It’s vacation time already? Awesome! Time to kick back, relax, and…oh, wait, I forgot: this is only a part-time writing gig, and I still have to keep doing my full-time writing gig. Oh, well, at least this means I get a bit of a break from going completely insane on Monday afternoons as I try to finish up my column on time (and inevitably fail miserably at it).
Our commander in chief, Mr. Giles, has told me on several occasions that I shouldn’t feel bad about skipping a week here and there with “Hooks ‘N’ You,” since he knows how much I have to do for Bullz-Eye. Thing is, I enjoy writing this column for the same reason all of us here at Popdose offer our contributions to the site: not because we have to, but because we want to. It’s one big ol’ labor of love, folks. Plus, really, where else on the ‘net could I have the flexibility to write a column that spotlights albums ranging from George Burns to Kylie Minogue?
What it’s also given me, however, is the opportunity to have conversations with several of the artists whose records have provided me with a lot of great spins over the years. I realize that the beauty of having a regular column on a website is that people can just click on the appropriate tag and pull up every single one of your previous works, but when I looked back myself, I realized that A) I’ve talked to a lot of great artists since kicking off this column in January ’08, and B) even *I* got bored clicking through a year’s worth of columns. So for your easy access, here’s a quick list of the folks who were kind enough to talk with me either by phone or E-mail for “Hooks ‘N’ You” in 2008:
* Moe Berg on The Pursuit of Happiness‘s The Wonderful World Of….
* Paul Myers on The Gravelberrys‘ Bowl of Globes.
* Dave Kincaid on The Brandos‘ Honor Among Thieves.
* Nick Heyward on Tangled.
* Hawk Bjorn on Bounce the Ocean‘s self-titled album.
* David Titlow and Duncan Millar on Blue Mercedes‘ Rich and Famous.
* Chris Maxwell on Gunbunnies‘ Paw Paw Patch.
* Jeff Heiskell on Judybats‘ Judybats ’00.
* Craig MacIntosh on Dogs Die in Hot Cars‘ Please Describe Yourself.
* Keith C. on The Crayons‘ What Color Are You?
* David Bash on his beloved International Pop Overthrow.
* Tracey Bryn on Voice of the Beehive‘s Sex & Misery.
* Brandt and Matt Huseman on Splitsville‘s Let’s Go: The Best of Splitsville.
* Dave Dill on Follow the Summer.
* Colin Devlin on The Devlins‘ Drift.
* Don Dixon on his recording career and his production career.
* Kyle Vincent on Wow & Flutter.
* Richard Barone on Cool Blue Halo.
You see what I’m saying? That’s a lot of folks…and a lot of good reading, too. There are several other columns floating out there where I didn’t interview the artist(s) responsible for making the record I spotlighted, including the Bee Gees‘ Size Isn’t Everything (where I laid bare several of my most embarrassing music-related moments) and Prefab Sprout‘s The Gunman and Other Stories (where I offered up a rant about elitists who completely write off an artist’s later work not because it’s bad but just because it doesn’t live up to the standards of their earlier material), but truth be told, it’s the pieces that contain interviews which I’m most proud of.
As I bid ya’ll adieu for the remainder of 2008, I’ll open up the floor to suggestions for any albums you might want me to consider for 2009. (I’m not saying I don’t have plenty of ideas of my own, you understand, but your thoughts could certainly help push certain selections to the front of the pack.) ‘Til we meet again, have a good rest of the year, and I’ll see you in January!
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