#so does stevie nash

[naylormarch]

sophia and dylan BOTH have autism, pass it on.

[thetrashqueeeen]

“Oh but Stevie perused a man she knew was married AFTER she slept with her sisters fiancé it’s all her fault for never interrogating this pattern of behaviour” Stevie Nash could shank me on the roof actually and it wouldn’t be her fault do you understand that-

“ooh but didn’t siobhan ENCOURAGE stevie to go for the married man isn’t it really SIOBHAN’s fault really?” siobhan mckenzie could shoot me with a gun actually and it wouldn’t be her fault do you understand that-

[goofygoldengirl]

Music Headcanons: Papa Nihil & Sister Imperator

I was originally going to include the papas but I realize that in itself could be a separate post.

Papa Nihil: If we go by Rite Here Rite Now and that he is close to but not quite 80, I’d place his year of birth at around 1944-1949. He would have been a child or a young teenager when rock was starting out and I wouldn’t be surprised if he would consider Elvis as an influence, considering that many rock musicians born around that time period do, and probably would be familiar with blues artists such as Muddy Waters, and Willie Dixon to name a few. As a young man, I could see him gravitating towards a fresh and experimental sound. The Rolling Stones, The Grateful Dead, Cream, The Doors, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, and Jimi Hendrix all come to mind. While he might begrudgingly admit that The Beatles’ later material is quite good, the fab four are not really his cup of tea. Even though he comes across as someone who likes the harder side of things, his guilty pleasures are The Beach Boys and The Four Seasons because of their harmonies (and the Pet Sounds album).

However, under no circumstances, do not get him started on how much he despises The Who. No one really knows why he hates them, but he describes them as noise. He doesn’t like Black Sabbath either because he thinks they stole his schitck. And while his musical opinion on Led Zeppelin is neutral, rumor has there was some kind of altercation between the bands back in 1969 that added them to his most hated artists list. When his sons reached an age where they begin to form musical opinions, he was confused about why on earth they all seemed to like ABBA despite their tendencies towards a harder sound.

Besides rock, Nihil is a keen jazz listener as well and seeks out pieces that heavily feature the saxophone. In his later years he’d fully learn how to appreciate opera and he has strong opinions about the three tenors.

Despite being the head of The Ministry and Ghost, he takes little initiative in exploring the developments in rock after the age of thirty five or so, and only really appreciates the music his sons put out.

Sister Imperator: I see Sister as being around the same age but a bit younger, so I’d place her being born anywhere from 1946-1949. Early on, Sister would place high expectations on the type of music she’d listen to. She’d have little patience for the bubblegum, doo wop, and crooners of the late 50s and early 60s. If she grew up in the states she probably would have dabbled in the folk scene as a teenager along with rock. She’d like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan (and probably would play it a loud volume to annoy Nihil), Peter Paul and Mary, Phil Ochs, Judy Collins, and Joni Mitchell. She definitely is a Beatles fan, has been since day one, and she’d tell you her favorite is John Lennon (teenage her would inform you that he's the most mature out of the four). Other musical acts that would obtain her interest as a teenager and young adult would The Rolling Stones, The Doors, David Bowie, Simon and Garfunkel, Cosby Stills and Nash, Stevie Wonder, Carly Simon, Pink Floyd, Queen, and John Lennon and Paul Simon as solo acts. She does not like The Eagles at all and wonders how a band that is so mediocre got so popular.

In her later adult years she’d recognize the talents of Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga, but wouldn't call herself a fan of theirs. She is more open to exploring new music than Nihil, but still is very judgemental save for anything that Ghost or her son Copia creates.

[edgessunflower]

Stevie hug

Pairing: Steven Richards x Fem reader

Description: Steven shows that you deserve love after learning that you think you don't because of your biological father

Steven walks in with a big smile looking around the house to find you until he finds the stairs leading to the attic climbing up to find you sitting in front of the window. "Baby what's wrong?" you turn your head looking at him with tears down your face and pure agony across your face as he notices the photos beside you along with letters sitting beside you as you hand him a letter dated in 1988 when you were 16 feeling his heart shatter into millions of pieces realizing the letter was to your father or as you had mentioned to him in small bits of the topic your sperm donor "He chose drugs over his kids, I blamed myself for things that happened because of his actions.." in that moment he wanted to take away all your pain and change a lot of or even everything that had happened to you if he could right then and there "I'm so afraid that I'm gonna be like him...I don't wanna be him it scares me to death" he pulls you into his arms looking at the picture in your hands of you with your big sister and your father in the background asleep on the couch with a fresh snake bite on his arm "I've spent all of my life for as long as I can remember wondering if I was enough, if i deserved to be happy...if i deserve to be loved because of him". God if words could actually hurt he would look like he had gotten beat up by Kevin Nash from how much those words hurt his heart to hear "You're not him and you're never gonna be him, you wanna know why?" you look at him after placing the picture back in the small box with more pictures and letters inside leaning your head against his shoulder as he kissed your temple "Because you have a raw, real, and big heart full of care, humanity, and unconditional love than anyone I have ever known, you have a mind full of emotions, empathy, wisdom, and common sense which some people don't have" the last part makes you laugh before he gently grabs and holds your chin "But you are the most beautiful, exceptional, wonderful, and special human and if there was anyone who deserves every good thing in this world then damn it's you" your heart melts with him caressing your face wiping half dried and still flowing tears off your face kissing your forehead before following him downstairs showering and changing into sweatpants and one of his shirts drinking chamomile tea which always calmed you down and helped you sleep if you were dealing with your insomnia. The first thing he does after changing his clothes is pull you into a hug holding you in his arms feeling nothing but care, warmth, love, and safety before you were wrapped in his arms on the couch listening to his heartbeat with your head tucked under his chin and your hands intertwined together sharing a kiss full of tenderness, affection, and unconditional love as the two of you melt into the quiet domesticated bliss "I love you, you deserve the world and more" no matter how many times he said something emotional or sappy it never fails to make your heart melt like honey and put the sweetest and a real smile on your face sharing another hug "Should we start calling these Stevie hugs?" you both laugh before turning movies on wearing one of his old hoodies that shrinked from washing it so much on the road fitting you perfectly but nothing fit you better to him than your body molded to his like the two of you had been ever since the hug in the kitchen that led to the two of you on the couch with old movies playing "They were already your hugs, I love you too".

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Banana Splits Movie (2019)

No one was doing anything with The Banana Splits so I don't think anyone will be upset when they learn the "beloved childhood property" is being repurposed as a horror comedy. For those who want that Five Nights at Freddy’s film adaptation, this should keep you at bay for a little while, though you’ll be eager to ditch it once something better comes around. That shouldn’t be hard.

Although he’s considered too old for the show, Harley Williams (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong) loves The Banana Splits: a children’s television series featuring a band of four anthropomorphic animals - dog Fleegle, gorilla Bingo, lion Drooper and Snorky the elephant - and their human co-star Stevie (Richard White). On his birthday, Harley is given tickets to a live shooting of an episode. He, his half-brother Austin (Romeo Career), his classmate Zoe (Maria Nash), his mother Beth (Dani Kind) and his father Mitch (Steve Lund) all go, never suspecting a malfunction will soon cause the animals to go on a killing spree.

There are laughs throughout, which means The Banana Splits Movie is a successful horror-comedy. Before the blood begins flowing, the characters are so broad and cartoonish it’s hard not to chuckle. As soon as Mitch opens his mouth, you know his days are numbered. Same for Stevie. Same with the annoying Instagram-obsessed couple (Kiroshan Naidoo and Celina Martin). You can probably predict everyone who will die, and in what order. You can predict most of the plot, in fact. What the love plot will be like, what will trigger the Banana Splits to become murderous, what certain characters are up to when they’re lying, etc. It’s a by-the-numbers slasher film with some pretty good child actors but plenty of clunky dialogue. As for the adults, most of their performances will make you wish for a prompt death. Needless to say, the selling points of The Banana Splits are the kills and the central gimmick.

Horror films are notorious for working on a tight budget. Unfortunately, Canadian director Danishka Esterhazy (previously responsible for the excellent Black Field) just doesn’t have the resources to make this film look good. Right away, the badly-written story stretches plausibility to its breaking point. The Banana Splits are obviously actors in suits but actually, they’re highly-sophisticated robots covered in fake-looking fur to bring a children’s television series to life. Seems like a waste… but without the setup, there’d be no movie, so fine. Is it too much to ask for the film to get the basics right? When Austin walks away from his family to pursue the show's hostess, Paige (Naledi Majola), he disappears for the entire length of the shoot but his family hardly notices. Strange considering once the filming is done it’s pitch black outside and the studio lot is deserted. I guess Austin was gone for 8 hours then? As for the kills, there are a couple of neat ones but overall, they’re only ok. Mostly, they’re unconvincing, don’t fit the premise, or don't excite you. Needless to say, you’ll never come close to being scared.

The Banana Splits Movie comes off as a couple of random ideas stitched together, as if writers Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas had a script for a Five Nights at Freddy’s movie that was repurposed with a property that kind of fit but not really. I’d love to hear what fans of the original ’68 television series think of this take on the material. Everything about the production screams “cheap”, down to the story. I’ll remind you it doesn’t cost much to give your text one extra pass to make the characters smart or interesting. Often, this film just doesn’t care about very much at all. Still, I did find myself laughing quite a bit, particularly during the beginning. Although severely flawed, the novelty of The Banana Splits does keep you invested enough to look past the numerous flaws and keep watching until the end. (On DVD, March 30, 2020)

[baubeautyandthegeek]

Don’t Keep Saying Our Hands Are Tied - Stevie Nash/Faith Cadogan

A/N: So Canon wants whump, I want fluff, here’s Day 12 of @fluffbruary​ giving me an excuse to fix stuff.

Stevie has avoided Faith for months after the fight they had, then she sees something she hates. Faith flinches from a patient and a fire lights in her eyes, she’s never once let Faith see how she misses her but she knows the flinch is full of something she never saw before. She fights, uses her words and pulls footage, taking it over Marcus’ head to his boss and gets rid of him once and for all, the patient is arrested and Stevie warns people off gossip. Someone makes a comment, Faith doesn’t see who, but she does see Stevie. Stevie who is incandescent with rage, who is fighting so hard for her even when they haven’t spoken in months. Stevie who chases people away and guards herself but bares her heart. Then Stevie slumps as the room empties and Faith moves closer, pulls Stevie round to face her and kisses her. They’ve been saying their hands are tied, they are bound to break each other, they have broken each other, but she doesn’t care anymore, she wants Stevie. Stevie’s hands fist into her scrubs at her hip and back, tugs her closer and turns to pin her against a wall and finally, finally breaks the kiss to stare at her. “God I’ve missed you, Angel.” “I’ve missed you too, Devil.”

[mothmckrakken]

(via https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5WljHTfFgAYDyjTqr5kE5w?si=H3_jN2nTRCSqjMFZWhcdJw)

~Rukia’s Drunk Karaoke Playlist, for your listening pleasure~

Like Renji’s Drunk Karaoke Playlist, this playlist is an emotional rollercoaster of bangin’ tunes (not debateable) that I feel resonate with Rukia at different parts of her story.

So we start off with some Lorde that I feel captures her time in Rukongai with Renji, then we move into Sad Song territory for their separation when Rukia was adopted. ‘No Light No Light’ is about Kaien :( and the following couple are about how she’s still struggling in the absence of both of these crushes close friends she has lost. 

Stevie Nicks kicks in when she goes to Karakura and meets Ichigo, and we then have a ‘finding herself’ section (the songs about snow and dancing natch) when she was rescued, reunited with friends and crush, got her powers back and realised, hey, I’m worth something and I’m pretty damn cool (pun intended). ‘Does Your Mother Know’ is specifically about being hit on by Ichigo’s classmates.

Important! -> When you reach ‘I Hate Seagulls’ please fast forward to 7:10 to reach the song I actually wanted: ‘My Best Friend Is You’, a hidden track that I couldn’t find on its own on Spotify. You can search that instead if you are not using Spotify. Those last few songs are about Renji once they are reunited :) 

(I did try to find a way not to have Lorde songs one after the other but it made sense chronologically to me and I couldn’t disrupt that, sorry) 

List of songs:

1. Royals - Lorde

2. Glory and Gore - Lorde

3. Buzzcut Season - Lorde

4. OMYGOD - Kate Nash

5. Without You - Lana Del Rey

6. Once More To See You - Mitski

7. No Light No Light - Florence and the Machine

8. Weak - Skunk Anansi

9. Feelings - Hayley Kiyoko

10. Edge of Seventeen - Stevie Nicks

11. Let it Go - Idina Menzel

12. Dancing Queen - ABBA

13. Does Your Mother Know - ABBA

14. I Wanna Dance With Somebody - Whitney Houston

15. My Best Friend is You (on Spotify as ‘I Hate Seagulls’ - fast forward to 7:10 to get to the right song) - Kate Nash

16. Pink in the Night - Mitski

17. Poor Song - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Hope you enjoy!

[groupiesoutrageously]

Excerpts from a Nikki Squire interview by Paul Secord, 2000. From the Notes From the Edge website. 

PS: How did you get interested in music? 

NS: I always loved music, especially singing, so my friends and I would regularly put on shows in one of the houses in the street and all the children would come and I would be the singer. 

However, when I became a teenager, I knew that the East End wasn't where I wanted to be forever. I was ambitious and so I went to business school in the evenings, Corona School of Drama in the day, worked a Saturday job, eventually working in the West End. I started my own business and took piano lessons, always listening to music, some of that being: ska (Prince Buster), reggae, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Mingus, Stevie Winwood, The Beatles, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Neil Young, Stravinsky, Holst, Bob Marley. All of these artists are as they come to mind not in order of time or preference and of course there are still others like Cream, Iron Butterfly, the Eagles, Led Zep (Kashmir being one of my favorites) — I’ll stop there!

PS: How and where did you first meet Chris Squire?

NS: Chris and I met in the then-famous Speakeasy Club. I think the best music club of that period, not a jazz club, but a place where Derek and the Dominos (Eric Clapton), Jimi Hendrix, Keith Moon, and others from the list I have already mentioned, played. 

Everyone in the business frequented the place, it was excellent, and on the evening of the 12th of August 1970, we began what was at first a friendship and the rest, as they say, is history! 

PS: What was your life with Chris like? 

NS: [...] In the very beginning Chris and Yes had not yet finished recording The Yes Album. There were only the two previous albums, Time and a Word and Yes, so full-on success and international success was yet to come. Therefore as a couple and with Carmen, a family, there were so many different dynamics to our lives, we were both around twenty-three and things were exciting. 

We lived in North London, then later in Notting Hill Gate in London. Chris was touring in America and Yes were becoming more and more successful. In those days we both disliked being separated but, as they say, it goes with the turf. Having said that, Carmen and I did go on tour quite a lot, Carmen would always sit on Chris' bass speaker with her little legs swinging in time with the band. 

In December 1972 we bought a house in Virginia Water in Surrey, known as "New Pipers.” Chandrika, our second daughter, was born a few months later, in February 1973. We set about renovating, and redesigning the home. We also built the recording studio under the house. Relayer was recorded there, along with Fish Out of Water, the Esquire album and many other projects — but both Chris, myself and the girls lived with builders for years! 

We tried, and succeeded in many ways, to have a normal family life, along with the builders, the recordings, rehearsals, touring, business meetings, school functions and family get-togethers — it was varied and never dull. 

[…] We were all vegetarians and lived on organic food (since about 1970) so food preparation was quite a big thing. In the grounds of the house we had a kitchen garden, so we had homegrown produce too. Chris and I took an active interest in matters of ecology and health and cultivated the land surrounding the house using organic methods. I studied health and diet extensively (I am involved in this still). It was incredibly busy sometimes and took a tremendous amount of organizing. Then in the summer of 1977 Camille was born — the youngest of the girls. We lived at home, toured together (whenever possible), lived in other countries together took holidays, we were, in every sense of the word, a family  — and we loved each other. 

PS: You mentioned your second daughter, Chandrika. That is a very interesting name; is there a story behind it? 

NS: When Chris was young, he had a very good friend called Darian. Darian's father was Indian and his mother English. They lived in Hampstead in London and were an extremely interesting family. Chris spent a lot of time at the family home and there was a bond between him and them. Chris and I had visited together, very artistic people I remember. They also had a daughter in this wonderful family called Chandrika, this name was passed on to our daughter. An Indian name by origin, Chandra (pronounced “chundra”) means Moon. So Chandrika means “Little Moon.”

PS: What kind of influence did you have on Chris' writing with Yes and his solo work? 

NS: In between all that I have already spoken of above, there would be many times where I would sing with Chris at the grand piano or Chris would sing something to me and I would give an opinion or an idea. The same with the guitar or the bass and downstairs in the studio it would be the same too, or I would watch him working and learn. Chris has a brilliant sense of harmony and is a fine musician, singer and bass player, so being there and taking it in has certainly influenced me! 

He would always carry stacks of 'out-take' cassettes from the studio and practice vocal harmonies to and from London, which was an hour long journey at least, I would be there and sing them with him, or make a suggestion perhaps, or simply be there. 

What influence I have had specifically on Chris is not for me to say, but we certainly shared a lot of musical and family life together. Creating music, by it's very nature, is a tapestry of people, times, moments, influences and inspiration, taken in by all we see around us —  therefore how could we not have influenced each other. 

PS: Did you and Chris ever write together? 

NS: Yes; it's very difficult to say all the small bits here and there that we may have contributed to each others songs, a few words, a line, or even one word, but all of the elements I have just mentioned have happened. 

For the most part, this question is answered above, but one song that does come to mind is "Red Light Ahead." We sang that song together so many times — I have always loved it. Some of the same lyrics feature on the closing vocal that Chris sings on “What You've Been Saying”, one of the tracks on the Esquire album. Although I write all my own lyrics, it wouldn't be unusual for Chris to make an appearance like that, with his lyrics and vice-versa, this being an example of one of the subtle crossovers that inevitably would occur in our life as it was. 

PS: What role did Chris play in the early days of Esquire? 

NS: Chris was always very supportive and would listen with interest to the developing demos. He was not staying at the house very much, sometimes living and recording in London and sometimes in the U.S., although I would often play him the tracks down the telephone line — to get his opinion on the tricky bits! 

If Chris was at a particular Esquire recording session, he would give his undivided attention as any dedicated musician would. Sometimes coaching me whilst singing — and he was tough, I had to do it perfectly and reach the high notes spot on. 

I always enjoyed working when Chris was around. I think Chris's influence was with me, whether he was there or not, always thinking if he would approve of my approach to a vocal, a lyric, a harmony etc., embracing a standard that I had not only admired in Chris but in Yes as a band and it's members. 

Chris and I worked closely on "To the Rescue" with Nigel and Charlie in a studio in California, called Record One. Although the song had already been written and was in demo form, Chris embellished the song tremendously as well as singing harmonies, some of those prominently in the middle eight. Then, of course, Chris and Esquire were together for all the mixing of the album at Ocean Way studio in California too. 

There were long times apart and long times together whilst the Esquire album was being written and recorded, but, as I have said, Chris's musical influence was there throughout for me personally, I think it always will be.

[hlupdate]

So what does a young superstar spend his time thinking about? Classic rock, mostly, along with the occasional movie or TV show. Harry Styles has always been a voracious scholar of pop history — the kind of guy who obsesses over John and Yoko album covers and Fleetwood Mac deep cuts. “We’re all just fans,” he says. “I’m just a music fan who happens to make some.” These are just a few of Harry’s favorite things — some influences, some inspirations, some heroes.

Listen along to our Harry Styles playlist here.

Van Morrison The Irish blues bard was down and out in Boston when he wrote his brooding 1968 song cycle Astral Weeks. “It’s my favorite album ever,” Harry says. “Completely perfect.” Harry recently posed with his idol for a backstage photo — inspiring Van to smile, which doesn’t happen too often. The grin is so out of character for Van, Harry jokes, “I was tickling him behind his back.” (He’s kidding, obviously.) On his first tour, before going onstage, he played “Madame George” over the speakers — the epic ballad of a Belfast drag queen. “‘Madame George’ is one of my favorites — nine minutes. I’ve got some long songs but not my nine-minute one — it hasn’t quite come through yet.”

Joni Mitchell Harry got so obsessed with her 1971 classic Blue, he went on a quest. “I was in a big Joni hole,” he says. “I kept hearing the dulcimer all over Blue. So I tracked down the lady who built Joni’s dulcimers in the Sixties. She still lives around here.” He not only found her, she invited him over. “I went to her house and she gave me a little lesson — we sat around and played dulcimers.” She built the dulcimer Harry plays on his new album. “Blue and Astral Weeks, that’s just the ultimate in terms of songwriting. Melody-wise, they’re in their own lane. Joni and Van, their freedom with melodies — it’s never quite what you thought was coming, yet it’s always so great.”

Etta James The hard-living R&B legend could do it all, from raw Chess blues to pop-soul torch ballads. Harry is a devotee of her 1960 debut album At Last! “This whole album is perfect. On that record you have ‘I Just Want to Make Love to You’ going right into ‘At Last,’ which has to be one of the greatest one-twos ever. Her ad libs are so intense. It’s like, ��Come on, Etta — tell us how you really feel.’”

Wings Paul McCartney’s 1970s band left behind a slew of shaggy art-pop oddities. Harry swears by London Town and Back to the Egg. “While I was in Tokyo I used to go to a vinyl bar, but the bartender didn’t have Wings records. So I brought him Back to the Egg. ‘Arrow Through Me,’ that was the song I had to hear every day when I was in Japan.” The 1971 suite Ram was divisive for Beatles fans at the time, but for Harry it was a psychedelic experience: while making the album, he and his band enjoyed it while lying out in the sunshine on mushrooms. “I love Ram so much — I used to think it was a mixed bag, but that’s part of its beauty. And the one that’s just called McCartney, with the cherries on the cover and ‘The Lovely Linda’ on it.”

John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky Documentary A deep dive into the world of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, during the making of Imagine. “I watched Above Us Only Sky on Netflix,” Harry says. “Seeing him play ‘Imagine’ on piano made me want to take piano lessons.” One of his favorite Lennon songs: “Jealous Guy,” especially the Donnie Hathaway cover. “Have you ever heard the original version of ‘Jealous Guy’? It was called ‘Child of Nature.’ Every time I play ‘Jealous Guy,’ I can’t help singing ‘Child of Nature.’ I really like Mind Games too. My favorite-ever album cover is the John and Yoko Live Peace in Toronto. So beautiful: it’s blue sky with one cloud, and that’s it.”

Carole King For a playback of his new music, Harry arranges to listen at Henson Studios in Hollywood, which used to be the old A&M Studios, in Studio B. Why? “It’s the room where Carole King recorded Tapestry.” Obsessive pop scholar that he is, Harry reveres King as both a singer and songwriter. His favorite: “So Far Away.” “How do people make shit like this?”

Crosby, Stills and Nash These three hippie balladeers summed up the mellow West Coast soft-rock vibe, despite their chemical wreckage. (For the full story, see the great new band bio by Rolling Stone’s David Browne.) “Those harmonies, man,” Harry says. “‘Helplessly Hoping’ is the song I would play if I had three minutes to live. It’s one of my ‘one more time before I go’–type songs.”

The Other Two TV Series He’s a big fan of the Comedy Central series. “It’s a brother and a sister — they’re the Two — and their younger brother becomes a viral YouTube sensation. He’s a Justin Bieber–type thing. He’s 13, and it’s basically those two dealing with that. It’s really funny.” (He’s got a thing for absurdist pop scenes like this — he also recommends the documentary When the Screaming Stops, about a bizarre reunion gig from the Eighties twin-brother duo Bros.)

Paul Simon “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,’ that’s the greatest verse melody ever written, in my opinion,” Harry says. “So minimal, but so good — that drum roll. ‘The Boxer’ is a perfect lyric, especially that first verse.” Paul Simon was one of his childhood soundtracks, with or without Art Garfunkel. “I grew up in a pub for a few years when I was a kid and Simon and Garfunkel were just constantly playing, always. Every time ‘Cecilia’ started, I’d be like, ‘I think I’ve heard this a hundred times today.’”

Hall and Oates “For my 21st birthday, I had a big party, and I convinced myself I really wanted Hall and Oates to play. I knew it wasn’t going to happen — I just had to ask. But just a few months before, they went into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so whatever it was, it was now three times as much as it used to be. Their rate just tripled — ah, fuck.”

Peter Gabriel, “Sledgehammer” Video “The greatest music video ever. I also love that Eighties synth pan-whistle sound — it basically just exists in this song and ‘My Heart Will Go On.’”

Elvis Presley “The first music I ever heard was Elvis Presley. When I was little, we got a karaoke machine and I sang Elvis, because that’s what my grandparents listened to. I made my grandfather a tape of me doing Elvis songs on one side and all Eminem on the other side. Unfortunately, I accidentally played him the wrong side.”

Harry Nilsson The legendary L.A. eccentric could croon middle-of-the-road hit ballads like “Without You,” but also a crazed weirdo who caroused with John Lennon and pursued his own lunatic pop fantasies. In other words, Harry Styles’ type of guy. “I think of all the great songwriters I love — but they all had their pop songs. Joni Mitchell with ‘Help Me,’ Paul Simon with ‘You Can Call Me Al,’ Harry Nilsson with ‘Coconut.’ You have to conquer the fear of pop.”

Stevie Nicks The Gold Dust Woman and her “little muse” are everybody’s favorite rock friendship. At the Hall of Fame ceremony in March, the sight of Harry dropping to one knee as he hands the award to a radiant Stevie — one of the iconic cross-generational images of our time. They first sang together in L.A. two years ago, when she made a surprise guest appearance at one of his first solo shows. “One of my favorite-ever musical memories. We sang ‘Landslide’ as a soundcheck, and that was even cooler for me than the show — just me and her, in an empty Troubadour.”

They just sang “Landslide” at a Gucci event in Rome, with Harry hitting impossible high notes on the final “snooooow-covered hills.” “We practiced in the dressing room,” he says. He’s got the rehearsal footage on his phone — when he hits that note, guitarist Waddy Wachtel is too stunned to keep playing. “That’s my favorite bit,” Harry says. “Practicing the song together. Just the two of us.”

[nerianasims]

Billboards #1 1963

Under the cut.

Steve Lawrence – “Go Away Little Girl” -- January 12, 1963

"Little girl" didn't mean "little girl" in songs of the era. She could be 49 for all we know. And yet, having to constantly remind onesself of that does not make for a pleasant listening experience. Nothing about it is a pleasant listening experience. Okay, he's drawn to someone he shouldn't be and doesn't know if he can resist. That's a common enough human experience. But he's so smarmy about it. And musically, it's light and boring lounge schmaltz.

The Rooftop Singers – “Walk Right In” -- January 26, 1963

It's okay. It's catchy. I can believe the singers are living breathing people, and not automatons, which is saying a lot for folk-pop of the era. There's some nice acoustic guitar work. I just can't get over the feeling this was originally either about drugs or sex work and has been sanitized. It's fine though. Which is a major improvement over the offensively bad "Michael" two years back.

Paul & Paula – “Hey Paula” -- February 9, 1963

They want to get married as soon as possible because they just can't wait. Why is not said -- this song is Wonder Bread -- but it's obviously because of sex. Also they're singing to each other's stage names, Paul and Paula. "Hey Paula" and "Hey Paul." Getting married very young because you can't handle not having sex any more is a really bad idea. Anyway, it's hard for me to think about the lyrics much because the music is so bland I think it killed some brain cells.

The Four Seasons – “Walk Like A Man” -- March 2, 1963

Can't sleep, Frankie Valli will get me. That falsetto. Dear lord. Anyway, his girlfriend has been spreading lies about him and he's gonna "walk like a man" to get away from her. I'd run like a woman to get away from his voice.

Ruby & The Romantics – “Our Day Will Come” -- March 23, 1963

Now here's a wonderful voice. Ruby Nash has a rich, beautiful contralto, and she puts a lot of joy into it. She's telling someone not to be upset about waiting, because "our day will come" and they'll be able to live happily ever after together. The bossa nova arrangement is nice, but this is all about Nash's voice. Quite good.

The Chiffons – “He’s So Fine” -- March 30, 1963

The narrator is in love with a shy guy whom she's having problems getting close to, but she's determined. "Sooner or later/ I hope it's not later." A nice bouncy girl group song. Also George Harrison ripped the melody off for a much worse song years later.

Little Peggy March – “I Will Follow Him” -- April 27, 1963

In high school, one of my friends and I made up words to this song that went "I hate him/ I hate him/ I hate him" and etc. So uh. This song. As-is, I find it annoying. It's a good jumping off point for you and your friends when you're deeply pissed off at some guys, though.

Jimmy Soul’s “If You Wanna Be Happy” -- May 18, 1963

If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life, don't marry a pretty woman, marry an ugly woman who can cook. This song makes me laugh. It's dated and problematique. Whatever, I find it amusing.

Lesley Gore – “It’s My Party” -- June 1, 1963

Johnny and Judy are colossal jackasses. They timed starting to go steady at Johnny's girlfriend's party, sheesh. It's all rather unlikely. Considering she's going through something that would be both heartbreaking and horribly embarrassing, Lesley Gore doesn't sound too terribly broken up about it, even if she is supposed to be crying. It's still a good song.

Kyu Sakamoto – “Sukiyaki” (originally "Ue O Muite Aruko") -- June 15, 1963

Kyu Sakamoto had a wonderful voice for pop songs or light tenor roles on Broadway, and he used it well. This is a bittersweet song in Japanese about looking up when you walk after your heart is broken so no one sees your tears -- after your protest movement against U.S. interference in your country fails. Hm. We tend to underestimate how much people in the past knew, and it is entirely possible this song became a hit partly in solidarity with that protest movement. Or maybe because people happened to hear it on TV because of the movement. Or maybe just because it's a pretty song, sung beautifully.

The Essex – “Easier Said Than Done” -- July 6, 1963

The narrator's friends are saying she should tell a guy she's into him, but she can't seem to do it. It's a buoyant little song, but nothing more than that.

Jan And Dean – “Surf City” -- July 20, 1963

This song is explicitly not for me. "Two girls for every boy" sounds no fun at all. And they keep singing it in falsetto. As for the sound, it's an early 60s surf song. Yawn.

The Tymes – “So Much In Love” -- August 3, 1963

The narrator and his fiancee are so much in love, and his backup singers are snapping and woo-wooing to support him in the background. It's nice, and kind of a big nothing at the same time. There's something very assembly line about it.

Little Stevie Wonder – “Fingertips (Pt. II)” -- August 10, 1963

Stevie Wonder was 13 at the time. Which means I don't like this song. He's just too young. Also it's live and sort of all over the place, though it's mostly harmonica. I'll be much happier to hear Stevie Wonder when he's back a few years from now.

The Angels – “My Boyfriend’s Back” -- August 31, 1963

I consider this song close to perfection. It's musically fun and taunting, and the taunting is serious. "Look out now, cuz he's comin' after you." This piece of shit who's been spreading rumors about and sexually harassing the narrator is about to eat dirt. Oh yeah, I love it.

Bobby Vinton – “Blue Velvet” -- September 21, 1963

Apparently David Lynch named a movie for this? I avoid David Lynch like the plague, so that doesn't influence my hearing of the song. The narrator and the woman in blue velvet were in love, but then she "left." It's melancholy enough that I feel she may have died, not just left. Pretty, sad, but that's about it.

Jimmy Gilmer And The Fireballs – “Sugar Shack” -- October 12, 1963

The titular "sugar shack" is supposedly a coffeehouse. I have my doubts. They had to bury implications under a lot of layers in 1963. Or maybe I'm just trying to make the song more interesting, imagining the narrator wants to marry a sex worker and not a waitress. The song is bouncy and bubbly and dull.

Nino Tempo & April Stevens -- "Deep Purple" -- November 16, 1963

I find this song very unpleasant due to Nino Tempo's singing. There's something about it that grates on me, the woo-woo's especially. This is about dreaming an old -- possibly dead -- lover is coming back to you. And it's sure cheery and peppy. Also there's a spoken word section that's not good at all. I do not like this rendition of this song one bit.

Dale & Grace – “I’m Leaving It Up To You” -- November 23, 1963

No Ray Charles this year? I'm in desperate need here. Sigh. Grace's voice is high and nasal and I have nothing to say about Dale. The idea of the song is that they're leaving it up to the other person in the relationship whether to keep going. The lyrics are nothing special, but they're fine. The music is boring except that Grace's voice is like nails on a chalkboard. I don't know how much more stuff like this I can take.

The Singing Nun – “Dominique” -- December 7, 1963

Well, it's different. It’s French. Jeanne-Paule Marie Deckers, the Singing Nun, wrote this cheery song about the founder of her order. He chose poverty and only talked about God, you know the drill. I don't connect with it, and I also have nothing negative to say about it. It's a refreshing song.

BEST OF 1963: My Boyfriend's Back and Sukiyaki in a tie  WORST OF 1963: Nino Tempo & April Stevens' rendition of Deep Purple, though there were many contenders

[cinemasentries]

You can enter to win here.

Cinema Sentries has teamed up with Time Life to award one lucky reader Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: In Concert (11-disc set) on DVD, which is available on September 6.  To learn about the set, read the press release is below:

An unparalleled rock 'n' roll experience and a must-own for every music fan, this ultimate DVD set features nearly 30 hours of mind-blowing performances and collaborative jam sessions that have made Rock Hall concerts legendary, covering eight memorable induction ceremonies and 160 live performances from such rock giants as Alice Cooper, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Cheap Trick, Chicago, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Electric Light Orchestra,, Heart, James Taylor, Journey, Mick Jagger, Paul Simon, Ringo Starr, Simon and Garfunkel, Sting, U2, Jeff Beck, Billy Gibbons, Metallica, and many more.

The set is comprised of three separate collections: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: In Concert - Encore (2010-2013), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: In Concert (2014-2017) and the complete 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concerts from 2009, which The Philadelphia Inquirer called "the all-star jam of a fan's dreams."

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: In Concert wouldn't be complete without historic, irreverent and emotional induction speeches including Coldplay's Chris Martin inducting Peter Gabriel, Metallica's Lars Ulrich inducting Deep Purple, Don Henley inducting Randy Newman, and Neil Young inducting Tom Waits, as well as speeches from Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Kid Rock, Dave Grohl, Art Garfunkel, Glenn Fry, Miley Cyrus, John Mayer, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, John Mellencamp and more. Additionally, the set includes collectible booklets, as well as the 26-page collector's edition of Rolling Stone with behind-the-scenes stories of the 25th Anniversary Hall of Fame concerts.

The contest is only open to residents of the continental U.S. Upon notification, recipients will need to provide their own valid address (within 48 hours of email notification); no P.O. Boxes. Failure to do so will forfeit prize and another winner will be randomly selected. Cinema Sentries does not enter into any contract or guarantee with prize participants or any visitors to our site. If you don't

[nickjcnas-archived]

JULY TASK: QUESTIONNAIRE

@cityofdreamstasks​

What is your nickname?

If you want to get technical, “Nick” is a nickname of Nicholas. I don’t like being called “Nicky” unless my nieces are calling me that.

Do you have any pets?

I have four dogs. Gino and Panda are mine, Nash is Troye’s, and Lyric is our shared dog.

What are your hobbies?

Playing golf, playing softball (I have my own team), collecting and smoking cigars.

Do you believe in astrology? If so, what is your zodiac sign?

I mean, why not? Can’t hurt to believe in it. My zodiac sign is Virgo.

Are you more of an extrovert or introvert?

Can I be both? What’s the word for that?

What are two of your pet peeves?

People who don’t chew with their mouths closed, people who are impolite.

Do you like or dislike surprises? Why or why not?

Yes and no. It really just depends on what the surprise is.

If you could share a meal with any 4 individuals, living or dead, who would they be?

Prince, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, Frankie Valli.

How would you describe your personal style?

Classic and modern with a little edge or twist.

What's one thing you can't live without?

Insulin.

What are your go to comfort things (items, places, movies, etc)?

My dogs and my recording studio.

When you’re in a bad mood, who is someone in your life that makes it better?

Troye, my daughter, and my nieces.

What is your biggest fear?

Losing my job.

What’s something most people may not know about you?

It might come as a shock to some people that I’m not as egotistical or serious as everyone thinks I am.

What is your most treasured possession?

God, I have so many that mean a lot to me. I know I’ve got a couple things from my grandfather that mean a lot to me.

Excluding essential items or anything with streaming/internet capabilities, what 5 items would you need/want if you were stranded on a deserted island?

How am I supposed to list anything if the question is excluding essential items or anything with steaming/Internet capabilities?

What is one thing on your bucket list?

Don’t get divorced again. Just kidding. I’d love to have another kid, maybe.

If you could only keep one song on repeat, what would you be listening to?

“When Doves Cry” by Prince

If you had to spontaneously get a tattoo, what would you end up getting?

Probably my daughter’s name, or something related to her.

If you could live anywhere for the rest of your life, except for where you currently live, where would it be?

Italy, for sure.

If you could have been part of any experience in the past, what would you have liked to experience?

I don’t know. This question is very vague. Come back to me in like, ten minutes.

What's the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of love?

Got engaged to someone after only two months of dating. Never again.

What has been your favorite movie theater experience?

What does this even mean?

If you could have anyone play you in a movie or TV show, who would it be?

Nobody can accurately play me, besides myself.

What is your favorite thing about your career?

Getting to do what I love everyday, obviously. Getting to see the fans, too, of course.

Do you regret any career moves?

The whole JONAS TV show for Disney. Fucking awful.

What is your dream project? Your ultimate career goal?

I got to play Frankie Valli last year which was an ultimate dream project. But ultimately, I’d really just love to do more acting.

If you didn't have the career you have today, what would you be doing instead?

I would be some type of professional athlete. Probably a baseball player, to be exact. But I probably would’ve considered football, too.

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning! I hope you slept well and feel rested? Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day. Happy Hump Day!

My new friend Dennis Daye said yesterday, “Love your musings!” Ah, Dennis, these bloody musings keep me awake at night! Early on Tuesday morning, The Trouble’s alarm clock went off, as it was still on Jamaican time! It was just before 4.00 a.m. I tried to get back to sleep but couldn’t. Those bloody musings kept me awake! That’s why I work so hard! I work until I fall asleep. If I get into bed too early, the musings keep me awake. I think about good stuff … mostly … but, because I’m a human being, I think about bad stuff too. I think about terrible things that will probably never happen. I have imaginary conversations with people that will never take place. And, of course, I write. I usually write kind, motivational or encouraging words and, on rare occasions, I’ll have right old rant! On Monday morning, I almost let someone have it with both barrels, but The Trouble talked me down. I’m glad she did. It would have served no purpose.

A beautiful friend said to me yesterday that she does not suffer from FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). She’d spent the entire platinum jubilee weekend resting and was quite happy to do that, without the worry that she was missing out on anything. I definitely feel that way too. If I get a great invitation to go somewhere, I’ll go but, if I don’t, I’m quite happy to stay at home and do nothing. Literally nothing! When you’ve seen Luther Vandross, Maze, Earth Wind & Fire, Michael Jackson, Anita Baker, Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones (all in their heyday), you don’t really worry about missing a gig. And when you’ve been to Paradise Garage, The Fun House, Danceteria, Limelight, The Tunnel and Better Days (all in their heyday), you don’t really worry about missing out on a club night. These days, I am very fussy! I need a really good reason to leave my yard.

Okay, now it’s going to get real nerdy, so strap yourself in! Last night, I went to a staff meeting, and I got into a conversation with one of our tutors (teaching singing and composition), the legendary, Grammy Award-winning, keyboardist Phil Ramocon. Now, as you know, Bob Marley passed away in 1981, but Island Records continued re-working, re-mixing and re-releasing his music up until 2005. After Bob’s death, Island Studios’ in-house producer Godwin Logie was tasked with re-working some of these tracks, re-arranging, adding new parts, and Phil was lucky enough to play on some of those tracks. Phil also mentioned another musician that was drafted in to work on Bob’s music, John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick, a white keyboard player from Texas, who had been brought to this country by his fellow Texan, Johnny Nash who, coincidentally, had a big hit with the Bob Marley song ‘Stir It Up’. Rabbit was drafted-in to play Clavinet and synthesizer on ‘Catch A Fire’ and give the album a more modern, more accessible sound. It worked! ‘Catch A Fire’ was the first album to earn Bob a Gold disc, selling 100,000 albums. These are the kind of details I love!

Have a wonderful and well-endowed Wednesday. I love you all. Yes, a crazy, bald man loves and cares about you.

[closetofanxiety]

Nitromare: Underneath the Barrel

Another week, another episode of Nitro from the Vince Russo era. This Monday is November 1, 1999, and we’re live from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I went out to Minneapolis to see a wrestling show last year, and had a fine time. I don’t know if I’ll have as much fun watching this Nitro.

We open up with Bret Hart upbraiding Hall and Nash for interfering in his match last week. They don’t know why he’s upset, since they interfered on his behalf. “Screw you, Scott!” Bret yells. 

Bret walks out to the crowd, on crutches, and tells people he thinks Bill Goldberg is the rightful U.S. champion. Sid Vicious, hair product spilling down the back of his leather vest in thick rivulets, comes out and beats on Hart. Hall and Nash come out to mock the injured Canadian hero. 

We’re still in the midst of this nonsensical tournament to crown a new WCW world heavyweight champion. The brackets make me realize I’ve been misspelling Lash LeRoux’s name wrong for two straight installments of Nitromare. It’s in the spirit of Crash TV, bro!

One thing I appreciate is that the WWE Network has left in the commercials that are wrestling-themed, so there are some Randy Savage Slim Jims ads, and a lot of ads for WCW toys. It’s amazing how little ads for wrestling toys have changed since then. The medium is ripe for reinvention.

Some recap, some backstage nonsense, and we’re onto our first match: Vampiro vs. Berlyn, in a battle to see who is the top mall goth in all of WCW. It’s a pretty decent match, and then ... Oh God, it’s the Michael Graves-era Misfits running out of the back for some reason. “Vampiro is a musician as well,” Tony notes. I’ll say this: the Michael Graves albums aren’t as bad as people claim. Some decent songs on those, but people were just going to shit on anything that wasn’t Danzig, casually overlooking that “Earth A.D.” was terrible.

Ah, let’s see: ref bump, the Misfits take out Berlyn’s bodyguard, The Wall, with a chair shot, and then help Vampiro get the cheating win over Berlyn. The Wall has miraculously recovered from being knocked unconscious 15 seconds ago, and gives the microphone to Berlyn. “From now on, screw USA!” he says. 

Backstage, Hall is reading a newspaper. Ah, the 1990s! He and Nash mumble semi-audibly to each other. In another part of backstage, the Revolution have locked a leather-clad Torrie Wilson in a cage. “She’s the property now of the Revolution,” Brain informs us. 

The Revolution come out to the ring. Perry Saturn is wearing an outfit entirely composed of denim except for his leather Kangol. “You say you want a revolution?” Shane Douglas asks. No one said that, Shane. They let Perry talk for a while, which is a bold choice. Perry demands a key on top of a pole match, the key being the one to let Torrie Wilson out of her cage. Is this the first item on a pole match of the Russo era? I believe it is. 

Dean Malenko takes the mic to call out Chris Benoit. “You’ve been nothing but a puss, old buddy,” he says. DANGEROUSLY EDGY.

Benoit comes out. All these guys are in street clothes, which hilariously means polo shirts tucked into jeans. They look like a bunch of office guys getting ready to cut loose with a game of touch football at the company picnic. Chris Benoit announces he will wrestle Dean Malenko in a cage, which for some reason causes Malenko to have some kind of psychotic break. 

Backstage, the Filthy Animals are coming into the building, and a security stops them, demanding to see backstage passes. This makes a huge amount of sense. The Filthy Animals beat the security guy up, because they can’t be contained by your rules. Meanwhile, Mike Tenay is interviewing Kimberly Page, who is flanked by all the Nitro Girls. How many Nitro Girls can you name without looking it up? Was one of them named Sapphire? That’s about as much as I can muster. Kim tells the Nitro Girls she’s leaving the group. I never really thought of her as a Nitro Girl tbh. 

Ernest “The Cat” Miller comes to the ring, and the fake music the WWE Network inserts over his entrance song is unbelievably bad. Seriously, go and watch this. It’s incredible. It sounds like a Casio keyboard has been sunk in a vat of pickle brine before being struck by hammer-wielding orangutans. 

He’s wrestling Lash LeRoux. “Big future ahead for this guy,” Brain says. “I can see it. He’s going to explode.” He’s now a Christian cartoonist and illustrator, so maybe? This match lasts maybe two minutes. The Cat’s knee gives out and LeRoux picks up the win.

Backstage, Hart is raging about Nash and Hall. “These guys aren’t the bottom of the barrel, they’re underneath the barrel!” he fumes. Meanwhile, dissension in the Nitro Girls as they try to decide who will be the new leader. Elsewhere, the Filthy Animals are secretly videotaping Lex Luger and Miss Elizabeth. Eddie Guerrero is wearing a fetching Cosby sweater. The camera keeps rolling after they stop acting and then they show an actual behind-the-scenes TNT director. Everyone is cracking up. LIVE TV, BRO! Maybe that was deliberate? Maybe Vince Russo was out to destroy the fourth wall once and for all?

Now we cut to a remote segment with a shockingly subdued, normal Scott Steiner talking about a back injury to Larry Zbyszko. This is a totally different Steiner. No shouting, no babbling, just a guy talking like a football player about the specifics of an injury and surgery. Larry is wearing a colored denim shirt with the Nitro logo on the breast pocket. At last, a garment fine enough for me to be wed in. Was this an attempt to do a “shoot interview”? Russo pulling back the curtain - this ain’t Scott Steiner the character, this is Scott Steiner THE HUMAN BEING! 

Now we’re back in the ring, and the Nitro Girls are dancing. I would like to read an oral history of this dance troupe. Get on that, Bixenspan. The dancing ends with some pushing and shoving, but before that can go anywhere, we’re backstage again, with Tenay interviewing Buff Bagwell. The Buff Daddy complains about “the writers” holding him back. 

A series of vignettes show us Kevin Nash doing a Vince McMahon impression. What am I doing with my life?

Back to the Nitro Girls. More pushing and shoving backstage. Trying to turn them into workers was such a characteristically Russovian decision. And, like most of his ideas, it was terrible and obviously doomed to fail.

A crowd sign: “BUFF IS THE REAL PEOPLE [sic] CHAMPION”

Stevie Ray comes out and announces that “the powers that be” have determined there will be a strap match. “Who said that? The two writers in the back?” Buff yells. Yes, Buff. So now we have a strap match. It’s not a good strap match, and the two suited goons who work for THE DAMN WRITERS IN THE BACK run out because Buff starts to win. Why do Russo and Ferrara hate Buff so much? 

We switch from the ring as the ring announcer is talking to Tenay interviewing Jeff Jarrett. “Don’t get slappy with me, Tenay!” he says. He drops some more insider terminology, because Vince Russo thought that was what normal people wanted. 

Kevin Nash comes out, a vision of horror in putty makeup, as Vince McMahon. “The fans out here, they don’t even know who he is,” Tony says. Which explains why they’re silently watching this terrible skit. Less than three years after this, Nash would be working for Vince McMahon once again, and losing to Chris Jericho in a hair vs. hair match. Life comes at you fast, Kevin.

“I put anyone out of business until I was the only show in town,” Nash as Vince says, eerily predicting what will happen in less than 18 months. The crowd is restless and bored. He uses some insider lingo, as was the style at the time. Nash-Vince introduces Scott Hall as “the Trouser Snake.” 

“He’s clean and sober!” Nash-Vince proclaims. This is grim. Fifteen years before this, a young “Magnum” Scott Hall was starting off in this very city, in the dying days of the once-great American Wrestling Association. How far we had all come. 

Hall launches some more insider lingo and does a crotch chop aimed at “the boys in New York.” Seconds and minutes of my life, rushing by, never to be held again. 

Backstage shit. Lex, Liz, Meng, Perfect. Ah, Perfect. The last great star of the Minneapolis-based AWA, a native of nearby Robbinsdale. What did Verne make of all this? I mean, Verne probably would have tried to put a 59-year-old Baron Von Raschke over Bret Hart, but I digress.

Hennig gets a good pop when he comes out. Brain points out Hennig’s father, the great AWA star Larry Hennig, at ringside. The ghosts of the 1970s are all around us. This is a match against Disco Inferno. This will not be up to the standard of one of Hennig’s matches in the previous decade with Nick Bockwinkel. 

The crowd absolutely fucking loses it for Larry Hennig, chanting “LARE-EE! LARE-EE!” as he punches Disco Inferno. Ah, that does my heart good.

Of course, this has to be interrupted by the random appearance of some goober walking down the ramp from backstage. Disco Inferno runs out to talk to him, and they walk down the ramp to the back. The bell rings, and Hennig wins by contour. Larry claps at ringside while looking like he’s seen someone shoot a family pet. 

Some backstage garbage. We come back to the ring for a “hardcore three-way dance.” The Barbarian w/Jimmy Hart, Meng, and ... Norman Smiley dressed as a baseball catcher. Two of the all-time legit tough guys and a star from the old British wrestling, in this goofy-ass plunder battle. This should have been a stiff, nasty classic. Instead it’s a slow, sloppy farce. 

Crowd sign, evidently made by a lunatic: “PUSH DAVID FLAIR.” 

In the ring, Meng and the Barbarian are chopping the shit out of Norman Smiley. THIS IS MORE LIKE IT. Smiley’s shoulder is sliced open, probably on one of those fake trash cans. He’s stretchered away from the ring for some reason. He jumps off the stretcher when he sees that Meng and the Barbarian have knocked each other out, and covers the Barbarian for the win.

Backstage, Jim Duggan is begging an unseen Vince Russo for his job. “I’ve been wrestling for 20 years, and I think I have more fan support than some of these guys out here doing the dropkicks.” Fancy, fancy dropkicks! 

Russo, off-camera, sneers, “It’s all about ratings. Next!” He managed to keep his voice off TV for two whole weeks. As we know, the amount of Vince Russo time would only grow. 

Jarrett comes out and demands to see Luger. Jarrett is mad that Luger accused him of beating up Miss Elizabeth two weeks ago. “This is not the WWF. We don’t abuse women here!” Luger comes out and apologizes for accusing Jeff Jarrett of hitting Miss Elizabeth with a guitar. This is exactly like “War and Peace.” But it’s all a ruse! Luger goads Jarrett into insulting Meng, who runs out. Jarrett flees, wisely. 

Miss Elizabeth and Luger join Meng. Elizabeth thanks Meng, and then ... maces him. Luger pulls out a crowbar and beats on Meng. None of this makes sense. None of it has to. We are deep within the heart of the Nitromare. 

Backstage nonsense. The Filthy Animals, who Mark accurately describes as “The Go-Bots version of DX,” come out for a good ol’ fashioned object on a pole match. The object here is a key that will free Torrie Wilson from a cage. If Eddie Guerrero wins, he will reunite Torrie with her crew. Perry Saturn implies that if he wins, he will have sex with Torrie, presumably against her will. Whenever someone talks about how great wrestling was in the late 1990s, I will remember this.

Perry Saturn is driving a forklift with the Torrie cage on it. I’m not sure he’s a licensed forklift operator. Also, I’m pretty sure the Target Center is a union shop. Could be a strike in the works here. 

Tony: “It’s been a wild night.” Brain: “It’s getting better every Monday!” Only Tony is truthful. 

Eddie vs. Saturn should be a good match, but of course it’s not. After about two minutes, there’s interference from Shane Douglas, and most of the action in the match revolves around attempts to get the key off the pole. This is the problem with object on a pole matches. 

Sign in the crowd: “CONAN [sic] IS THE TACO BELL DOG.” This is a racist reference that may be lost on younger people reading this today.

Eddie gets the key while Torrie chokes Saturn. The Filthy Animals were, theoretically, a pretty good faction. It’s kind of a fun mixture of personalities, and their all-for-one mentality really helped them stand out. They were let down by the fact that Vince Russo was in charge. 

More backstage shit, and then we’re back in the ring for a Filthy Animals match. I mean, we just had all the Filthy Animals out for the previous match, but here they are again. No way the crowd could possibly become bored by 25 minutes of the same people, right? 

Kidman and Konnan, the tag team champs, are going to be wrestling Sting and Luger. We’ve also seen a lot of Luger tonight. This is WCW, but they’re running the show like one of those super local indies where everyone has to wrestle twice on the same show. 

Some people in the crowd have Juggalo face paint, the second week in a row I’ve noticed this. Did the Misfits ever wrestle the Insane Clown Posse on a WCW show? If not, why not?

This match sucks, but Sting is still insanely popular. The crowd goes berserk at every Stinger splash. The match ends after three or four minutes via DQ, when Rey and Eddie jump Sting. The Filthy Animals were the babyfaces in the previous match, and they’re the heels here. Welcome to Vince Russo’s World of Moral Ambiguity and Veiled Rape References.

Sting is mad because Lex didn’t help against the Filthy Animals. Sting and Luger have quite the rocky friendship. Backstage, Sting knocks over an (empty) barrel of Surge, the none-more-Nineties soft drink. 

We come to the ring, where Booker T is walking out. He’s jumped on the ramp by Jeff Jarrett. This is a fun, Southern-style match, or more like a hyper fast, caffeinated version of a Southern match. Naturally, it gets interrupted by the two besuited goons working on behalf of Russo and Ferrara, and Jarrett wins. Has there been a clean pin once tonight?

A remote piece from the set of “Slam,” which would later be renamed “Ready to Rumble,” the godawful David Arquette wrestling movie. Tenay interviews Goldberg. Goldberg sure doesn’t like the Outsiders and Sid! 

A bunch of backstage garbage. Madusa, another AWA favorite, gets a nice reception from the crowd. She’s going to wrestle Evan Karagias. This is pretty much what people who don’t like intergender wrestling are thinking of when they talk about intergender wrestling. Madusa keeps trying to seduce Karagias rather than wrestle him. Madusa pins him and then makes out with him. Everything is awful.

Benoit and Malenko are wrestling in a cage. This should be a brutal classic by two of the best technical wrestlers of all time. “I can’t wait ‘til this match is over,” Brain says. I feel the same way about this episode, and this entire insane project. 

The match is not a brutal classic. It’s over in 4:29. A few decent spots, but more like a highlight reel than anything. Perry Saturn runs out to try and help Malenko. It doesn’t work. Benoit wins with a diving headbutt off the top of the cage, which is insane. The Revolution gets into the cage and they beat up Benoit. The Filthy Animals have turned into babyfaces again, and they run into the cage to help Benoit. The crowd doesn’t know what to do, so they do nothing. David Flair, the least electrifying man in sports entertainment, shows up with a crowbar to attack the Filthy Animals. Now Sting comes out to attack the Filthy Animals. With any luck, we’ll get Meng out here to attack the Filthy Animals. 

Instead, we cut to the parking garage. David Flair is trying to sneak away, but gets run down by someone driving a car. It’s Kim Page. This show is terrible. 

Backstage: someone has beaten up Nash-Vince. Good. 

Now the main event: Sid vs. Scott Hall. Why am I doing this to myself? How much longer am I going to be able to do this?

The match is bad. It lasts 4:53. For a second I have the horrifying fear that this is the match where Sid broke his leg, but then I look it up and see that it happened during the Sin PPV in January 2001. 

There’s a ref bump. Second of the night. A referee was also attacked by Shane Douglas after the key on a pole match. Bret Hart comes out on his crutches. Hits Sid. Swings and misses with Hall. Hall gets the pin on Sid. Who cares about any of this? What is even happening in this show?

[ofsalvo-a-blog]

Which band tees does Mia own and which are her particular favourites? :)

jfkhds there’s really a whole drawer dedicated to band-tee’s tbh! i mean her music taste varies from different genres (and sub-genres) of rock, metal, punk, rap, blues, and jazz? i mean since i’ve been developing her she leans more towards classic rock like: led zeppelin, the rolling stones, the beatles, queen, crosby, still, nash, fleetwood mac and janis joplin… she likes pantera, metallica(the old stuff :p) megadeath, slayer. as for punk, of course, there’s the clash, black flag, rancid, the ramones, sublime, blondie, the velvet underground and lou reed. it’s a shame there’s no blues / jazz tee’s otherwise she’d be collecting them as well. i mean i honestly can’t name them all but i think YOU would be pleased she definitely has a rush tee-shirt :D! 

as for her favorites? hard to choose! but here’s some! 

queen.

janis joplin.

led zeppelin.

sublime.

stevie nicks (though it’s probably a good old vintage one).

the ramones.

the notorious b.i.g

nirvana.

bruce springsteen. 

red hot chili peppers.

david bowie. 

i mean there’s just so much she likes, and i even feel like this entire reply isn’t doing this headcanon justice, lol. but i hope this gives you a good idea.. she’s just all around when it comes to music, :)

[thesportssoundoff]

“A great HW fight, a few great prospects, Jimi Manuwa and .500″ The UFC returns to the UK Preview

Joey

March 11th, 2018

Fights: 12 (11?)

Debuts: 5 (John Phillips, Charles Byrd, Magomed Ankalaev, Hakeem Dawodu, Dimitry Sosnovski)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 4 (Rustam Khabilov OUT, Stevie Ray IN vs Kajan Johnson/Dmitry Prohebetz OUT, Dmitry Sosnovskiy IN vs Mark Godbeer/Alex Reyes OUT, TBD IN vs Nasrat Haqparast/Elizeu Zaleski OUT, Brad Scott IN vs Jack Marshmann)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 5 (Fabricio Werdum, Alexander Volkov, Jimi Manuwa, Jan Blachowicz, Stevie Ray)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC:  2 (Terrion Ware, Paul Craig)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC:  7 (Fabricio Werdum, Alexander Volkov, Jan Blachowicz, Leon Edwards, Peter Sobotta, Mark Godbeer, Kajan Johnson)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2016 (in the UFC): 18-8

Alexander Volkov- 3-0 Fabricio Werdum- 3-2 Jan Blachowicz- 3-2 Jimi Manuwa- 2-1 Tom Duquesnoy- 1-1 Terrion Ware- 0-2 Leon Edwards- 4-0 Peter Sobotta- 2-0

Too High Up- Terrion Ware vs Tom Duquesnoy

Terrion Ware is the sort of fighter every MMA organization loves to have. He's a guy who can test your prospects, give them a few unique looks and test what guys can and can't do. Thus far, Ware has given some dicey moments to Cody Stamman and Sean O'Malley so you know he can be your prospect tester dijour. The problem is Ware is fighting third up on the card vs Tom Duquesnoy in a fight entirely designed to get Duquesnoy back on the right track. I'm not opposed to young fighters getting opportunities to rebuild their stock because it's just smart business but Duquesnoy-Ware should not be third fight on the card. Thus far Ware's agent has got him on International Fight Week, the co-main event of an FS1 card and now this premier slot on Fight Pass. Dude's out here putting in work.

Too Low- Danny Henry vs Hakeem Dawodu

In his UFC debut, Canada's top prospect gets what is the usual "hyped guy debut" fight---a really fucking tough matchup where nobody respects his opponent. Henry is a former AFC champ who debuted vs Daniel Teymur and had a hellacious war with him in a FOTN bonus earning win. Henry looked huge for 155 lbs so lord knows what he'll look like at 145. Henry is a flawed fighter who Dawodu should be able to style on BUT there are no guarantees under 155 lbs and Henry has a lot of tools (power, size and cardio) which should give Hakeem some issues. This fight should be on the main card.

Stat Monitor for 2018: Debuting Fighters (Current number: 6-9):  John Phillips, Charles Byrd, Magomed Ankalaev, Hakeem Dawodu, Dimitry Sosnovski

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 6-2): Stevie Ray, Dmitry Sosnovski, Brad Scott

Second Fight (Current number: 8-9): Oliver Enkamp, Danny Henry, Nasrat Haqparast

Cage Corrosion (Current number: 5-9):  

Undefeated Fighters (Current number: 11-8): Hakeem Dawodu, Dmitry Sosnovski

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- I'd actually like to begin by doing a bit of an exercise if you'll so indulge me. There are 17 European fighters on this card from top to bottom if you remove the in limbo fight for one Nasrat Haqparast. Removing the debuting fighters, that number drops to 15. Of those fifteen fighters, how many of them are some combination resulting in 2-2 in their last 4 fights?

Jimi Manuwa Jan Blachowicz Danny Roberts Jack Marshmann Brad Scott Paul Craig Stevie Ray

So of the fifteen fighters on this card from Europe who have set foot in the UFC octagon, seven of them are 2-2 in their last 4 fights. That fifteen also includes guys like Tom Duquesnoy, Alexander Volkov and others who don't even have a four fight minimum in the org.

The point was to illustrate the challenges of the European fight scene. MOST of these guys fight in Europe and the UFC goes to Europe, what, six times a year? That leaves these guys taking fights outside of Europe but never in America; like Mexico, Canada or Brazil primarily. That creates a pretty weird dynamic where most of these fights are outside of their comfort zones and on the road in enemy territory where they're really just there to be "an opponent." All of this leads to an erosion of fan support as more and more European fighters get smelted out of their home markets, creating the illusion that they're just not good enough. It all leads to a challenge of balancing the desire to showcase international fighters in front of their fans with the fact that there are X amount of cards to fill up with guys who have to fight X amount of times across X amount of dates. When SO many local fighters are in a state of "win one, lose one, win one, lose one" there's no semblance of momentum.

2- What fighter in Fabricio Werdum's past does Alexander Volkov best represent? I can't think of somebody who he's faced who provides the combination of workrate, size and striking depth that Volkov has. That's not to say Werdum can't win (or won't win) but I'm at a loss for a real good comp for Volkov.

3- It's amazing the level of durability Fabricio Werdum has displayed throughout his career. Not even looking at the level of growth he's displayed as a fighter, we're talking about a guy who has fought at a high level since at least 2007 when I first got reintroduced to MMA. He's fought everybody under the sun and only two guys have managed to put him down and out; Stipe Miocic and JDS. That includes fights with Overeem (three times), Cain Velasquez, Mark Hunt, Fedor, Big Foot, Andrei Arlovski, Big Nog (twice), Travis Browne (twice) and Gabriel Gonzaga. All of that is to lead into the obvious; at SOME point this dude is going to crack. He's over 40, fought three times last year and might fight three more times this year given how often the UFC calls upon him. It's just the nature of the human body to EVENTUALLY erode from prolonged damage. Volkov isn't blessed with the one hitter quitter that can put a dude out on impact but he is very active and aggressive. It probably wouldn't happen early but if this fight drags, accumulation of damage could be a serious problem.

4- So this main card is actually not bad considering it's a European Fight Pass card. Werdum/Volkov is a really good HW fight (and the winner probably is facing the winner of Lewis/Ngannou for a #1 contender spot), Blachowicz/Manuwa I was an awful fight but this is a relevant fight between big dudes at 205 lbs including one dude who will always be a "maybe sorta" #1 contender type because he creates highlight reels. Peter Sobotta vs Leon Edwards isn't the world's sexiest fight on paper but Sobotta has really turned his career around since coming back to the UFC and he seems really confident in his hands right now. On the other hand, Leon Edwards has lost his fight finishing spark but still has fights which suggest he's growing somewhat as a fighter. Even Duquesnoy/Ware should be tons of fun. The prelim slate is just so "UFC Fight Pass in Europe" level that it really dampens the excitement. Brett Johns getting on this card wouldve been huge for him.

5- Jan Blachowicz has sort of had a chance to mentally reset his stock on the lower half of the 205 lb division and gets rocketed RIGHT back up the top of the division. Blachowicz has really struggled around this level with losses to Pat Cummins (in a fight he could've won), Jimi Manuwa (fight he should've won), Alexander Gustafsson (in a fight he probably shouldn't of taken) and Corey Anderson. The level of competition there is pretty intense and it's not like Jan has been completely outstyled in those fights. He's just NOT on that level (or wasn't enough to win those fights). He gets a second crack at Manuwa now.

6- I'm really beginning to lose faith in Danny Roberts as a prospect. On the regional circuit, he always seemed to put himself in various states of peril but it seemed to be more out of inexperience. In the UFC, he's continued to put himself in bad spots defensively and his chin has been cracked on a number of opportunities. Dominique Steele had him hurting in a bad way, Mike Perry finished him in a fight where Roberts just couldn't get out of the way for a fifteen minute period, Bobby Nash had Roberts all sorts of thrown off before Danny Roberts finished him off and Nordine Taleb finished Roberts in violent fashion in December. Roberts draws Swedish karate ace Oliver Enkamp in a pivotal fight for both guys.

7- Can Leon Edwards somehow finish Peter Sobotta and keep pace with the other 170 lbers who seem to all be getting their careers on the right track?

8- If Leon Edwards wins, do they try to put him vs Ponz in Chile? I really like Edwards but since nearly finishing Claudio Silva and smelting Seth Baczynski, he's had 6 fights and gone to a decision in all but one of them. There's really no reason somebody with his tools should be so....not fun. His fights are heading in the opposite direction at a time where Kamaru Usman, Darren Till, Ponz, Max Griffin, Elizeu Zaleski, Jake Matthews, Mike Perry and others in that  "fun new WW to care about" are all having damn fun fights.

9- All Magomed Ankalaev has to do is finish his fight and be the savior of 205 lbs. It's not asking too much.

10- Alright Mark Godbeer, what stupid shit you gonna get yourself into this time?

11- So about the Godbeer fight, maybe this exposes my lack of knowledge but I could not tell you the differences between Dmitry Sosnovskiy and Dmitry Poberezhets, the guy who was originally scheduled to fight Godbeer. The UFC seems to have like a bevy of heavyweights who they signed but can't seem to actually get to get into the cage, it's almost infuriating if you're one of those OCD guys who wants to keep up with everything going on.

12- Stevie Ray getting a new contract to try and smelt Kajan Johnson is very UFC of the UFC. It's almost like a Batman TAS plot from the Joker.

Must Wins

1- Fabricio Werdum

I feel like all of Werdum fights are must win given how much trouble he seems to bring with him. The last time we saw Werdum, he was throwing boomerangs at folks and shouting out Chechen warlords while also decisioning a very good HW in Marcin Tybura. The time before that he took a fight on thirty minutes notice vs Walt Harris and was caught on camera using the unacceptable f word in Spanish like six times. Werdum vs Volkov is a great HW fight that pits the old dog in the race vs the seasoned in his prime pro who is peaking. Good fight but a must win for the always controversial Werdum.

2-  Tom Duquesnoy

This entire thing is tailor made for Duquesnoy. He's getting a guy coming off two losses who is a glorified opponent. He's in Europe, he's on the main card and this entire showcase is built to make him look good and like the star. He truly cannot fuck this up.

3- Magomed Ankalaev

Mr. Ankalaev, I do not know you. I do not necessarily believe I have to know you at this point. All I know is you're a new light heavyweight. God speed, my dude.

Five Can't Miss Fights

1- Alexander Volkov vs Fabricio Werdum

2- Tom Duquesnoy vs Terrion Ware

3- Hakeem Dawodu vs Danny Henry

4- Jack Marshmann vs Brad Scott

5- John Phillips vs Charles Byrd