Classic Music Video of the Week

I love the 80s. I love them more than I probably should.

One of the things I love most about the 80s is New Wave. No, I'm not referring to the beautiful coifs people sported (although there were some sweet waves of that kind, too). I'm referring to the music that sounded like nothing before it, the music that explored the glory of the synthesizer.

I don't have much of a set-up for this video, other than the fact that I simply think it's a great song. The video creates a bit of chaos, which adds to the message of the lyrics. It almost made me wish I had grown up on the other side of town. Almost.

I can also say that Flight of the Conchords truly captures the essence of this CMVW in their song and video for "Inner City Pressure."
Since I find FOTC to be musical geniuses, I think it's a great compliment that they came as close as they could get (without copying) to this week's Classic Music Video of the Week.

Please enjoy "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys. The 80s are gone, but this song will always live in my cold, cold heart.

Rock of Ages

Since anything I've written over the past couple of months has been garbage and unworthy of this venerable blog I thought I would ease back into posting with a good old fashioned concert review. Since I was in high school concerts were always my favorite activity. They were the one place I could go and completely release and just have a good time. During my college years, which was my concert-going peak, I was attending on average about 1 show a week. All together I would say my total concert tally is somewhere in the range of 200 to 250 shows. I always told myself that as I grew older I would continue this passion and someday take my future older children to shows as well. Sadly this has not been the case in recent years. The past few years I have seen at most probably 2 or 3 shows per year. As is the case with many enjoyable activities as you get older, a decline in disposable income, time and energy combined with the ridiculous increase in ticket prices and gas for travel greatly restricted my ability to go to shows.

Due to this decline I've had to choose what shows I do go to more carefully. I've had to take a pass and move on from some groups that I've seen 20 times or more. Over the past few months I saw two concerts. Both of which had artists I had seen previously once, but i considered well worth the time and money to see again. The first show was August 25th in Wappinger Falls, NY near Fishkill. The Counting Crows, a favorite group of mine, were embarking on a summer tour in minor league baseball stadiums. I was fortunate enough to have seen the Counting Crows previously one year at SUNY Geneseo. With them on this current tour were two other great bands from the 90's, Live, who I also saw once previously, and Collective Soul.

I felt this would be a great way to reminisce of the glory days of 90s rock. Like many shows, the crowd itself was a very amusing mix. Surprisingly the age range was quite large. I expected the majority of people to be near my age from 25 to 35. However, there were a considerable amount of people both older and younger. I was pleasantly surprised at the younger crowd as many were unborn or newborns when these bands were in their heyday. Add to that the expensive price of the ticket and it was nice to see younger kids are still going back and immersing themselves in older music like I did as a kid with classic rock of the 60s and 70s.

Collective Soul played first and received a pretty decent overall reception. They mostly played their hits and had a decent amount of energy. Surprisingly, Live did not get as big of a crowd response as Collective Soul. Perhaps they are one of those bands that people know the songs but not who is performing them. Their set was adequate, though not as high on energy as when I previously saw them. Finally the Counting Crows ended the night with what was a fairly mellow set. Their song choices had a solid mix of hits and new material, but most were on the low key side. Although not as memorable as their set at SUNY Geneseo, I still found it very enjoyable. The drunk man behind kept screaming for Adam to pick up the pace. This strategy proved unsuccessful, but the imbecile continued his cry unrelentingly. Overall it was a solid show. It was definitely overpriced, but these days it is hard to find a good bargain when it comes to concerts. I was pleased to once again see Adam Duritz perform, who I consider a modern poetic marvel one notch below Bob Dylan.

This leads to my second show. On October 6th in Albany I was fortunate to see Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and Amos Lee perform. I saw Dylan previously at RPI in Troy, NY in 1998, I believe. Going to see Dylan is an interesting experience. One of the main reasons to see him is to be, for one night, in the presence of music royalty. To see one of the greatest songwriters in modern music history is quite a thrill.

However, as he has aged, his voice has declined making it harder to understand what he is singing. Nevertheless, he still puts on a good show and his band are extremely talented. They have involved into more of a jam band, stretching out songs when they hit a particular groove. Although when I saw him previously he put on a tremendous show, I felt that his opening act, Natalie Merchant, brought her performance a level above his. As a result my respect for her grew tenfold. I was curious to see if this show would prove to be the same.

Amos Lee opened up first and delivered a bluesy set with his highly southern accented voice. I was impressed by him and so was the majority of the crowd. i doubt he will find mainstream success, but he could easily attract quite a following. Next up was the artist I was most excited to see that night, Elvis Costello. He doesn't seem to hit upstate NY very often but after seeing him that night I will make a point to travel to see him if he is nearby. He came out on stage, the lone troubadour, with an acoustic guitar and immediately kicked into his set with high energy. He played a great mix of classics and new material, all of which was fantastic. Such hits as "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes", "Veronica", "Oliver's Army", "Radio Sweetheart" w/ Van Morrison's "Jackie Wilson Said" as a melody, and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" all brought big cheers from the crowd. His new material was equally full of quality. Costello received many standing ovations and the crowd surely wouldn't have complained had he decided to extend his 45 minute set. It would be nice to see him headline a theatre tour and come to upstate cities.

Here is a good video someone took at the Albany show of Elvis performing Red Shoes:


The living legend closed the night with a rollicking set that picked up steam as it went along. You could tell that as Dylan's set wore on, he was getting more into it. It didn't seem as if he wanted it to end. Most of his classics were reworked in ways that made them almost unrecognizable yet still memorable. He played "Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright", "Simple Twist of Fate", “Highway 61 Revisited” and the new classic "Working Man Blues #2". He finished the night with an encore and unique version of "All Along The Watchtower", which brought the crowd to it's feet.

A video someone took of Dylan doing Watchtower in Albany:


Overall, they were two shows that I can't complain about. Although I feel the Dylan/Costello show is one I will remember for quite some time. I might actually see a few more shows this year. One of my favorite bands, Boy Hits Car, is touring the northeast for the first time in many years in November so I will probably go to at least a couple shows. My goal next year is to increase the concerts I attend but it still seems to get harder and harder.

Artists I have yet to see live that I desperately want to see:

Cream - I have a better chance of winning the lottery than Cream reuniting, but I hold out hope.
Doves
Radiohead
Silverchair
the Shins
Schuyler Fisk
Stevie Wonder
Pearl Jam

6 Degrees of CMVW

Happy Columbus Day, Pop-Pop'ers!

Maybe it's because I'm in thinking mode, being one of those people that has to work today, but I thought I'd use a little Six Degrees of Separation to bring you this week's Classic Music Video of the Week. Are you sure you're ready for this? Then let's do this thing:

1) Today is Columbus Day. I like to think that the man who made America popular dreamed that one day he would be mentioned in a pop culture blog. Today's your lucky day, Mr. Columbus. However, he's not to be confused with...

2) Chris Columbus, an American writer, director, and overall "known" name in movies. He directed a little movie known as...

3) Home Alone. But who was that cute young actor in that gem of a Christmas movie?

4) Macaulay Culkin. And I seem to recall this little lad in a music video...what was it? Oh yes, that's right. It was...

5) Black or White by Michael Jackson. World travel, snow globes, a rapping Macaulay, and faces eerily changing from one to another. (Of course the original airing contained Michael Jackson beating the crap out of a car, too.) There's also a strong irony that the title of the song is a question often asked about the King of Pop. All of these things make it classic. Add in the fact that MJ is providing a commentary on the different cultures of the world (which Christopher Columbus sailed and partially "discovered") and you've got a little circle of pop culture and history.

Here's your Columbus Day Classic Music Video of the Week:



Hey, look at that. I did it in five. *Wink.*

Classic Music Video of the Week

It’s that time kids! This week, let’s be really cheesy about it. And mildly disturbing.

Oh Lionel, please stop stalking the blind girl who is making that creepy bust of you in sculptor class.

This is also my message to you my contributors and readers. “Hello, I've just got to let you know…'Cause I wonder where you are…"

The Triumph Return of Television

It’s been over three weeks since my last post, and even longer since my last post of substance. But hopefully soon that will all change with the return of Fall Network Programming this week!

The following are the list of shows I’m planning to watch this season…and yes, most of them are returning series. I really don’t have much faith or interest in any of the new offerings.

Mondays:

Of course I will be continuing my watching of How I Met Your Mother, which should contain more hilarious moments as the last season provided.

I will be simultaneously taping Everybody Hates Chris on the CW. I find this sitcom more “cute” than laugh-out-loud funny, and I enjoy the 80s pop culture.

Also I will be watching Heroes. I am late coming into this show, but have been able to catch up on the first season through NetFlix, and I do find this show enjoyable in that comic book way.

Tuesdays:

…will apparently be spent watching something from NetFlix, or reading.

Wednesdays:

I’ve decided to give Private Practice a try, since I am a fan of Grey’s Anatomy. I never have much faith in spinoffs, though.

A show that premiered last week I happened to catch and enjoyed is Kitchen Nightmares, featured Hell’s Kitchen's Gordon Ramsay. I just find him so ridiculously entertaining and enjoy any show where a majority of the dialogue has to be bleeped out. Like this:

Thursdays:

Grey’s Anatomy will be watched, but my expectations are low as well. They have a lot to make up for after the second half of last season.

My Name is Earl…although I love Jason Lee, I can take or leave at this point.

The Office though, of course! This is probably the “must-see” of all of my television viewing. What will it be like with Ryan being Michael’s boss? And what happened with Jim and Pam? And is Karen just still sitting in NYC somewhere? Oh Dwight, how I’ve missed you…

Scrubs will be watched as well, but that won’t be on until the month of hour-long episodes of The Office finish up. I can’t say I’m really pulling for JD and Eliot to get together, though.

Fridays & Saturdays:

These are not TV nights, my friends.

Sundays:

I guess I could lie and say I’ll still watch Desperate Housewives, but that would be embarrassing to myself and others.

So that’s it, dear neglected readers! What shows are on your schedule?

Classic Music Video of the Week

I'm gonna jump right in and post one more for the week.

This week's Classic Music Video of the Week is in honor of Jill. She has some big projects and trips coming up at work and let's face it, sometimes people need motivation to get through the work week. That said, this week's video is a 3-fer.

1) Jill and I saw The Brothers Solomon yesterday. While I'm not sure it's a movie that will appeal to the masses, if you like the comedic stylings of Will Arnett and Will Forte, you will probably laugh a decent amount with this film. Why is this important? The CMVW is featured heavily in the movie and we laughed every time it came on.

2) This song is a classic...music video of the week. Most people know it. Anyone who is an 80s buff definitely knows it and likely loves it.

3) The video features clips from what is hailed as one of the big Brat Pack movies. This film was like the Ocean's Eleven of its day when you consider the 80s star power in it. In fact, it was so powerful that they used the movie title as the main title of the song.

I'm sure you've guessed it by now, but here it is. Enjoy your 80s flashback with "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" by John Parr.



And Jill, "Soldier on. Only you can do what must be done."

My Pop Four...it's been a crazy summer, okay?

Someone posted an anonymous blog comment that said that this wonderful blog of ours has “fallen off the face of the earth.” It made me sad inside to read that, mostly because it feels true. However, I have faith that our blog will make its way back up to the Earth’s surface. Here is my way of throwing Pop-Pop a life-line. This blog is not dead. Like all good pop culture things, it took a summer hiatus.

One of the reasons I have been slow to post is that every time I started a Pop Ten list, Entertainment Weekly or some other quality entertainment publication would publish a countdown list on that exact topic, each time within the same week I was working on it. Since we thrive on originality, I kept putting off posting. Sometimes, however, you have to sacrifice your creativity of concept to say what you need to say. Well, dear readers, here is my towel and here is me throwing it in. While I can’t post on the most original topic, I can post, dammit. So here it is. My season premiere. Please enjoy My Pop Four Recommended Shows You Won’t Find on Network TV. Maybe when we’re into full swing with the new season of shows I can bump it up to ten. Until then, I highly recommend these shows to the general public. (Maybe I’ll work on shows for the minority later…)

DEXTER (Showtime)
This was a great find for the summer. Fellow Pop-Pop contributor, James, recommended this show to me through Netflix. James and I have a 92% compatibility rating on Netflix, so when he recommends, I listen. I could not be happier that I did! The simplest way to describe Dexter is that it’s about a serial killer who kills other killers. Sure, that sounds like a twisted plot, and in a way it really is, but somehow it works, and works incredibly well. Dexter is played by Michael C. Hall, and this part could not have been cast better. He is convincing in this role, which may be hard to believe if you remember him as David Fisher in Six Feet Under. He is likeable, multi-layered, and, frankly, dead sexy (no pun intended). The episodes explore the inner thoughts and workings of a person who can commit murder time and again without remorse, which itself is a fascinating concept. If you can handle blood, an average level of violence, and getting so hooked that you have to watch several episodes in a row, I would recommend this fantastic drama to you.

(This is where the story really begins to take shape:)



Season 1 is available on DVD, Season 2 starts Sept. 30th.

FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS (HBO)
Again, thanks to another Pop-Pop contributor, this time Jill, for urging me to take the step to watch this show. I’d heard about it and was familiar with the group, but she convinced me to take in a whole episode. Flight of the Conchords, or FOTC for short, is a great show if you like musical parodies and dry, sarcastic humor. Bret and Jemaine are two musicians from New Zealand (not England or Australia, as you will find out) who are learning what it’s like to be struggling musicians in NYC. Their manager, Murray, is naïve but good-hearted, and their stalker, Mel, is strangely likeable as well. Bret and Jemaine have fantastic comedic timing and subtlety that fills a bit of the Arrested Development void in my life. I have to give props to anyone who can make me laugh when practically everything they say is delivered in a monotone voice. To sum up the musical genius of the show, let me use this clip to illustrate:



If you can’t appreciate their musical spoofing efforts and Nana’s tea party, then you will not reap the benefits that this amazing show has to offer.

Season 1 just finished but the DVD will be out in November.

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (HBO)
Okay, if you don’t know about this show and you love uncomfortable comedy, you need to go out and rent Curb Your Enthusiam ASAP. Larry David mixes elements of his real life and fiction in this comedy that will make you cringe. (Note: If you are one of those people that watches the American version of The Office and laughs “because it’s so uncomfortable,” you are in the infancy stage of uncomfortable. Take Seinfeld, multiply those awkward moments by ten, and you have Curb Your Enthusiasm.) Again, a lot of what makes this show great is the subtlety. I personally enjoy the different moments when Larry and Cheryl are in the car, and while Cheryl is trying to talk about something serious, Larry feels the need to talk about unimportant things, like grape pie. There are enough over-the-top moments of genius to make it appeal to the masses, but to fully appreciate the show, be open to the small comments and changes in tone of voice.



Seasons 1-5 available on DVD, Season 6 just started and if episode one is a good indication of the rest of the season, it will be another great one!

COUPLING (BBC America)
A lot of people know the story of the American version of Coupling. The British version of the show was great, so they brought it to the U.S., using almost exactly the same script (but adapting British references for American ones). It bombed. Well, of course when you hear that a show was unsuccessful in the U.S. (since we'll watch pretty much anything), you kind of wonder what made it so great across the pond. With the BBC version of Coupling, you can tell immediately. If I had to compare it to one show, I would say in my mind it most closely resembles Friends. However, this show is a bit more graphic when it discusses—ahem—physical relationships, and it seems to be more realistic about what happens in emotional relationships than Friends ever was. Steve, the leader of the males, goes on a rants about everything from why it’s important for men to have locks on bathroom doors to this:


In any case, the show is done well stylistically, too. When you least expect it, they create scenarios to illustrate their points, such as a medieval chess match to illustrate how differently men and women see the concept of sleeping at their partners’ apartments. While it may take a few episodes to warm up to the show, it is well worth following these characters through their relationships. Note: In Season 4, the character Jeff leaves. They replace him with a much less-funny but similar character named Oliver. While Season 4 is in the downswing, give it a chance because there are some great moments you won’t want to miss!

Seasons 1-4 (full series) on DVD. Showings at select times on BBC America.