I was beginning to think I’d never find a tough lawman to clean up Bootleg City, especially after my faux pas-filled interview with Marshall Crenshaw. (I won’t bore you with the details of my preliminary talks with the Police. They work well as a team, but who needs all that drama?) But last weekend, as I was digging through CDs at the one place left in town to shop for music — the local Christian thrift store, Heaven Is One Coffee-Stained Couch Donation Away — I ran across a copy of Law and Order by Lindsey Buckingham.
Of course! Who better to scare the crap out of criminals than the man who followed up Law and Order with Go Insane? Here in America we can’t get enough of “maverick cops” who have trouble “playing by the rules” and are willing to risk “life and limb” to nab the bad guys, possibly because they’re “mentally unstable” or just plain “suicidal,” and years down the road may end up making “anti-Semitic comments” to arresting officers while “hammered out of their gourds on Cazadores tequila” behind the wheel of an automobile. In order to catch the bad guys, you have to think like the bad guys, but sometimes that means you end up talking and even acting like the bad guys. But isn’t it worth all the apologetic “Whoopsy!” meetings with rabbis and the stints in rehab and the worldwide public condemnation if it eventually translates to some face time with Diane Sawyer?
It’s no wonder Mayor P.R. Nelson of Erotic City was upset when he found out I’d hired Lindsey — no one had told him that Stevie Nicks’s ex was available as a gun for hire in the first place. His brisk e-mail said it all: “How come U don’t call me anymore?” His second e-mail was even more to the point: “I hate U.”
Don’t worry, he’ll get over it. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about freaky people, it’s that they keep on comin’.
The point of a column like this is not to be a consumer guide, or to give “thumbs up”/”thumbs down” to the latest media product (which is just as well since Ebert owns the whole thumbs-up thing and could sue the pants off me for copping his gimmick). I’m trying to engage some of the ideas underpinning popular culture — notions of authenticity, influence, presentation, expectation — and kick them around to see how they fall. I’m trying, in short, to start a conversation.
And sometimes I’m trying to start an argument. It falls to the critic sometimes to assume a contrarian stance, either by default or by design. The aim is not simply to be disagreeable, not to reflexively oppose received wisdom, but to take nothing for granted. By taking an opinion that “everybody knows” is wrong, you put your interlocutor in the position of defending the view that “everybody knows” is right, and examining why it’s right. And that’s how you get at deeper truths.
And so, in the spirit of the pursuit of knowledge (and also in the pursuit of pissing people off, why isn’t particularly helpful but which can be a whole lotta fun), here are my fightstarters — a selection of my contrarian, heretical, or just plan Wrong ideas about pop culture. You may disagree: in fact, that’s kind of the point.
Who are you asking for a restraining order against?
—
Last week the Stone Roses took down the surprisingly scrappy Hold Steady, as “I Am the Resurrection” (featuring one of my favorite guitar solos in history) took 60% of the votes. Next week, we celebrate the arrival of the rainy season with a pair of songs about Being Happy When It Rains.
Spring is here. Blue skies, green grass, allergens. Rainy afternoons and cool evenings.
Spring, of course, is time for renewal, and I like to think of it as a time for some mental housecleaning as well, so I’ve selected some music that I feel is somewhat transitive and uplifting. A little more meditative than usual. Hopefully it will take you places.
Like almost everyone in the U.S. for the past few months, I’ve been pelted with political calls, commercials, mailers, and e-mails from candidates, “concerned citizens,” and the like to get out and vote and support or oppose a whole host of ballot initiatives. (If you live in California, you know what I’m talking about on the ballot-initiative side of things.) But this year people are getting more creative in their use of the Internets, and I’ve been treated to Saul Williams doing a four-minute impassioned poem about his support for Obama and a one-hour DJ mix that weaves speeches by former presidents and Obama into a pretty good groove. However, politics, like life, is full of contradictions, and that’s why I wanted to do a mix that is kind of all over the place.
I bought this soundtrack before I saw the film and was rolling when I first heard some of the songs. To my surprise, the film wasn’t as funny as the music, so before you put your copy of Team America: Wold Police into your DVD player, take a few moments and savor the genius of “America, Fuck Yeah.” And for an added contrast, enjoy the “Bummer Remix”; after all, bombast can’t last forever. Eventually, what goes up must come down …
Q: What the hell does that have to do with breaking up?
A: Clearly, if you have to ask, you don’t watch 90210.
Q: Wait. It’s the same person doing the Q & A, so why are you getting all snippy with me?
A: I don’t have to answer you.
Q. You don’t? Why not? I mean you’re “A” — which means “Answer.” So answer me A-hole!
A: Here’s an answer: we’re breaking up.
Q: Fine. I don’t really need you … do I?
A: [Silence]
Q: Why won’t you talk to me?
A: [Humming]
Q: A-hole? I mean Answer?
A: What?
Q: Don’t you love me?
A: Let’s look at the Magic 8 Ball for an answer since you have a problem calling me by my proper name. Hmm…It says “Ask again later.”
Breaking up is hard to do, isn’t it? But once you’ve broken up, the song that best reflects your feelings might be something a little abstruse like “Losing My Religion,” or maybe it’s something oh-so-obvious like “Love Stinks.” Whatever the case, here are six songs that say pretty much the same thing in different ways: “It’s over.” (more…)
If it wasn’t for Scott Malchus, this week’s mix would have been missing from the Popdose lineup. But, because of his suggested theme — and a few song selections — I got out my mixy mix machine and started blending away. To be honest, it’s been a tough week in the life of yours truly, so being able to get back into familiar territory has been quite nice.
So here we go with six songs about that highlight the fine line between love and obsession. This is scary territory — especially if you’ve recently had to take out a restraining order on someone — but let’s us be brave as we face the stalker without and within.
“Tear You Apart,” She Wants Revenge
The first time I heard this tune, it was obvious that Joy Division was a huge influence for this band. The second time I heard this song, I kept thinking it was about a robot in love with a human — mostly because of Justin Warfield’s vocal delivery. The third time I heard this song, I prayed my young daughter would never ever go on a date when she got older. (more…)
Although released in late 1977, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack would be impossible to ignore for much of 1978, with the Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” and “Stayin’ Alive,” as well as Yvonne Elliman’s “If I Can’t Have You,” all reaching #1. At several points during the first half of ‘78, the soundtrack album was selling over 1 million units a week.
Of course! Who better to scare the crap out of criminals than the man who followed up Law and Order with Go Insane? Here in America we can’t get enough of “maverick cops” who have trouble “playing by the rules” and are willing to risk “life and limb” to nab the bad guys, possibly because they’re “mentally unstable” or just plain “suicidal,” and years down the road may end up making “anti-Semitic comments” to arresting officers while “hammered out of their gourds on Cazadores tequila” behind the wheel of an automobile. In order to catch the bad guys, you have to think like the bad guys, but sometimes that means you end up talking and even acting like the bad guys. But isn’t it worth all the apologetic “Whoopsy!” meetings with rabbis and the stints in rehab and the worldwide public condemnation if it eventually translates to some face time with Diane Sawyer?
