Adam Yauch / MCA 1964-2012

Both the music (Beastie Boys) and film (Oscilloscope Laboratories) communities are in mourning. Adam 'MCA' Yauch was taken from us far too soon.

Things might have gone down differently...

Forgive me, for a minute, the exercise of going back in time to 1979. The young and multi-talented singer Michael Jackson releases his first solo release for Epic, with what should be the record of the year in Off the Wall. It's a critical success, and the first album to put four singles in the top 10, and the album reached #3 on Billboard, which should be enough, right?

Jackson is not happy and vows for his next album to be the biggest release ever. This is the point, it seems, that MJ begins stepping outside reality. We get his first skin-whitening, nose job (necessary at first to fix a broken nose, but done w/ looking less African American in mind nonetheless) and hair straightening. You can't help but think Jacko believes that this is what it takes to cross over. Musically, he and Quincy Jones take what sold well with Off the Wall and tried to make that even bigger with Thriller. Jacko is rewarded with huge album sales for his tinkering, reinforcing his skewed ideas helping to serve as a blueprint for his life going forward.

I can't help thinking that if Jackson would've been even just a little bit more satisfied with Off the Wall he still would've risen to the King of Pop, but also had a longer richer career. That's why I'm stopping at Off the Wall in my rememberance of Jacko.

A Supposedly Sad Thing I Wished He'd Never Done

I'm at a loss for words tonight hearing the news that author David Foster Wallace was found dead of apparent suicide. Ironic given the verbosity(1) of my once favorite author's work. That work, whether fiction like Infinite Jest or non-fiction like A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, was always smart, funny with a hint of an underlying sadness. His essay of John McCain from 2000, McCain's Promise: Aboard the Straight Talk Express with John McCain and a Whole Bunch of Actual Reporters, Thinking About Hope was recently published for the fourth time(2). At the time, it was a good writing challenge for Wallace, saying recently "my own politics were about 179 degrees from his," yet he was able to write a piece that showed a deep admiration for the Presidential candidate.

The danger, of course, in republishing this book now, is that the portrait is taken as something directly relevant to the 2008 version of McCain, and Wallace sees nothing of the man he followed for that piece some eight years ago. In a recent interview for Wall Street Journal Wallace says:

...that context now seems a long, long, long time ago. McCain himself has obviously changed; his flipperoos and weaselings on Roe v. Wade, campaign finance, the toxicity of lobbyists, Iraq timetables, etc. are just some of what make him a less interesting, more depressing political figure now—for me, at least. It's all understandable, of course—he's the GOP nominee now, not an insurgent maverick.

One can't help but wonder if the recent sleaze coming from his one time subject helped further Wallaces depression even more?

Whoah... did I say I was at a loss for words?(4) Instead of blathering on with more footnotes, I'll leave you with this great profile of the author, featuring DFW himself reading his work and shedding some light on how he ended up as a writer:



Song: "David Foster Wallace" - Tsunami

UPDATE: James Wallace, DFW's father, gives more background on his son's battle with depression:

His father said Sunday that Mr. Wallace had been taking medication for depression for 20 years and that it had allowed his son to be productive. It was something the writer didn’t discuss, though in interviews he gave a hint of his haunting angst.

In response to a question about what being an American was like for him at the end of the 20th century, he told the online magazine Salon in 1996 that there was something sad about it, but not as a reaction to the news or current events. “It’s more like a stomach-level sadness,” he said. “I see it in myself and my friends in different ways. It manifests itself as a kind of lostness.”

James Wallace said that last year his son had begun suffering side effects from the drugs and, at a doctor’s suggestion, had gone off the medication in June 2007. The depression returned, however, and no other treatment was successful. The elder Wallaces had seen their son in August, he said.

“He was being very heavily medicated,” he said. “He’d been in the hospital a couple of times over the summer and had undergone electro-convulsive therapy. Everything had been tried, and he just couldn’t stand it anymore.”

(1) - Aided, of course, by a propensity for footnotes
(2) - First abridged as an essay in Rolling Stone, then the full piece in ebook form, then in the collection of non-fiction Consider the Lobster (2005)
(3) - My own emphasis
(4) - And, in truth, I was at a loss for words. But the exercise of adding even one footnote to my sparse dedication set off a chain that ultimately required a YouTube video to stop the words from vomiting forth on the laptop.

Larry Norman, only visiting this planet

Singer/Songwriter Larry Norman died yesterday of heart failure. He was known as the father of Christian rock, which is kind of a backhanded crown. He was marginalized by rock for singing about Jesus, and marginalized by Christians for writing rock songs. With Christian rock pulling in hefty profits these days, thanks to his hard work, it's all the more sad to note that Norman leaves his family in financial disarray. Sadly, he has no albums in print, not even Only Visiting This Planet, which was voted greatest Christian Rock album of all time.

Playlist: Larry Norman

Larry Norman: The Anthology is set to be released May 27, by Arena Rock Recording Company, and Norman had recently recorded some new material with followers Frank Black and Isaac Brock, which will hopefully see the light of day soon as well.

Even approaching death, Norman was sharp with the pen:
"I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up...."



It's a shame the last I heard of him was protesting the use of his songs in a recent documentary on fellow Jesus Movement pioneer Lonnie Frisbee (Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher, 2006). You see, Frisbee died of AIDS, and supposedly Norman didn't like the sympathetic nature of the film, screaming choice words from the back about Frisbee never repenting for his 'sin'. Interestingly enough, the fellow who made the Frisbee documentary, David Di Sabatino, is reportedly in the process of making one Norman as well.

Previously: Pixies: The Purple Tape (Larry Norman inspires Black Francis)

It's gonna be a blue Christmas

This holiday season officially sucks, as we just lost a member of our family.

Song: "Blue Christmas" - Loretta Lynn

Otto, our nine-year old weimaraner, tragically and suddenly, was hit with GDV (gastric dilatation and volvulus,) also known as a twisted stomach. We took him to the hospital, but too much damage had been done, so all I could bring home was his leash and collar.

Gonna miss that big grey ghost...

Playlist: So long Otto
1. "Otto" - The Replacements
2. "Grey Ghost" - Mike Doughty
3. "2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten" - Lucinda Williams
4. "Goodbye, Old Boy (Death of Dog Song)" - Ian Whitcomb

Knievel jumps the shark

It didn't take much living to see
that I was bound to leave the ground
It didn't take much living to see
that I'm only free when I'm flying
I've got a bone in need of breaking
- "Knievel" by Scud Mountain Boys (Joe Pernice)

I never thought pulmonary fibrosis would be the death of him, but Evel Knievel lived to the ripe old age of 69.

Like many of you, I had an action figure, lunch box and I can't remember what else of the man. Just saying his name takes me back to the whole build up to the Snake River Canyon jump, and all the countless stupid stunts I would try at home -- it's a wonder any of us survived our EK phase growing up.

There are so many songs that reference Evel Knievel, but 90% of them aren't very representative (even the ones by The Flaming Lips and Grandaddy don't make the cut). So I leave you with one poignant one, which I pulled a quote from above.

Song: "Knievel" - Scud Mountain Boys

And here's what had to be his worst crash caught on film (Caesar's Palace, December 31, 1967) which had him in a coma for 29 days.

In memory of a manager

After a week of fun and sun, this week starts off with rain and gloom.

My boss, John Lyle Sanford, died late last night, coming as a shock to us all. Like his ability to cut through the crap and get to the point of a subject, his death hit us right between the eyes, without preparation -- not that any could soften the blow. I know most of us under him consider him the best boss we ever had. His straight shooting ruffled a few feathers, but you always knew where you stood with him and he was the best champion an employee could hope for. Another blog site has been set up to help remember him.

John was a big music fan, so here's a playlist featuring most of his favorite artists. Being from Texas, he had a great appreciation for outlaw country and Americana music, so expect a few tears in your beer.

Playlist: In Memory of John Lyle Sanford

1. You're Gonna Miss Me - 13th Floor Elevators
2. Song For A Lost Friend - Badfinger
3. What A Wonderful Man - My Morning Jacket
4. Rex's Blues - Townes Van Zandt
5. I Remember You - Steve Earle
6. Tear Stained Eye - Son Volt
7. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Bob Dylan
8. After You're Gone - Iris Dement
9. John, I'm Only Dancing - David Bowie
10. Gotta Travel On - Jimmie Dale Gilmore
11. Stars All Seem To Weep - Beth Orton
12. The Long Cut - Uncle Tupelo
13. What's Going Ahn - Big Star
14. I'm Set Free - The Velvet Underground
15. Red-Eyed And Blue - Wilco
16. The Sunny Side Of My Life - Merle Haggard
17. I Wish I Was The Moon - Neko Case
18. These Are Difficult Times / Remember The Good Times - Willie Nelson
19. Cry One More Time (1973 Live Version) - Gram Parsons
20. Losing You - Kelly Willis
21. Walkin' With Sorrow - Hank Williams III
22. Learning How To Live - Lucinda Williams
23. Ballad Of Easy Rider - The Byrds
24. Is Heaven Good Enough For You - Allison Moorer

RIP Hilly Kristal

When news broke that legendary CBGB's founder Hilly Kristal died yesterday, I found myself not at all surprised. It's common for people to follow their significant others into death's door, and there's a strong argument that Hilly was married to CBGB's. So when that decrepid punk-rock landmark shut it's doors last October, there had to have been a pretty big hole in Hilly's life. It remains to be seen if the club gets moved to Vegas, but both it and Hilly will live on as essential backdrops to the music. (photo by forklift)

Playlist: Story of CBGB's

Much of this playlist comes from a fine 2-CD compilation on UK's Salvo label ( The Definitive Story Of CBGB - import only.) It features all the big names that got their start with the club and made up the NY Punk scene. Television, The Ramones, Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers, Patti Smith, Suicide, Blondie, Talking Heads and the Plasmatics are all represented, as well as a few pre-punk legends that helped influnence the scene (and all eventually made their way to the club.) The Velvet Underground, MC5, Iggy and the Stooges, The New York Dolls.... the compilation reads like a novel soundtrack to Legs McNeil's Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk (a soundtrack which I started some time ago and need to return to.)

The final song, you'll note, is from none other then Hilly himself, from an odd album he released in 1999 (Mad Mordechai,) that had it's beginnings 30 years ago ("Mud" was originally a b-side to a CBGB's Christmas single from 1976, re-done here in the late 80's with a synth beat.) While Otis Blackwell (Elvis Presley's chief songwriter) contributes a track ("Everybody's Buddy") the songs were intended to be sung to his kids. Like Dee Dee Ramone's rap career, it's not the memory that I'll have of Hilly, though.

Mr Manchester lives on

This week, fans all over the world are mourning the death of television personality and Factory Records founder Tony Wilson. In the UK, Wilson was like our Jerry Springer and Colonel Tom Parker rolled into one, an overly confident television host who, through perseverance and wit, shaped the Manchester music scene into an artist's oasis. In the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, actor Steve Coogan deftly captured the wit and assuredness of Wilson, as the film follows him from TV newsman to curious fan to major player in the 'Madchester' music scene.

For an amazing profile of 'Mr Manchester,' check out a this piece written by Paul Morely for UK's The Observer. And here's a video piece on his life complete with interviews and clips from his series So It Goes.

To celebrate the life of Wilson, a(nother) viewing of this fine film is in order. The music of 24 Hour Party People is obviously crucial to the story, as it's a reflection of the music that Tony Wilson tirelessly championed. I've reassembled them here in order as they appeared in the film.

Playlist: 24 Hour Party People Rssmbld Sndtrck

tags: factory records, film, tony wilson, music, joy division, 24 hour party people, playlist, rhapsody

Lee Hazlewood RIP

The great songwriter and baritone voiced country and pop singer Lee Hazlewood died over the weekend, after his long battle with cancer. He allowed everyone the opportunity to write an obituary early for him, releasing his terminal album Cake or Death late last year, of which I already wrote fondly.

Song: "Some Velvet Morning" - by Lee Hazlewood w/ his grandaughter Phaedra

When I first heard this recent rendition of Hazlewood's classic duet with Nancy Sinatra early this year, it brought a flood of emotion that I wasn't prepared for. Couple the knowledge of Hazlewood's impending death with young Phaedra thinking that her grandfather wrote the song for her, and you have experience and innocence rubbing elbows (while tickling my spine.)

Previously: Let him eat cake (Cake or Death review), And maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra (Hazlewood/Sinatra)

Tock tick... so it goes

Yesterday we lost an amazing voice in literature, and cultural thought. Kurt Vonnegut died at the age of 84, following brain injuries resulting from a fall. So it goes.

Song: "Tock Tick" - Kurt Vonnegut & Simon Heselev

Back in 2003, Simon Heselev borrowed a Vonnegut exerpt from Slaughterhouse Five and put it to music, finding it made a fine protest against the invasion of Iraq, as the phrase from the novel, "so it goes..." became a protest call during the war in Vietnam.

Vonnegut later got into the act as well, writing essays strongly critical of the current administration, and published them under the title A Man Without a Country, and rightly called out Pres. Bush while making the rounds promoting the book.


Last summer, he gave up on the last novel he was working (If God Were Alive Today, saying:

That's what I feel right now. I've written books. Lots of them. Please, I've done everything I'm supposed to do. Can I go home now?

Welcome home, Kilgore Trout.

Now handing out hot towels in heaven

Calvert DeForest, better known as Larry "Bud" Melman, died this Monday after a long illness. Some of my favorite memories of television in the 80's involve Melman's appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman. When he was found by producers of the show, he was working as a file clerk at a drug rehabilitation center. Next thing you know he's interviewing and delivering hot towels to bus patrons for Letterman.


According to News From Me, Letterman had planned a tribute to Melman Tuesday night, but had to call in sick with the flu (Adam Sandler hosted at the last minute.) Last night's episode was taped Monday and tonight and tomorrow's are reruns, so it won't be until Monday (3/26) before Dave and Paul can share their memories.

As far as music goes, who can forget his memorable appearance on Run-DMC's music video for "King of Rock."

But one thing that's quickly forgotten is his one foray into the music business, producing and curating a collection of seductive lounge songs for a record compilation called Calvert Deforest's Erotic Experience. The album seemed like a quick capitalization on the success of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (it features soundtrack staple "Soul Bossa Nova" from Quincy Jones,) but it was a complitation that held it's own. It featured classics from Henry Mancini, Count Basie and Arthur Lyman as well as newer tracks from Combustible Edison and Tipsy. That's some serious swank.

Playlist: Calvert Deforest's Erotic Experience

While not as swanky as the rest of the compilation, DeForest contributed his own track, a bizarre version of "Tequila" under the moniker Calvert & the Craftmatics.

More: DeForest's first appearance was to introduce the first episode of Late Night with David Letterman (YouTube)

tags: music, album review, obituary, brian eno, calvert deforest, larry bud melman, letterman, lounge+music, quincy jones, henry mancini, tipsy, combustible edison, rhapsody

Saying goodbye to a childhood hero

NBA great Dennis Johnson died yesterday.

In 6th grade, while most my fellow chums were writing KISS and AC/DC on their Pee-Chees, I had filled mine with an homage to my hero, DJ... Dennis Johnson. I had gotten down the afro, the toothy grin, those marks under his eyes that made him look like a football player, and nearly every freckle (there were a lot,) as well as a 10-year old could capture it anyway. He wasn't the prettiest NBA player, that's for sure, but he was my hero nonetheless.

Playlist: Homage to Dennis "DJ" Johnson

Now... everyone is going to recall his days as a Celtic, passing the ball to Larry Bird, but he'll always be a Sonic first and foremost for this NBA fan... those were the days when he wasn't a role player - he was the man. He led the Sonics to two NBA Finals runs, winning it in 1979 and capturing the MVP. He did it all back then... he scored, passed, rebounded and really played defense at the 2-guard position like nobody in the game.

When they traded him a year later to Phoenix for Paul Westphal, I remember shedding a few tears. How could they trade the soul of the team for this feathered-haired jumpshooter? The Sonics, while still winning more then losing, didn't seem like the team it was with Johnson. Meanwhile, Phoenix flourished, winning the Pacific crown, with Johnson concentrating more on defense. Then Boston came calling, trading for him ultimately to stop 76er Andrew Toney (he only slowed him down, though... it was Toney's own feet that was finally the best defense.)

In Boston he was part of some great teams that led to a couple more rings for DJ, and he received some more acclaim that he truly deserved, but when asked recently where Seattle fits in his amazing career, DJ didn't hesitate. "Absolutely the number one," he said in 2003. "It's where I won the first championship, it's where I was first drafted, everything first happened to me here. It's where I first got married, everything."

Likewise, DJ... likewise.



tags: nba, dennis johnson, obituary, sonics, seattle, seattle supersonics, lee scratch perry

RIP: Eric von Schmidt

Folk artist Eric von Schmidt died this past Friday, from complications resulting from a stroke he suffered six months ago. He was a blues guitarist following in the tradition of Leadbelly, and served as a sort of mentor to Bob Dylan. He's best remembered for his song "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" (originally entitled "Baby, Let Me Lay It on You") which Dylan performed on his debut release, retelling the story of meeting Von Schmidt in the song's intro.

Song: "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" - Bob Dylan
Song: "Joshua Gone Barbados" - Eric von Schmidt

Dylan later recorded von Schmmidt's "Joshua Gone Barbados" with the Band, and even Johnny Cash covered it on 1983's Johnny 99.

Von Schmidt was also a poet and a painter, with the latter encompassing much of his later career following health problems (throat cancer and lyme's disease,) which prevented him from playing anymore. Up until his stroke, he was working on an amazing series called Giants of Blues series, which produced four brilliant works depicting legends of blues music.

tags: music, eric von schmidt, obituary, folk, rhapsody

RIP: Sneaky Pete Kleinow

Pedal steel guitar legend Sneaky Pete Kleinow died Monday, January 7, at the age of 73. Kleinow was one of the founding members of The Flying Burrito Bros., after being spotted by co-founder Gram Parsons in 1968, and went on to lend his signature sound to the likes of John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, and even more recently with The Lemonheads. But what you may not know is that Kleinow was also sought-after in Hollywood as a stop-motion animator.

Kleinow got his start in 1963 working on the television show Gumby, and continued as an animator well into the 90's. You've no doubt seen much of his special effects work in films like The Empire Strikes Back, the first two Terminators, and Gremlins as well as on television in commercials like the Pillsbury Doughboy, and a nostalgic favorite show of mine Land of the Lost (video.)

Aside from composing the theme song for Gumby (video,) Kleinow's music oddly didn't carry over into his work in film and television (although, his pedal steel work in Johnny Lee's "Lookin' For Love" is certainly memorable in the movie Urban Cowboy.)

Here's a playlist of many of his more memorable turns at the pedal steel over the years.

Playlist: Sneaky Pete Kleinow

Sneaky Pete's work on Gumby (Theme song and animation:)


Another video: Sneaky Pete stretches out on "Lazy Day" with TFFB (1970) (via Stereogum)

tags: music, film, soundtrack, movies, television, sneaky pete, flying burrito brothers, obituary, rhapsody