December 19, 2008 Earworm

Oh, good: I got you before you went out. As of this writing, I'm already home from the bar that I bellied up to at four so, I beat you.

Before the hi-jinks, shenanigans, and/or whatever it is that you do to get your weekend started, I'd like for you to remember "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight". Born from the strangely perfect collaboration of New York Funhouse DJ, Ivan Ivan, performance artist Stuart Ar(ga)bright, singer Claudia Summers and former PIL member (and sort of a Kirsty MacColl in his own right) Ken Lockie, Dominatrix had three minutes and thirty one second of brilliance and, through remixing and dub, they stretched it out to half an hour, and ended up in the record collection of every home we would visit back in 1983.

The video, featuring Dominique Davalos, daughter of "East of Eden" co-star Richard, was immediately banned by MTV, and put into heavy rotation at the more adventurous clubs. Watching the silliness now, it is hard to see what the fuss was about. It is quite tame and guilty of nothing more than inspiring the wave of video sluts that would fill the oeuvre of the hair metal bands to come.

The record itself is a different story. Listen closely and you can hear the sterile elements of Madonna's "Erotica" era - she once proclaimed it her favorite record - and a latin groove that would bring the Miami electro sound to domination of the pop charts in the latter part of the 80's. Listening closer, I can still hear the sound of Aqua Net and eyeliner and articles of clothing flying from one to another as a house full of youngsters dress to control the club and reign supreme.

December 18, 2008 Earworm

I am quite impressed with my puppies' decision to push down the door of their whelping pen in the middle of the night. I've long recognized the fact that a few balls and the same old toys can grow tiresome rather quickly, and that one can only practice chasing tails for so long. Having watched the slide bolt on the door of the box moving to and fro as all five eager faces press and pound against the door when I approach, I should have seen it coming. Unfortunately, I dismissed their actions and the results, and I foolishly underestimated team work. After learning a valuable lesson about teamwork myself just last night, I can only applaud the pups for banding together, jumping hurdles and, ultimately, restructuring their boundaries. Of course, this is easier said now that I have cleaned up the mess left from their movements.

In honor of the brave little ones' adventure, the earworm for today is "Moving" by Supergrass. It can also serve as a reminder...

December 17, 2008 Earworm

And now, after a surprisingly good sleep, a new vision is required. Wish me luck with that!

The earworm for today is "I'm Into Something Good" by Earl-Jean and, although she had her hit stolen out from under her, the resulting underdog status has provided more longevity and respect. This, of course, gives credence to the notion that the impact doesn't always have to be encircled in lights to last.

December 16, 2008 Earworm

What I thought was nothing more than the re-broadcasting of an old clip proved to be far more prophetic than I could have guessed when Meredith Viera yucking it up about Bette Midler's new show had me humming "Mr. Rockefeller" as I went about my morning routine. Recognizing the daily earworm at work but, unfortunately, unable to get to it due to my morning routine expanding to include five very demanding puppies who have no time for songs or my ramblings about them. Looking anxiously at the clock, I tucked it all away for the famous "later" that currently houses an awful lot things to which I've yet to get.

My mother often jokes that she erased any thoughts of me being gay because I never liked Judy Garland. She failed to note that Bette Midler's appearance on some award show or other around 1976, a giant turntable hat atop her shocking head, was just the sort of jolt a budding gay boy needs to get his head around a few facts. The next day, I ran to the store to find anything by this bizarre apparition and snagged a copy of "Songs For The New Depression", and ran home to fall in love with side one, track three; "Mr. Rockefeller".

To me, no amount of tongue in cheek can erase the beautiful sadness of this song, with its dashed dreams so beautifully played out via a one-sided telephone conversation. There's plenty of self-pity, self-entitlement, and plain old selfishness but as the anxiety in Bette's voice frantically fans the dying fire in her belly, I can't help but feel all of it right along with her.

It's to "Mr. Rockefeller" I turn when I am faced with airing number
eleventy hundred of ghastliness like "From A Distance" and "Wind Beneath My Wings", or worse, another broadcast of "Beaches"; to the bawdy broad fighting so hard for attention that she wore a turntable as a hat and somehow changed a kid's whole world.
And now that I know that, come January 9th, I will have a lot more time to get to all that later I've been storing, I hope to find a way to fan my own fires. Fortunately, I am a man of many hats, and I'm not afraid to call collect.

December 15, 2008 Earworm

The earworm for today is "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" by Elvis Presley - and some of you know why.

Released in 1957, it was the second snip in the neutering of the sex bomb - the first being Steve Allen's cruel "Hound Dog" performance - this time, at the hands of Col. Tom Parker. As an inside job, it shows that that the first cut may be the deepest but it still may not be the one that hurts the most.
Written by Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe, the royalty windfall helped propel their Cameo Records into Philly's own hit factory, as well as to create a few of the Bobbys that would fill the charts while Elvis was away.

December 11, 2008 Earworm

There's something about a song that keeps on trying even though there's little hope of recognition. Chip Taylor's "Anyway That You Want Me" first got a run in '66 with The Troggs but was DOA and later that year, The Liverpool 5 (an LA session band, of course)got to #98 with it before disappearing. The American Breed closed out their chart run with it in '68, peaking at #88, and then Evie Sands decided that she'd give it a go since everyone else had been stealing her hits and finally got herself on the charts, but only to #53. I'm sure there's more but...

When Spiritualized chose to cover it as their debut single in 1990, it was clear that they were no longer going to be Spacemen 3 no matter what logo was on the sleeve. Stretched out to nearly seven minutes, they made themselves at home but, again, the song failed to have any major chart impact, ignored in the US and peaking at #75.

Life is unkind.

December 10, 2008 Earworm

Sure, "Bittersweet" will always be my most Hoodoo Gurus-ious moment but "Death Defying" can be a religious experience as well. Like scanning the road ahead while eyeing the rapidly descending gas gauge, Dave Faulkner decides that reaching the destination trumps potential hazards, and then places a resignation heavy foot on the accelerator.

Next?