Last week’s E.G. Daily track reminded me of bar trivia with my buddies, so I thought I’d expand that into an intro. For a good three years, Wednesday was the day to show off my geek-tastic knowledge of ‘80s music. From ’03 to ’06, my buddies and I went to Steppy’s Bar & Grill in East Norriton, Pa., a bar with a bowling alley attached to it; we went for “Sports & Music Trivia With DJ George.” From nine until about one in the morning every Wednesday night, we’d drink and answer sports questions. There were four quarters, each consisting of six questions. George would read a question, then play a Billboard Hot 100 song from any decade, and you had to answer the question before the song ended as well as give the name of the artist and the year it charted.

Things started off easy. The questions were semi-softballs and the music was like Guns n’ Roses or the Beatles. But as the game moved along, everything grew more difficult. Everyone in my group was in their 20s or 30s, so we had a rough time with the music from the ‘60s, but we made up for it with my knowledge of the ‘80s. There would be two ‘80s songs in the final quarter — a really hard one, and the final song of the night, which would be the “impossible” song George chose specifically to try to stump me each week.

The final question of the night was always ridiculous — the “name every …” question, e.g. “Name every Philadelphia 76ers head coach in order from oldest to most recent.” And the song was something that no one ever got but me. George loved playing those late-‘80s freestyle tunes or one of those Cugini-type songs; Pajama Party and Nocera tracks were also big on his list. Every now and then he would stump me, and of course that would piss me off. But most of the time I was the only person in the bar to know the final song. If that makes me an ‘80s nerd, so be it — but quite a few times it got us some decent prizes, and in some small way it probably led me to writing Bottom Feeders.

(more…)

—-

Def Leppard - “Rocket”

Herbie Hancock - “Rockit”

Mojo: “The exception that proves the rule” is a cliche whose meaning completely eludes me. It’s like saying just once, we can trust Rush Limbaugh to walk into an NFL pregame show and…well, you know what I mean. But if there was ever a band that fit the cliche, it’s Def Leppard. They fit a lot of cliches, but let’s focus on Mojo’s main rule: If it’s got a good hook, it’s gotta be good pop, period, and it doesn’t matter if it’s Miley Cyrus or Miles Davis is doing it. Def Leppard had dumptruck loads of good hooks, but no one would ever confuse them with good pop. “Rocket” is personally offensive to me, because they co-opt the very fabric of rock-n-roll and claim to be a part of the lineage that begat Major Tom, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, and even Lou Reed and his Satellite of Love–even though I think the gents in the last song-off did a good job of communicating the collective Popdose attitude toward Lou Reed. But even he’s a dozen steps up from this garbage.

(more…)

“I’m a true fairy,” Jobriath exclaimed, putting any debate over his true sexuality to rest, becoming rock music’s first openly gay superstar. It’s just that the superstar part never happened, despite hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of hype. When tales of major label hubris and marketing failure are told, Jobriath is often the first person name-checked. So why should you like Jobriath? The evidence, please:

Jobriath Was First: An in-your-face, outrageous gay rock star. The kind of glittery, truly outrageous glam star Bowie, Reed, and Pop only hinted at being. In the age of Mikas and Patrick Wolfs it’s not such a big deal, but when the year was 1973, America was having none of it. Back then, Elton was “bi” at best and Freddy was straight. While Jobriath forged his own distinct sound, fueled by ’30s and ’40s movie-queen and street-hustler imagery, he was derided as merely a cheap American Bowie clone. (Never mind that Jobriath was rocking the Pierrot clown hat and white makeup a full seven years before Bowie would do so in the “Ashes to Ashes” video.) Jobriath’s debut album was hyped up to the rafters, with a huge billboard in Times Square, ads in glossy mags, and an appearance on The Midnight Special. Trouble is, no one bit. (more…)