A pre-emptive radio strike on this hollow opinion. If I were his editor, I'd sit Sorkin down to take notes on this stuff: smart sports anchors, now there's a twist worthy of a progressive economics President from New Hampshire. (Silly wag [Richard Sandomir], West Wing WAS a comedy, Studio 360 was … [Read more...]
LONG, LONG, LONG
Print wimps gather to celebrate 40th anniversary of the Beatles' White Album symposium, at Skidmore College, hosted by Gordon Thompson, author of Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out (Oxford). Panel: Allan Kozinn, New York Times critic and author of The Beatles; Walter Everett, … [Read more...]
ROCKCRITICS.COM
The oral rendition of the selected bibliography, in conversation with Scott Woods (mp3). … [Read more...]
BLIP TUNES GO VIRAL
blip: (verb) a mashup of pandora and twitter, blindingly addictive, killerapp, non-sequiturs woven through instant classic playlists, ricoched through various anonymous ears of abundance, the flash fantastic, in blissful stereo where available. … [Read more...]
OBAMA THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
This would be quote of the week but it's too juicy, too venal, too outrageously narcissistic, even after watching the Boogie Man (Frontline's Lee Atwater) profile on Friday night. From Karl Rove in the Sunday Times Magazine: "Our new president-elect won one and a half points more than George W. … [Read more...]
Now a Major Motion Podcast
Obama: The First Motown President (podcast riley), a discussion of the Vanity Fair oral history by Lisa Robinson, with Suzanne de Passe and Raphael Saadiq On Point (Thursday, November 13, 2008). (Download mp3, or iTunes) … [Read more...]
Levi Stubbs’ Tears
Tune in to On Point tomorrow morning at 11 am (Thursday, Nov. 13) for a discussion of Lisa Robinson's oral history of Motown (Vanity Fair). And when Levi Stubbs died last month, nobody mentioned that 1986 Billy Bragg song, "Levi Stubbs' Tears," a eulogy in search of a death. … [Read more...]
REPORT FROM SMT NASHVILLE
AD LINE OF THE MONTH: Urinal wallboard, Rennaissance Hotel Convention Center: King of Country Picks the King of Chrome: George Jones for Hunters Custom Automotive, Nashville (Society for Music Theorists conference, Plenary session on "Popular Music and the Canon") … [Read more...]
Led Zeppelin Auditions
PLAYLIST FOR ZEP AUDITION (SINGERS/SONGS): Sorry about the monitors, people, we had like ZERO notice. Here are the ground rules: no breaks, no key changes, bring your own water and leave your cards at the door. If you are performing your own material, please give your changes to John Paul Jones IN … [Read more...]
Girl Effect
Senator McCain: You have repeatedly opposed equal pay for equal work. If for any reason you were unable to fulfill your duties as President, would Sarah Palin receive the same executive salary in the event of her succession? … [Read more...]
Plumber of the Year
The Boston Herald, today's front page It wasn't until I saw this photo that "Joe The Plumber" suddenly clicked as racist bait. How many black plumbers do you know? And who did Joe turn out to be but our most antiquated, rednecked, "bitter"-talking voter? Since only pictures "matter," Joe turned out … [Read more...]
Be McFraid
Former Village Voice columnist Leslie Savan, author of The Sponsored Life and Slam Dunks and No Brainers, has been blogging on campaign ads for the Nation: … [Read more...]
War Is Over
...if you want it … [Read more...]
Sentence of the Week
"To note that Lennon and the band he founded have enduring capacities to ignite the public imagination is to commit an obviousness that is aptly painful..." David Hajdu in the New Republic. … [Read more...]
Top Ten Springsteen Super Bowl Requests
Sarah Darling (Tina Fey remix) Murder Incorporated (all hail: subprime credit crisis) Born in the USA (update the quagmire) 'Dad's Gonna Kill Me (Richard Thompson cover) Detroit medley (for "Devil With the Blue Dress") Farmer John (Premiers, Neil Young cover) Double Shot of My Baby's Love (Swingin' … [Read more...]