Two years ago I quietly began writing the Basement Songs posts on my blog, Thunderbolt. At the time I didn’t know who my audience was, as I honestly believed that ten, maybe twenty readers were checking out Thunderbolt on a weekly basis. Inspired by some of the finer music blogs I’d come across, I thought that Basement Songs would be an interesting alternative to the daily confessionals I was posting. At least it could be fun. As I’ve written before, the early months of 2007 were tough. I believe that the 2005 death of my friend, Matt, and a laundry list of regrets and unresolved issues finally caught up with me. Coupled with the ongoing stress of worrying about my son, I sunk into a deep funk (and not the kind of funk that involves the groove of Duck Dunn). Despite those dark months, I found great pleasure in writing the Basement Songs. A friend used the term “therapeutic communication” once, and I believe that’s a sound way of describing what I was doing. Again, I had no idea who was reading; I just needed to get some things off of my chest, and I wanted to share my love of certain music.
One person who was reading happened to be Jeff Giles, whose Jefitoblog was one of the best written and enjoyable sites I visited daily. Jeff and I became friends thanks to a comment he made about Springsteen and my response. This led to the exchange of some choice bootlegs, an Idiot’s Guide to Journey, and then one of the kindest gestures I’ve experienced this decade: Bloggers for a Cure, in which Jeff and some other fine bloggers (most of whom write for this site) joined together to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Jeff was also a strong supporter of the Basement Songs and would link each new post in his weekly “Friday Linkfest.” (more…)
Andy Barker, P.I.was, by far, my favorite new series to premiere during the winter of 2007. Andy Richter’s second foray into half-hour comedy was a hybrid comedy/mystery series, co-created by executive producers Conan O’Brien and Jonathan Groff. Although a critical darling, it only lasted six episodes before vanishing from the air. Luckily, the smart people at Shout! Factory have chosen to release the entire series on this new 2-disc DVD set. In addition to each episode containing commentary by Groff and at least two cast members, there are excellent bonus features including a look back at the show with interviews with all the major players.
Richter stars as the titular character, a nerdy accountant who has always succeeded in life. When he opens a private practice in an L.A. strip mall, Andy expects business to take off. It doesn’t. Instead, he waits patiently for the hours to pass before returning home to his loving, perky wife, Jenny (Ellen’s Clea Lewis). At the strip mall, Andy quickly befriends Simon, the manager of a video store (played by the hilarious Tony Hale, late of Arrested Development) and Wally (Marshall Manesh) an Afghani restaurant owner. In the pilot, a woman mistakes Andy for Lew Staziak, a retired private investigator that used to occupy the storefront where Andy now runs his office. Although he tries to convince the woman he’s no private dick, the money she slaps down in front of him — and the intrigue of being a gumshoe — is too thrilling to pas up. Simon, a walking encyclopedia of old movies, comes along as Andy’s sidekick. Eventually Andy runs into Lew Staziak (Fargo’s Harve Presnell), and the retired tough as nails P.I. becomes Andy’s mentor. (more…)
The holidays will have a lot to offer fans of all types of entertainment, including those of us who enjoy some pretty sick and twisted stuff. For those of you who enjoy grown-up animation, Adult Swim has released Adult Swim in a Box, a massive 12-DVD set that includes volumes of several of their classic series, as well as some of their more popular recent efforts. In all, six different programs are represented in the box, each a season’s worth of episodes. This collection is a decent mix of funny, bizarre and down right repulsive animation, the type of entertainment that has made the channel a big hit with stoners, college students and insomniacs.
Included in Adult Swim in a Box are: Space Ghost Coast to Coast, one of Adult Swim’s original hits. In it, the Saturday Morning super hero Space Ghost was re-imagined as a talk show host and the end result was often hilarious. Volume Three, the collection included here, contains 24 extended episodes including appearances by Beck, Rob Zombie and the always unpredictable Andy Dick. The success of Space Ghost in the late ’90s led to several spinoffs, one of which was Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I like Aqua Teen Hunger Force a lot. Despite its limited animation and strange setup (its heroes are an angry milkshake, a box of french fries and a mass of ground meat), I find the writing and performances biting and funny. Volume 2 contains 13 episodes, commentary, deleted scenes and a feature on the creation of the series.
Another one of the “classic” Adult Swim series included in the box set is Sealab 2021. Like Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Sealab 2021 incorporates stock animation footage (from a series called Sealab 2020) and new dialogue written for the old footage. The season 2 set has 13 episodes and several bonus features including commentary on all 13 episodes and a tribute to the late actor Harry Goz, voice of the show’s deranged “Captain Murphy.” (more…)
In our house, the Donnas’ “New Kid in School” is known as the song with the ‘A’ word in it. It’s a word Sophie and Jacob have heard hundred of times, as their father spits out profanity like Darren McGavin in A Christmas Story. We hear “New Kid in School” quite a bit in the house these days; it’s become one of Jacob’s favorite tracks to play on Rock Band. His affinity for this song, as well as classics by the Clash, Ramones and Replacements, confirms what I’ve suspected for a couple of years now: My boy likes his music fast and loud.
Since the days when he’d jump around carrying a ukulele like a guitar during Springsteen’s “The Rising,” Jake has always been a boisterous little kid. His voice booms throughout the house whenever he’s happy (or angry, or sad). One of the reasons I believe he’s so loud is because of his breathing treatments. Twice a day the buzzing of his nebulizer machine and the vibrating noise of his Vest take over the house. It’s hard for me to hear when I’m standing at the other end of the house; imagine what it must be like sitting right next to the machines. Add to that the constant hissing of the misting medicine he has to breathe in and the whole experience must feel quite claustrophobic. When you take this into consideration, is it any wonder that Jake’s voice thunders from room to room? (more…)
As a longtime Monty Python fanatic, I’ve often heard of the legendary FawltyTowers, the British sitcom John Cleese co-created and starred in after Flying Circus had gone off the air. The show ranks high in the annals of sitcom lore, with Cleese singled out for his performance as Basil Fawlty, the co-owner of a small, English seaside hotel. For reasons I can’t come up with, I had never seen this revered show before it arrived on my doorstep in the form of a new BBC 30th Anniversary collector’s edition that contains every episode from its two seasons (1975 and 1979) painstakingly remastered. I was thrilled for the opportunity to finally see the show I’d heard so much about since I first began watching Python in my college dorm room, 20 years ago.
Cleese created the show with his then-wife, actress Connie Booth (who also co-stars). The show follows the exploits of Basil, one of the most cantankerous, put-upon, non-people persons you’d ever meet. If ever there was a man who shouldn’t be interacting with hotel guests, it’s Basil Fawlty. The character was based on a real hotel owner named Donald Sinclair. As the story goes, while the Pythons were on a film shoot in the early ’70s, they stayed at Sinclair’s hotel, only to check out after just one night’s stay. Sinclair was so rude that the actors couldn’t stand him. However, Cleese opted to stay behind and study the man, fascinated by his behavior. When the time came to pitch a series to the BBC, Booth suggested to her husband “What about that hotel owner?” The rest is history. (more…)
Daniel Nester is the type of author anyone who frequents Popdose should be reading. His essays and prose contain much of the same humorous, sometimes smartass attitude that you readers have come to love. At the same time, he is an accomplished journalist whose ability to immerse himself in his articles makes reading his informative pieces that much more enjoyable. His new book of essays and articles is entitled How to Be Inappropriate; it is available in paperback from Soft Skull Press.
Throughout the book, Nester has a self-deprecating charm that makes his writing seem like he’s just hanging out with you, telling you a good story. Whether it’s recounting the time he moved in next door to an ex-girlfriend while living in New York (“The Puerto Rican Lockhorns Reunion”) or detailing his adventures in self-tanning (“Yes I Tan”) Nester is funny, but never mean. Indeed, even when he could go for the jugular in two of the finest pieces in the book, he instead remains an observer, allowing the laughs to emerge from his subject’s behavior rather than any snarky remark he could have come up with. (more…)
In the midst of all my mid-life reflection last week, I received an email from a guy I hadn’t heard from in twenty years. John* had tracked me down through the massive power of the Internet, so of course, I immediately directed him to the Basement Songs (we writers are kind of narcissistic that way). After a friendly exchange of e-mails that detailed an overview of our lives, John checked out a couple of my columns and wrote me a follow up e-mail. He told me to disregard the previous e-mail as bullshit. He then wrote one of the most confessional letters that has ever shown up in my Gmail inbox. I’m not going to go into details because his life isn’t an open book like mine (again, narcissism), but I will say that John had a rough time in the ’90s. Happily, through the love of a good woman who never gave up on him, he’s dug himself out and now leads a happier life.
I understood what he was talking about. I went through a period of months a couple years ago in which I suffered through a paralyzing depression. I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel and each day it got harder and harder to get up and face life. I, too, am lucky that I had a good woman and good friends to help me through the times and to right the course of my life. Have you ever experienced that? Have you ever tripped into the dark sides of your psyche and dragged your loved ones with you? If you haven’t been through that hell, then you, my friend, are fortunate. (more…)
If vampires, mysteries and romance are your thing, you can do much worse than Blood Ties,the supernatural drama that aired on Lifetime in 2007. The second season collection contains the final nine episodes on three DVDs.
Blood Ties stars Christina Cox as Vicki Nelson, a former cop turned private investigator. Her partner is a hunky, ageless vampire named Henry Fitzroy (Kyle Schmid). The two of them are hired to solve crimes that are out of the ordinary (demons, cat people, etc) and sometimes get brought in by Vicki’s old police partner and lover, Mike Celluci (Dylan Neal). Although all three are “friends,” there are lingering feelings between Mike and Vicki, feelings that make Henry a bit jealous. Likewise, Mike isn’t too sure how he feels about his ex hanging out with a bloodsucking bo-hunk. This strange romantic triangle makes for some light moments in between the X-Files-esque cases that form the basis for the plots of Blood Ties.
Nelson is a no-nonsense, hard nosed detective; she’s not afraid of anything. It’s this quality in her that makes her attractive to both men. Of the two, she seems more drawn to Henry and seems open to the idea of living forever. However, Henry knows that should he give her the gift of eternal life, their love will evaporate; he will have cursed Vicki into watching her friends and family die. This makes Henry one of the most sensitive vampires I’ve seen since Brat Pitt bared his fangs in Interview with a Vampire (this show did come out long before Twilight and The Vampire Diaries). Henry is no pushover and is quite protective of Vicki, as is Mike. The tough guy detective draws many stares and places his career in jeopardy by constantly going to Vicki for help. Some begin to question his sanity as he lets slip his belief in the supernatural. (more…)
There seem to be two camps of people when it comes to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: those who feel that rock and roll deserves a permanent place to showcase the important effect it’s has had on popular culture, and those who believe that the intention of rock music was rebellion against the mainstream; that a stuffy old shrine goes against everything the music stands for, and screw you if you don’t agree with them. I belong to the former group, partly because I’m from Cleveland, Ohio and got caught up in the hysteria of bringing the Rock Hall to the north coast, and also because I feel that there needs to be a place where people can look at rock and roll as an art and examine its history. I’ve been to the museum, and could have stayed for days marveling at Hendrix’s guitar and fragments of Keith Moon’s drum kit.
This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and there’s a star-studded concert in Madison Square Garden to celebrate the occasion. In conjunction with the anniversary, Time-Life has released a nine-DVD collection called Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live. It includes eight discs of Hall of Fame inductions and a DVD featuring some of the performances from the 1995 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concert that took place in Cleveland. Since the very first induction back in 1986, we’ve seen and heard about the induction ceremonies (usually in New York) that are a gathering of music legends. They get up on stage and perform their biggest hits; give speeches that are sometimes emotional, sometimes raucous, sometimes spiteful, and at the end of the night all of the inductees and presenters come together for one kick assjam session. With this DVD collection, it appeared as if music aficionados — you know, you and I, the people who made these rock stars legends — were finally going to be included in these events, and not just through the chopped-up versions we’ve seen on VH1.
In an effort to conserve gas and save money, I’ve been riding my bike to the train station on a regular basis. It reminds me of my sophomore year at BGSU, when I’d zip around the campus on the red one-speed I bought for three bucks from my friend, Brett. With my Toledo Mud Hens hat turned backwards and an obnoxious turquoise backpack over my shoulders, I’d ride to classes or just tool around aimlessly with the strong Bowling Green winds trying to blow me over. Accompanying me on these journeys was my semi-reliable Emerson portable cassette player (made from the finest plastic China had to offer). And blasting through my headphones in October of ’89 were my favorite albums at the time: Edie Brickell & New Bohemians’ Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars and Jeff Beck’s Guitar Shop.
Brickell and her band were the flavor of the month, with a hit single and exposure on the radio and MTV. Beck’s record, on the other hand, was released with hardly any airplay and little press (the only review I read appeared in Rolling Stone). What the mainstream missed was their loss, because this is one killer album. Featuring his longtime collaborator Tony Hyams on keyboards and former Missing Persons drummer Terry Bozzio, Guitar Shop is a solid mix of rockers and ballads. Moreover, each instrumental displays a 45- year old Beck on fire, showing up the hair metal rockers half his age who dominated the radio in the late ’80s. In the movie in my head, when I wanted to feel cool and ride around like I was Mel Gibson on a bike, I would cue up “Big Block,” with its funky beat and nasty guitar solo, and just cruise the campus. (more…)
Andy Barker, P.I. 
The holidays will have a lot to offer fans of all types of entertainment, including those of us who enjoy some pretty sick and twisted stuff. For those of you who enjoy grown-up animation, Adult Swim has released 
In our house, the Donnas’ 
twenty years. John* had tracked me down through the massive power of the Internet, so of course, I immediately directed him to the Basement Songs (we writers are kind of narcissistic that way). After a friendly exchange of e-mails that detailed an overview of our lives, John checked out a couple of my columns and wrote me a follow up e-mail. He told me to disregard the previous e-mail as bullshit. He then wrote one of the most confessional letters that has ever shown up in my Gmail inbox. I’m not going to go into details because his life isn’t an open book like mine (again, narcissism), but I will say that John had a rough time in the ’90s. Happily, through the love of a good woman who never gave up on him, he’s dug himself out and now leads a happier life.
If vampires, mysteries and romance are your thing, you can do much worse than 
There seem to be two camps of people when it comes to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: those who feel that rock and roll deserves a permanent place to showcase the important effect it’s has had on popular culture, and those who believe that the intention of rock music was rebellion against the mainstream; that a stuffy old shrine goes against everything the music stands for, and screw you if you don’t agree with them. I belong to the former group, partly because I’m from Cleveland, Ohio and got caught up in the hysteria of bringing the Rock Hall to the north coast, and also because I feel that there needs to be a place where people can look at rock and roll as an art and examine its history. I’ve been to the museum, and could have stayed for days marveling at Hendrix’s guitar and fragments of Keith Moon’s drum kit.
It reminds me of my sophomore year at BGSU, when I’d zip around the campus on the red one-speed I bought for three bucks from my friend, Brett. With my Toledo Mud Hens hat turned backwards and an obnoxious turquoise backpack over my shoulders, I’d ride to classes or just tool around aimlessly with the strong Bowling Green winds trying to blow me over. Accompanying me on these journeys was my semi-reliable Emerson portable cassette player (made from the finest plastic China had to offer). And blasting through my headphones in October of ’89 were my favorite albums at the time: Edie Brickell & New Bohemians’ 