charli xcx/Lorde, Post Malone/Blake Shelton)

Her second week for her second #1, Sabrina Carpenter stays at the top of the UK Singles Chart on an otherwise… interesting week, reflected in pretty much aspect, so… welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, misogyny, alcohol

Rundown

As always, we start with the notable dropouts, songs exiting the UK Top 75, which is what I cover, after five weeks in the region or a peak in the top 40. This week, we bid adieu to a surprisingly small selection of “Feather” by Sabrina Carpenter, “Gata Only” by FloyyMenor and Cris Mj, “As it Was” by Harry Styles and of course, since we haven’t fared well at the Euros, “3 Lions”.

As for our notable gains, since we don’t have much in the way of returns outside of Disclosure’s “You & Me” featuring Eliza Doolittle back once again at #65, we see boosts for “Mind Still” by Sonny Fodera and blythe at #68, “NIGHTS LIKE THIS” by The Kid LAROI surprisingly up big to #47, “Kisses” by BL3SS and CamrinWatsin featuring bbyclose at #44, “the boy is mine” by Ariana Grande at #39 off of the remix with Brandy and Monica (cheap idea, bad execution), “KEHLANI” by Jordan Adetunji at #29 which is a decidedly unslizzy occurrence, “DEVIL IS A LIE” by Tommy Richman at #21, “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar riding the high of The Pop Out at #14 and really, the biggest story: Chappell Roan. Not only are “Red Wine Supernova” and “HOT TO GO!” up to #40 and #33 respectively, she gets her first ever top 10 hit with “Good Luck, Babe!” hitting #7.

As for the top five, we see much of the expected. “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” by Billie Eilish is at #5, Eminem’s “Houdini” is at #4, Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” is at #3 and of course, both Sabrina Carpenter songs in the top 10 stick to the top two: “Espresso” at #2 and the newer “Please Please Please” at the top spot. As for what’s below it… thankfully not a lot in sheer quantity but a lot of interest so let’s try and make sense of it.

New Entries

#69 - “Tears” - Perrie

Produced by Ido Zmishlany

These “extended” versions are a bit ridiculous recently: personally, I’d prefer my songs come complete in the package and I don’t have to find booster packs. With that said, the aforementioned extended version of this newest single from Little Mix’s second-to-most recent solo breakout, Perrie Edwards, is very good. We’ve had a lot of smooth, lounge-esque 80s pastiches on this show, but this delves so fully into glitzy synth-funk that it’s really admirable. The groove, though a bit plastic and muddy in the mix as you kind of expect from cheaper UK pop production, is undeniable and the easy guitar melody has been in my head persistently since I first heard it. Most importantly, Ms. Edwards actually plays with the instrumental and its composition as a vocalist, she doesn’t just sit afloat in the way many other singers would, and that includes, say, a Dua Lipa. The weirdly fast-paced tumble of a chorus displays that messy breakup so well and rings alarm bells in the posturing that she’s really over it, guys, she’s totally not been thinking about him, within the verses, but she’s still rightfully angry and the chorus isn’t that awkward of a tumble that it can’t carry the same swagger the instrumental from Mr. Zmishlany commands. It’s no surprise to me that this guy has worked before with people like Shawn Mendes and Sabrina Carpenter given how breezy of a listen it is, though Perrie doesn’t stumble over her own writing in the way those two do: she shares the command of the song with the funk behind her. It truly is a brilliant pop song, yet it turns out to be the one that’ll probably flop. I understand that the Little Mix girls have had, so far, very ephemeral solo stardom, but the quality is really there for a lot of them, so it’s a damn shame that the girl group fame hasn’t rubbed off more than it probably should have.

#60 - “misses” - Dominic Fike

Produced by Dominic Fike

Ah, Dominic Fike. I remember when I knew that one song which was a pretty good song, and never even needed to think about him for a second song, let alone an acting career that I couldn’t care about but have heard… not so great things regarding, as well as of course pushing out some of the most insufferable indie pop of the last few years, of which some has been covered here. This new track… okay, are you fucking kidding me? This is one minute and 14 seconds. I get Fike has gained virality more for his demos than his completed songs, and that sometimes this is valid, but you can tell how inauthentic and tacky the “distortion” here is, and the fact that it’s all packed into barely more than one minute shows me two things: 1.) the writers and producers are lazy, 2.) they’re chasing some of that success he got from dumping some, at least honest and interesting, demos onto streaming services. Oh, and a third thing: it was written and produced solely by Fike himself. That’s not particularly impressive, of course, when it’s somehow completely forgettable despite being so concise and insistent on drilling that one chorus melody into you, but he also devolves into vocal riffing midway through over an unchanging garage rock plonker that couldn’t pick up any momentum if it tried. And of course, because it’s Fike, I don’t need to tell you that the lyrics are condescending towards women. Calling her his “miss” is already off to a rough start without some needed context, and he doesn’t grant us that, instead going onto consider the relationship dead and reassuring her that she’ll be “grieved” - as if the woman in any given relationship actively wants their ex-boyfriend to grovel about them instead of just going their separate ways - before pinning the blame on her because he’s just a man who loved too much too quickly, right? The verse later basically berates her for being useless, and that when she’s not with him, she’s misguided and invisible, despite the fact that she’s so beautiful, yeah, piss off. This is a barely-constructed song with nasty attitudes on an album seemingly full of these shitty, malformed interludes and I don’t see any value in it sticking around.

#41 - “Wave” - Asake and Central Cee

Produced by Magicsticks

Nigerian singer Asake, who I’ve praised before on this show but mostly in the lower rungs of the chart and off of it entirely, is finally getting a real UK push, given the Cench feature, and whilst I liked “Lonely at the Top” largely for lyrical and performance reasons, this if anything is more of an exhibition for his producer, Magicsticks, as this is a genuinely unique instrumental here. It’s got an Afrobeats rhythm for sure, but not only is the drum pattering shakier but it’s accompanied by what I can only describe as a groan stick, which follows as weedy a melody as the later flutes. This is largely a chill song about relaxing and flexing, but the flatter sense of groove that exists here, the way the drums never embrace their full punch into long after Asake had meandered beyond the chorus, and only when Central Cee comes in, and still in a slightly staggered, stuttering way, it’s a really interesting decision that works out very well. It almost reminds me of Brazilian funk sometimes, especially with its cacophonic approach and that later screeching synth. As for content, it doesn’t really matter, but I do wish there was a little more substance or at least a less generic Cench verse, but really, the weird note the very busy and tense instrumental carries when placed against the Afrobeats genre’s use of choir vocals is really fascinating. It doesn’t fully hit, but it’s a risk that is pulled off by ensuring other elements of the mix, like Asake’s drowned out vocals or the general blandness of Cench’s cadences, are kept to the sidelines, which doesn’t lead to a fuller song but still an interesting one that is still developing on itself with extra choir harmonies and even uglier synth fuzz at its last moments. Maybe it’s not one I’ll go back to - it’s not particularly catchy - but it’s an interesting way to grab a different audience’s attention.

#37 - “us.” - Gracie Abrams featuring Taylor Swift

Produced by Aaron Dessner, Gracie Abrams, Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff

So, Gracie Abrams, daughter of J.J. of course, released her let’s-pretend-it’s-adebut record, The Secret of Us, and surprisingly to me, despite pretty much no traction before this, it went to #1 on the albums chart: here is your golden ticket as to why. Not particularly this song, but the idea of Taylor Swift being behind this specific young singer and project, as well as making a direct appearance, absolutely helped. It also makes perfect sense considering that both of Abrams’ prior songs I had heard that charted were basically less self-realised Taylor Swift leftovers. She even got both Dessner and Antonoff on here because of course, and well, firstly, I don’t understand why this is a duet - and barely at that. Abrams derives from both her own older tracks and Taylor’s to create some unsubtle metaphors and oddly fragmented verses about a former relationship, and Taylor is here for decoration as far as thematics are concerned as there isn’t a clear attempt at implementing her vocal presence into the narrative. That’s… fine, if not lazy, but once you get to the lyrics themselves, it’s all kind of a shambles that apes Taylor’s style of writing without actually making all too much sense. I would appreciate the fantastical, forelorn imagery of “Babylon lovers hanging lifetimes on a vine”, if she didn’t ask her ex if they “miss[ed hers]”… what exactly could they miss here? If the point is that the vine represents a “lifetime”, then in what sense does it make for someone to “miss” a “lifetime”? Abrams could say that the relationship felt like a lifetime, or took a lifetime out of her, that would make sense, but it gets confused with the use of the Babylon imagery - also, the hanging gardens of Babylon are disputed to have even existed at all, but not in a concrete way where we know exactly what it’s being confused with or who exactly fabricated it, so “Babylon lovers” and the “vine” conceit feels like a cheap use of imagery without really understanding its origin, especially since Abrams makes “us” - I.e. the relationship - solid and established in that chorus.

The verses may be a bit of basic word salad, but when you try and make connections between certain ideas, they start to break down - what does being 29 years old actually have anything to do with being welcoming or open with your younger partner? If you’re going to include the “so”, there should be a connection but it’s never explained. It gets worse and worse throughout the song also: I know the “prophets”/”profits” homonym was probably just an inescapable cliché for our gang of four - even if it actually muddles the flow of that bridge - but what actually ARE the “false profits they make in the margins of poetry sonnets”? Who’s “they”, book publishers? How are the profits in any way “false”, or the exact “margins” of a sonnet relevant? Oh, and thanks for specifying “poetry sonnets”, not to be confused with the other types of sonnets that aren’t poetic, all zero of them. You could argue that part is purposefully meaningless as it criticises the guy for his misunderstanding of literature, sure, but I think to pull that off, one needs to 1.) show an understanding of the unnamed poetry he supposedly misconstrued and 2.) not, in your own poetry, express yourself in obtuse ways acting as rhythmic filler.

If you’re going to bring up Robert Bly and the irony that this guy gifted you his work without understanding its reference to masculinity and not representing the values in Bly’s work, how is this guy in any way “incomparable”? You just made a comparison! The condescending lyric from Taylor that he never “read up on” any of the literature he cared about and that he “could have learned something”, sounds really hypocritical in this song full of adding complexity and faux-poignant takes or, well, comparisons into a song ultimately lacking any nuance, because what does adding any of this meaninglessness really contribute to the general picture Taylor will paint of any ex-boyfriend in a typical song? I’m a sucker for detail lyrically but detail that actually gratifies the listener for looking carefully, not punishing them once the cracks are realised. This sounds nit-picky but is genuinely incredibly distracting for a song wherein I’m supposed to reeled into the narrative on display… and Hell, I’m always being told that Taylor is one of the greatest songwriters, so I’m not sure why I can’t nit-pick for every detail.

Obviously, this is not my only problem with the song. Dessner’s acoustic guitar is twiddly and oddly tense as well as feeling copy-pasted throughout the song, Abrams sounds like a BTEC Lorde on a chart week where we get the real deal taking genuine artistic risk - more on that later - and the chorus is a sludge of a lead vocal melody covered in feathery vocal layers that really emphasise how little is being said. If I were right-wing, I’d probably take even further offense in the sheer amount of pronouns Abrams is shoving down my ears, and honestly, I still am, because outside of the bridge, what is “us”? Why should he miss that? The bridge has all the plastic cinematic swell of a video game trailer, full with swooshing effects and some of the worst drums I’ve heard in pop this year just because of how staggered and dire they feel, they really contribute to a complete tonal clash with the supposed electricity and pure emotional feelings that the two sing about. I know this review is incredibly wrong for a song I don’t really like, but I did come into this with the idea that it’d probably be a good fit for the two to collaborate given Abrams’ influences and the potential for a really interesting narrative as a result, potentially playing off of that dynamic… yet what I get is a white, null void of platitudes that shatter at any scrutiny. Sorry, Swifties… or Abramites I suppose - this is one of my least favourite songs of the year so far.

#34 - “Pour Me a Drink” - Post Malone featuring Blake Shelton

Produced by Louis Bell and Charlie Handsome

Post Malone has yet to truly convince me on the straight-up country pivot. Sure, elements of folk and country have been vaguely reflected in his music for a while, if much lesser than the pop rock influences that have practically always been there and still largely are, but his producers are still his main guys - which I guess I can respect - and he decided Morgan Wallen wasn’t a seasoned enough veteran of Nashville so he went and bagged Mr. Gwen Stefani for the feature on yet another country drinking song… and I guess it’s fine. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a 2000s country-pop track, particularly one with some more organic fiddle but more canned drums and rock instrumentation, and I realise that I’m just describing a Blake Shelton song. Bizarrely, he fits less here than Post, who is a natural fit in his warble for this kind of casual country radio sing-a-long. Much like “I Had Some Help”, which this very much resembles, there’s a quicker pace to some of the songwriting, especially the chorus, that Shelton finds himself a bit behind sometimes, especially in that rough first verse to chorus transition. The second verse has some cool idea of chemistry between the two but it seems very forced. I can’t imagine a situation where Blake Shelton would be calling Post his “buddy” at an old bar as Post is trying to get with some girl. I think something is missing there, optics-wise… as well as a proper bridge, or any real harmonisation between the two, which also has no reason to be a duet, really. That really shows to me that Post or his label have little confidence in his ability to sell country, by lodging these veterans onto the track without any thematic relevance, and also not realising just how charismatic Post is on his own. I can imagine the dumb grin on his tatted-up face as he records the song, I’m not sure I can really imagine Blake Shelton feeling anything at all. I also don’t really buy either of these guys trying to “keep up with the Joneses” - you ARE the Joneses, fellas - but that’s beside the point of the song. It’ll work in the right context, but it’s not like there’s not plenty of these types of songs and the inclusion of Blake Shelton here detracts from it quite a bit too.

#28 - “Girl, so confusing” - Charli xcx

Produced by A.G. Cook

Yeah, I prefer the solo version. Whilst it’s clear that Charli is talking about someone, probably Lorde, on “Girl, so confusing”, which is now confirmed, the more self-contained story of Charli misunderstanding cues and overthinking certain interactions she has with women in general, as well as the more specific showbiz talk, is much more compelling to me than knowing that it’s just about one woman in particular. That doesn’t mean the Lorde version can’t be that as well, but when I first listened to BRAT, “Girl, so confusing” really resonated with me, in part because of the anthemic nature of the chorus, with the scattered vocal stuttering very much in A.G. Cook’s wheelhouse, but also because, I mean, yeah. It is confusing sometimes to be a girl, and that general thesis, as well as applying the lyrics in the verses to everyday interactions, is something I can get behind and see a lot of value in, especially since it uses such a universally humanising statement to bring the album’s themes back home. Unfortunately, here comes Lorde, coming off the strength of her worst album, and making a song already about her… not very easily about anything else.

I’ve said this before with acts like Doja Cat and Ye, but when it gets too absorbed in gossip, I tend to tune out, and I can’t find many universalities in Lorde’s new contributions, to the point where that main lyric starts to sound closer to “It’s confusing to be Lorde”, which I don’t doubt but I also don’t care about hearing unless I spin a Lorde album, which, well, I do. I love Melodrama. What I don’t love is the awkward implementation of Lorde into the Auto-Tuned club-pop cacophony. She gets to the point - are you sure this is still Lorde? - but it’s through a breathless delivery that name-drops specific elements about Charli that take the song even further away from universality for the sake of the “moment”. I didn’t even realise people cared about a Lorde and Charli feud, one I didn’t know existed until this album dropped, and I honestly doubt this lasts much longer thanks to what is arguably a novelty aspect. I still do like the song, and yes, I will count the original in the conclusion because the Official Charts Company doesn’t credit Lorde, but I wish I could connect to it much more, and the way a lot of people really are gravitating to this viral moment at least gives me some solace in knowing it did do that for other people. The funniest end result for me would be if the song is actually about Marina and the Diamonds and this was all grade-A trolling.

#25 - “feelslikeimfallinginlove” - Coldplay

Produced by Max Martin, Oscar Holter, Bill Rahko, Daniel Green and Michael Ilbert

So, Coldplay are releasing their second weirdly-stylised, Max Martin-penned space album of the 2020s. Sure. These guys can do anything they want at this point and whilst it frustrates me that they don’t take the risks they have with that freedom, or at least in more compelling ways because there definitely are some… choices on the last few albums, some genuinely experimental and out-there, I know I’m not going to find that in a lead single, and hey, the band’s given us some great music in the past, with singles and deep cuts so there’s a level of expected quality and polish to everything they put out. Unexpectedly, however, I love this song. Yeah, I was surprised too, not been a fan of much Coldplay for a while, but this reminds me of the muted Ghost Stories, where its swell came from a genuine push and struggle to express those emotions, rather than the careening easiness of stumbling into orchestras or guitar overdubs like they usually do. If there’s any song in particular I feel that it’s reminiscent of, it’s probably that record’s big single, “Magic”. The difference here is that this is far from a divorce record, it’s a childishly lovestruck anthem, but one that starts with a piercing, glittery distortion that peters away for Damon Albarn-sounding synths and flickering drum sequencing that is as monotone as Chris Martin’s pained attempts at “la-la”s. He’s so tedious in his delivery that he ends up having to harmonise with a pitch-shifted version of his own vocal take, and all of that is a compliment, this is a really interesting song in terms of where it lies emotionally: he’s in love, but seemingly some of that love is coming out of a pity, a hand being lent to a guy who considers himself born to destroy everything good that comes to him. This is his one attempt to pull on those hands in full sincerity, acknowledging that it’s probably a mistake for him to do so but putting his heart and hope where his hands are: in the trust of a new partner who lets the windows open in spite of all that. Fitting for a Glastonbury performance, there are some lush synth and stringwork in the sing-a-long chorus, and it’s definitely a sing-a-long chorus given the simple melody and platitude lyrics that still do reflect some of the song’s conceits - “You’re throwing me a lifeline” is a great lyric to add to ensure that’s still embedded within each crack of the song’s premise, and yes, he rhymes it with “lifetime” and this time, it makes sense. I don’t usually say, “Take notes from Coldplay,” but we might have to start revising their back catalogue. There’s a certain restraint to the song’s true capabilities too - it’s in full slow build-up Coldplay territory of course, but all we have to really reflect on that other than the expected instrumentation is a guitar line so far to the left channel that it’s borderline communist, and a sputtering of lovestruck gibberish from Mr. Martin that’s honestly kind of adorable. It reminds me of when he performed lyrics from the Crazy Frog live on television as part of an instrumental break, it’s a cute and endearing way to end the song. Surprisingly enough, I do thoroughly enjoy this new Coldplay single. Been a while since I’ve said that with as little hesitation.

Conclusion

It’s tough. Who wasted my time the most? But whom did I clearly at least have something there to tussle with and find some value in outside of novelty? As controversial as this probably is, I’m ultimately going to grant Worst of the Week to “us.” by Gracie Abrams featuring Taylor Swift, because at least Dominic Fike’s vapid garbage is as transparent as it is, and yes, “misses” gets a very close Dishonourable Mention. As for the best, it’s also pretty evident here that it’s a toss-up between a few great songs, but ultimately I’ll actually lend it to Coldplay for “feelslikeimfallinginlove” because it sounds great in what might be a more unique emotional balance than the others, though I’m still giving a tied Honourable Mention to the girls, those being Charli xcx for “Girl, so confusing” and Perrie for “Tears”. As for what’s on the horizon, we’ll see whatever tangible impact Glastonbury and Headie One have, as well as that mess of a Camila Cabello album, Jason Derulo’s team-up with two prominent English DJs and maybe more K-pop than you’d think. Time will tell, however, and for now, thank you for reading, rest in peace to Shifty Shellshock - sugar! baby! - and I’ll see you next week.

[pepsiboyy]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ hi there !!

my name is apollo, my pronouns are she/her and i am nineteen years old <3

a small blurb about me i guess is that i am in college studying film !! i work in retail (unfortunately) !!

i have been a fan of the triplets since about mid 2022 (not that long, i know, but i still love them the same <3) and if you couldn't tell, i am the biggest chris girl ever ): i love that man so bad

i listen to a variety of music but lately it has been a lot of alex g, hotel ugly, kendrick lamar, brent faiyaz, chase atlantic, odetari, removeface, kanye, lil skies, and tommy richman !!

i also do enjoy kpop, i love love love ateez, txt, nct, bts and i dabble in songs by other groups !!

my dms and inbox are always open !!

i hope you enjoy my page !!

xoxo, apollo <3

➥ BACK TO NAVIGATION

[popmusic101]

2024: Year in Review

A total of nineteen songs hit #1 this year! That's seven more than in 2023, so a bit more variation and movement on the charts this year.

‘Die With A Smile’ spent the most time in the top spot, lasting a total of nine weeks, with 'APT.’ spending the second longest amount of time at seven (non-consecutive) weeks.

As you'd expect, given that 'Die With A Smile' and 'APT.' were the two longest charting tracks, Bruno Mars, who appears on both, managed an impressive sixteen weeks in the #1 spot. Lady Gaga and Rosé, Mars' two co-singers are the runners up, with nine weeks and seven weeks at #1 respectively.

Aside from Bruno Mars, Kendrick Lamar and Billie Eilish both also achieved two separate #1 singles this year with 'Not Like Us' and 'Luther' for Lamar, and 'Birds of a Feather' and 'Guess' for Eilish.

Surprisingly the gender split of the artists to reach #1 in 2024 was pretty equal with eleven men and eleven women (note, I am including featured artists here). The men spent 39 weeks in the #1 spot while women spent 32 weeks, so fairly close all in all.

Of the nineteen #1 singles this year, eighteen of them were from solo artists (or two solo artists singing together), while Wham! was the only group to achieve a #1. And admittedly, Wham! are just a duo, so no bigger bands actually had a #1 hit which is a bit of a surprise. Do listeners prefer solo artists and/or duos now, or will we see more actual bands at the top of the charts in 2025?

My personal rankings of the 2024 #1’s are:

Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us

Benson Boone - Beautiful Things

Tommy Richman - Million Dollar Baby

Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga - Die With A Smile

Ariana Grande - We Can't Be Friends

Billie Eilish - Birds of a Feather

YG Marley - Praise Jah in the Moonlight

Beyonce - Texas Hold Em

Hozier - Too Sweet

Jack Harlow - Lovin On Me

Gracie Abrams - That's So True

Rosé and Bruno Mars - APT.

Sabrina Carpenter - Please Please Please

Kendrick Lamar and SZA - Luther

Eminem - Houdini

Wham! - Last Christmas

Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You

Charli XCX - Guess (feat. Billie Eilish)

Taylor Swift - Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)

A few more fun facts: Teddy Swims' 'Lose Control' spent the most time on the charts without reaching #1. In 2024 it spent a crazily impressive fifty-two (out of fifty-three weeks total) in the charts and peaked at #3.

After that Sabrina Carpenter's 'Espresso' which was arguably the song of the summer (figuratively speaking given our southern hemisphere) spent thirty-five weeks on the charts without reaching #1, peaking at #2.

Shaboozey's 'Bar Song (Tipsy)', Noah Kahan's 'Stick Season', Post Malone's 'I Had Some Help' (feat. Morgan Wallen), Chappell Roan's 'Good Luck Babe!', Dasha's 'Austin', and Djo's 'End of Beginning' were all also major 2024 songs that couldn't quite reach the #1 spot.

Taylor Swift's 'Cruel Summer' is an unusual case where the song was initially released in 2019, peaking at #20 on the charts. However it spent thirty-nine weeks in the 2024 charts, peaking at #7 (although it peaked at #3 in 2023 where it also spent many many weeks in the charts). In my opinion it's one of Swift's best songs and deserved to reach #1, far more so than the dire 'Fortnight'. If 'Cruel Summer' had been a #1, I would have honestly rated it at an easy #2 on my rankings of the years #1's, second only to Kendrick's 'Not Like Us'.

Anyway, that's a lot of rambling. Let's all hope for some great new #1's in 2025! Happy New Year!

[posttexasstressdisorder]

https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2024/08/15/greg-kihn/http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/

Greg Kihn

"They don't write 'em like that anymore"

And they surely don't.

Greg Kihn and his band were on Beserkley Records, famous up to this point for the initial Modern Lovers album, partially produced by John Cale, the group contained David Robinson, long before he had success drumming for the Cars, and Jerry Harrison, and this was 1976, before "Talking Heads 77" with "Psycho Killer" was released.

"The Modern Lovers" was a legendary punk album when the Ramones had no sales traction, only press, and we read the press incessantly, when if you were a little left of center you could still be noticed, being off the radar screen was not anathema, never mind being lost in the sea of songs of today.

And it's not like you ever heard "The Modern Lovers" on the radio. You had to buy it to hear it. I read about the record, the band that had already broken up, so much that I finally laid down my cash.

And I was titillated and surprised.

Now when the history of punk is written, and in truth it's been written time and again, mostly by acolytes, it should be noted that the two breakthrough icons of early punk, the progenitors, were both Jewish, Joey Ramone and Jonathan Richman. And that's important, because their lyrics evidenced a Jewish sensibility, a sense of humor, the perspective of an outcast looking in. And despite being basic, the music possessed an intellectual quality absent from today's hit parade. Where you were coming from, what you were saying, were very important. As was attitude. And no one but the critics and a few insiders got it. Believe me, even with their third album and "Rockaway Beach" almost no one was listening to the Ramones, and Richman went in such a wacky direction, an acoustic folk singer rendering his tunes around the summer campfire...

But when you dropped that needle on "The Modern Lovers"...

All the ink was about "Roadrunner," the opening cut, but the essence of the album came at the end of the first side, with "Pablo Picasso."

All I can tell you is, "Pablo Picasso was never called an a**hole." "Pablo Picasso" was a secret handshake, if you knew it you were on the inside, if you didn't...you didn't have a clue.

"The Modern Lovers" was a club. And it has continued to get praise over the decades, but in truth few people know it, and they should, but it's hard to understand sans context. This was at the height of AOR, bands in spandex taking themselves seriously, meat and potatoes, and then came THIS?

I've seen Jonathan Richman many times. I thought his inclusion in "There's Something About Mary" would break him wide, but that did not happen. Just like Graham Parker in "This Is 40." However Parker had his moment, on Arista, even though the first two records on Mercury were the best.

So, why not?

Well, when you see Jonathan Richman, when you listen to the records you wonder if it's a put-on. But it now appears that this is who he really is, just like another Jewish musician, Gene Simmons. But Richman looks inward, Simmons outward. But if you want to know which way the wind blows, you'd be better off listening to Richman.

All of which hipped me to Beserkley Records.

And I went to see the Rubinoos at the Whisky.

If it was on Beserkley, there was thinking involved. Matthew "King" Kaufman wasn't only in it for the money, although you could hear the influences of Zappa in the records he released.

But no one expected Greg Kihn to be the breakthrough. For him and his band to be all over MTV. It would be like some influencer on Threads being as well-known as Taylor Swift, but unlike the stars of today, EVERYONE KNEW THE LYRICS TO JEOPARDY!

But that came later. And got a second life when Weird Al reconstructed it as "I Lost on Jeopardy," one of the pinnacles of the comedic performer's oeuvre.

And the thing about "Jeopardy" was that keyboard, a direct descendant of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." "Our love's in jeopardy, baby"

Because she's absent, can't be found in those pre-cell phone days.

Once again, today the script has been flipped. If you're a male on the hit parade you cannot show weakness, vulnerability, but that's what made these records great. Greg Kihn wasn't that far removed from you and me.

But "Jeopardy" came later, '83, before that there was "The Breakup Song."

It started with a guitar riff and sound which Bryan Adams would amplify into his breakthrough on "Run to You."

"We had broken up for good just an hour before" A straight derivation from the sixties. As typical of Beserkley records. They were referential to that era when we'd all grown up, our formative years, especially those Top Forty singles we knew by heart.

They didn't write 'em like that anymore, even in 1981, never mind today.

"We've been living together for a million years"

Unlike our parents we didn't get married, we needed no piece of paper from the upstairs choir keeping us tied and true.

And when you break up, it does feel so strange out in the atmospheres. Not sure I'd heard that word in a song before or since.

So Greg Kihn and his band were not a typical MTV breakthrough, they'd put out albums previously, unheralded and unknown. But they were in the right place at the right time, and with exposure, they made it.

And then it was over. It always is. And then what do you do?

Some go back to college, some fall into drugs, others rob 7-11's and...

Greg Kihn became a deejay. We knew this. But we didn't hear him. Because radio was local, you may not remember that when Howard Stern was syndicated across the nation that was a huge breakthrough.

And now Greg Kihn is dead. As are two other members of his band. That's what you check first these days, whether the members are even alive, never mind whether they get along and go on the road together.

Furthermore, they say Kihn had Alzheimer's. I didn't know. Maybe it was somewhere, maybe it was secret. But that long goodbye is such a bizarre way to go. You fade away and you don't radiate.

And I'm not sure Kihn's music will either. I mean it's amazing what licensing can do for you, look at "My Sharona" and "Don't Stop Believin'," placements made them legendary.

And you can read the facts in the obituaries, but they won't give you the feel.

Even at this late date, at the turn of the decade, from the seventies to the eighties, we still believed.

Music drove the culture. Forget Patti Smith, how many people listened to "The Modern Lovers" and started a band!

There was something to dig your teeth into. And it was all rooted in what had come before, rock and roll.

These songs had more than one chord, they had changes, choruses, and it was surprising that Greg Kihn was the Beserkley artist to strike lightning, but he did.

And for a while there, at the advent of the internet, everyone was around. You could look them up, eventually on Wikipedia, see where they'd been, maybe even follow them on Facebook.

But that era is ending. It's the final chapter for our heroes, and then us.

And Greg Kihn was a hero. Do you know how hard it was to get a record deal, never mind have a hit, two? Nearly impossible. People didn't sit at home with no skills and believe they'd become household names. Maybe you had fantasies, but you knew it was unrealistic.

But there were some who picked up the guitar after seeing the Beatles on "Ed Sullivan," who played in high school bands, and then stuck with it. It wasn't glamorous, they were falling behind while their brethren were building careers, never mind families, but this was the path they needed to go down, to stick to.

And the audience was ready for you. All those people who couldn't follow the artistic path, they bought records, went to the club, music was the grease our world functioned on. The most nimble and influential art form.

And sure, we can all bow our heads in prayer when an icon dies, Freddie Mercury, Bowie, Glenn Frey... But they lived above us, we couldn't reach them, they were gods.

But Greg Kihn was us just one step removed.

But it's Greg Kihn and the rest of the two hit wonders, legendary album makers, non-stars, who not only fill out the canon, but our hearts.

It's always weird when you find out about these passings. You power up your phone, you're surfing the news, or you get an e-mail, and then your entire past is laid out in front of you.

And we think back and say... They don't write 'em like that anymore.

Definitely not.

-- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=c2a78763bf6ad15c359742df134489f5 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=c2a78763bf6ad15c359742df134489f5

[izzy-b-hands]

3,8,19,22 ?

3. Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year?

Ooh I can't choose just one so I'm limiting myself to a Top 10 BC that's genuinely as few as I think I can choose between aksnfkfgn:

1. JPEGMAFIA

2. detahjae

3. jev

4. Fox Szn (I know technically it's. ya know. Danny Gonzalez in character but the songs are such fucking earworms I replayed so much that I can't not include him here.)

5. Isaiah Rashad

6. Sabrina Carpenter (not normally a pop girlie here but she grew on me and her songs are so much fun!! Aside from that One Song from her latest album with the one lyric I absolutely detest lmao)

7. Lola Young (shout to Fiancé for the recommendation! Big Brown Eyes became an Instant edizzy song for me, but her latest album overall was a good listen!)

8. MAVI

9. Alkaline (his stuff can be hard to find, but it's worth the search! Other artists that use Alkaline in their names tend to come up first in results, but searching him with one of my fave songs, With The Thing, in the search usually brings up whichever songs are currently available on various sites/streaming services!)

10. Tommy Richman

8. Game of the year?

Admittedly I really only played games I've owned for ages throughout 2024, so it's not anything new or exciting unfortunately. But I really enjoyed letting myself relax with GTA Online, Diner Bros, and I started The Pale Beyond! If I had to choose for a newer one, then The Pale Beyond would be my GOTY.

19. What’re you excited about for next year?

Getting married in March is the big one!! Right up by that would be finally getting my last ever name change done (first middle and last so the whole thing is fixed lol) and updating all the things/documents/etc!!

I'm also excited for going to more theatre shows (whenever we can afford and can get seats we like lol), more beach trips, and possibly a trip out to Maine or Rhode Island (never been to either so there's gonna be So Much to see!!)

Aside from that, I'm excited to keep working on my writing, fic and original. It's been a bit of a rough patch with my writing the last couple of years, but I'm hopeful I can get a bit more done and posted re: fic, and that I can get back into writing more original things and maybe post some of the original short stories I've been sitting on for the last few months.

22. If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it be?

I honestly don't really know, bc knowing me at the start of last year I was too scared, irritated, and frustrated with the state of the world and other things to want any advice from anyone, let alone myself. I think I'd just not bother myself back at the start of 2024 for my own sake lol. He's doing his best to get by and that's enough.

Granted, I'm absolutely terrified for the rest of 2025 re: state of the world and my country, but there's enough excitement/good upcoming things that I'm feeling slightly more positive/receptive to the idea of the rest of this year happening lmaooo

Thank you for asking, Anon! I hope you have a good new year!!

[omegaremix]

Omega Radio for January 6, 2024; #366.

Flipper: “Sex Bomb” Alternative TV: “Still Life” Orange Juice: “Breakfast Time” Patti Smith Group: “Revenge” Damned, The: “Ignite” Magazine: “Because You’re Frightened” Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers: “That Summer Feeling” Adicts, The: “Viva La Revolution” Pylon: “M-Train” Pere Ubu: “Non-Alignment Pact” Ian Dury & The Blockheads:“I Want To Be Straight” DEVO: “Uncontrollable Urge” Abwarts: “Computerstaat” Thin Lizzy: “Cold Sweat” Gun Club, The: “Ghost On The Highway” New York Dolls: “Chatterbox” Swell Maps: “International Rescue” Wipers: “Youth Of America”

Bonus classic punk broadcast.

[protoslacker]

It's the poetry of everyday speech. I always think of Wegman as being in the same group as Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers. It's really about the weirdness of normalcy and the weirdness of conventions. I mean, it's the freewheeling 1970s and here's Wegman writing about looking for an ironing class . . .

Doug Eklund in Met Museum Blogs. No Dogs Allowed: How William Wegman Broke the Rules of Conceptual Art

[sleepyendymion]

Every time I bring up The Muppets (2011) someone inevitably says “oh yeah, like the song man or muppet” and I love that song, but there’s so much more to that movie than a man having an existential crisis about being a muppet.

Muppets under the cut :)

I’m not going to explain the entire plot, you can either watch the movie yourself or read about it on Wikipedia.

First let’s talk about Jack Black. The cast of this movie is incredible, with Jack Black playing himself. We learn that Jack Black, as himself, runs an anger management group that Animal is a part of. The muppets need a celebrity guest so they can raise money for the telethon and instead of just asking him, they straight up kidnap him. During the telethon he’s an unwilling participant in a barbershop quartet cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. You should really go listen to it, it’s actually really good.

Speaking of covers, we also get a cover of CeeLo Green’s hit song Forget You which is sung by Camilla and the Chickens. Camilla as in Gonzo’s chicken wife. It’s entirely chickens. It’s incredible.

A knockoff version of the muppets, calling themselves the Moopets, sing their version of Rainbow Commection which is very reminiscent of the Vegas life style.

The villain of the movie, an oil tycoon named Tex Richman, has an amazing villain song titled Lets Talk About Me. In the movie the song is shortened, but in the extended cut of the song we learn why Tex hates the muppets so much. Here’s some of those lyrics:

I recall a heartbreaking story

About my own tenth birthday party

Should've been a glorious day for me

I'd have been happy as can be

But the Muppets were there,

To put on a show!

They started to dance,

They were telling their jokes!

I didn't laugh,

I didn't know how!

Then my friends,

They all turned around,

And they laughed at me!

They laughed at me!

I hate you, Muppets so!

I was gonna talk more about this movie and how much I love it but I don’t really have the energy or the words to describe how much I love it. You should just go watch it, or at least listen to the soundtrack. The muppets are truly amazing and they never miss

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Frank Black - Wetlands, New York City, June 13, 1994

A nice surprise – Frank Black is taking his second solo LP, 1994's classic Teenager of the Year, out on the road in 2025 for an, er, 31st anniversary tour. And he's even coming to Denver! I might have to go. Way back in my own teenage-hood, this record was a big one for me and my friends, and seeing Frank at McCabe's Guitar Shop right when it came out was an important experience.

Teenager of the Year holds up! When so much of the alt-rock world was angstily navel-gazing, Frank was writing wildly imaginative speculative fiction in miniature form, covering topics (Climate change! Space travel! The Three Stooges!) that no one else was with wit and concision. These songs were also catchy as hell, overstuffed with hooks and harmonies. Freedom rock, baby.

The Teenager of the Year band was pretty killer, too — bassist Eric Drew Feldman (Pere Ubu, Captain Beefheart, PJ Harvey, etc), drummer Nick Vincent and guitarist Lyle Workman. Appropriately, it's these very same musicians who will be joining Frank on tour next year.

So let's listen to an old tape of the group during the TotY tour, playing at that long-gone jam band haven Wetlands, way down in Tribeca. A lot of the new album is played, along with a lot of the self-titled debut, along with some excellent rarities like the Jonathan Richman tribute "The Man Who Was Too Loud," "Oddballs" and many more.

[micromontage]

Right now I'm listening to the "Hot Hits Deutschland" playlist in ascending order (#50-#1) and will be writing down my thoughts to every single hit. accompany me on this adventure . covering 50-40 here

#50: Nemo - The Code ... I do like the little ostinato in "this story is my tru u u u u uuuuuth" that's clearly an homage to Mozart's "Queen of the Night Aria" from the magic flute, and the orchestral blasts in the "Ooohh" parts juxtaposed to the pauses right after in the beginning. Listening back to it I realize I don't mind the instrumental in itself. It does feel like everyone who worked on this track specifically found it a good idea to have the passionate singing that sounds like a beginner actor auditioning for an emotionally loaded role that's household to pop music broken up by fast rapping parts that vaguely reference some form of hardship without explicitly naming it at all. The song works as a standalone single only by showcasing what awaits you on the rest of the album, except that there is no album but rather a Felix Jaehn Remix and an orchestral version of it. A short pivot onto the artist's spotify page reveals that their discography of the past 4-5 years consists exclusively of singles. Hailey is a much more appealing song than The Code thanks to its groovy and fun bouncy drums arrangement and the tasteful play of pronunciations. Ultimately The Code is a high energy song fit to underscore your comeback after a life of listening to prime time radio hits and feeling adventurous. Do note the synth that matches the singing, it's cute! 3/10

#49: Taylor Swift - Fortnight ... She understood the mantra "why do more when you could do less and still achieve the same results?" and attacked the wide open niche of a target group of people who only pay attention to buzz words that are her fans. She has understood long ago that if you keep a couple core elements in your projects you can safely remove all the little things and details that make a song interesting rather than make an effort to pull in new fans who may have higher standards. I've honestly heard much better stuff from both Taylor and Post Malone respectively. 1/10

#48: Tommy Richman - MILLION DOLLAR BABY ... Oh this one I immediately found a liking to. Listen to this, I only wish they had brough in some more sections and variety into this, but at least this track knows what it is and what it's trying to do. 8/10

#46: Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso ... Nice hook, nice groove, nice synth solo, nice details, nice structure, it got me moving, sound of the summer, clearly emulating Dua Lipa. 5/10

#45: Djo - End of Beginning ... I should really listen to Beach House again. Oh but that part toward the end was cool! 3/10

#44: Post Malone ft. Morgan Wallen - I had some Help ... He has really leaned into that pop-country stuff since the last time I listened to anything of Post's. It's mostly the guitar melodies that make me think of Nickelback, but overall I don't have many thoughts for this track. 2/10

#43: Floyymenor, Cris Mj - Gata Only ... A standard dembow rhythm based latin summer track with especially noticeable robot voice and a moody dark reverb, not only on the vocals but also the synth that sets the tone for the entirety of the song. I can really appreciate that even though this track is the one most lacking in instruments, it makes up for that with its longer playtime, standing out among the rest of the hits yet

#42: Peter Fox, reezy - Toast 🍸 ... Good track that plays in the club at the more somber hour of a warm night that's meant to celebrate the friends we've made that are here to enjoy one another's company. It only gets good at the bridge, otherwise the intro is rather rocky with poorly wedged anglicizations, along with the rapped verse in the middle and the key both are played in. The use of emoji in the title is new to me. I'm not against it, but I can't defend its use here since it feels, for a lack of better words, uncalculated. 3/10

#41: Lay Bankz - Tell Ur Girlfriend ... Concise, its chorus really shines through. 7/10

#40: Beyonce - TEXAS HOLD 'EM ... Fun! Got nothing to criticize here really. The last part was reallllyyy good and refreshing. 8/10

That's it for now! maybe more later)