The Ballad of Lucy Jordan, by Marianne Faithfull, brought to you, in a roundabout way, by a labeled but track-list-less mixtape I found in my tape box this weekend. I had to listen to it to find out what was on it, and this song was both the end of Side A and, then, because it got cut off, the start of Side B.
The mixtape was made in the fall of 1996 by one of my professors, as part of a class project. The first time I listened to it was probably the first time I heard this song. I was 21, and 37 seemed very far away. I read it as a cautionary tale. A warning, left by others: watch out, danger, here be quicksand.
Now I am 37, and, while Lucy Jordan’s despair is definitely not mine, the weight of it feels different. Heavier, I think; more real. When the path diverged in the yellow wood, I took a different one, but I can see hers through the trees.
The bag is surplus to my requirements and I thought it should go and live with someone who will appreciate it. Comment here or on Facebook or tweet the link (ONCE, no points for multiple tweets!) with what you’ll be keeping in the bag if you win and I’ll pick a winner next Saturday.
nb: I don’t smoke but I do have cats, but it’s freshly washed; and I’ll ship it anywhere the US Postal service goes.
Because sometimes I just have to take a moment and be full of love for Green Day.
This is Oh Love, from ¡Uno!, due in late September. It reminds me, again, how Green Day is one of the bands that made the chords that remade the world for mall rats like me, who grew up in suburbia, planning for / dreaming of the day we were going to break free.
Because I always enjoy bluegrass fused to rock and roll and played at punk speed, and most especially so when the fiddle is good. And Tim Weed, who is playing the fiddle for Rose’s Pawn Shop, is very good.
The rest of the band is Paul Givant (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, banjo), John Kraus (banjo, electric guitar, vocals), Stephen Andrews (upright bass) and Christian Hogan (drums), they are from Los Angeles, CA, and this is a video for Dancing on the Gallows, the title song for their second record.
And now, JJAMZ‘s homage to both The Police and ’80s horror movies, or, the creepiest video I have watched this summer.
Seriously, I love this song but this video totally gives me the howling fantods.
Naturally I must therefore share it with y’all so we can all watch it from behind our fingers together, preferably in the middle of the day with all of the lights on.
Even more seriously, I’m intrigued by how this song, and in particular this video for this song, combine to interact, if you will, with Don’t Stand So Close To Me, which is ALSO a pretty creepy song.
The video, is, like JJAMZ’s version, also set in a school, but has a distinctly playful feel.
All three of The Police are clowning around as the song plays. Sting, as himself, inexplicably wears puffy golden wings for the first minute or so, spends the last 30 seconds dancing with a lacrosse stick (was it Let Us Use All The Props Day?), and at one point, as the harried teacher, takes off his shirt Superman-style.
In stark contrast, what JJAMZ and director Eddie O’Keefe ask the viewer of their video to contemplate is: What if that teacher struggling with inappropriate desires was a killer?
All I can say is, I hope there’s a follow-up soon.
I snagged this one at the same time I picked up the Tammy Wynette biography from last week, mainly because, while I’m not the biggest fan of The Police, I could not resist that title. Pygmies? Polo? A rockstar with a (kind of) secret double life? Sign me up!
I am pleased to tell you that I had once again invested wisely, because Stewart Copeland definitely comes through in the hilarious / compelling anecdote department.
In addition to his time with The Police, his adventures as a documentary film maker and his trials and travails amid the ponies, the book also covers his childhood in the Beirut and England (his dad was founding member of the CIA!), his college years in California, his forays into the world of opera and ballet, the period he was in a band with Les Claypool and Trey Anastasio, a little bit about the making of Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out, his work writing movie scores, his stint as a judge on Just The Two Of Us, the many years he’s participated in La Notte Della Taranta, and ever so much more.
The stories are presented chronologically, but as independent anecdotes, so its possible to skip around and jump over times and topics that may not be of interest. That said, I read it straight through, and don’t feel my enjoyment of the work suffered at all.
Some observations: if you are looking for the nitty-gritty day by day (fight by fight?) story of The Police, this is not the book for you. Copeland hopscotches through their history fairly efficiently, assuming a certain amount of reader familiarity with their story and also with his and Sting’s complex and stormy relationship.
Best bit: the part where Copeland describes Sting trying to conduct Copeland’s drumming with subtle but increasingly furious movements of his guitar. And also the part where Copeland observed that, to the venerable members of Crosby, Stills & Nash, Copeland might as well be as Jonas brother, which nearly caused me to snort my tea out of my nose.
Though the part where I had to put the book down because I was laughing too hard to hold it upright was when Copeland was discussing the perils of being a Los Angeles PTA parent, i.e. that it’s possible Gene Simmons will leave you phone messages like – I’m paraphrasing here – Hi, this is Gene Simmons, you know, the one with the tongue?
The non-The Police related stories were excellent too; I definitely want to attend La Notta Della Taranta now, and his descriptions of his forays into the world of fine arts and movie making and scoring – especially pre-digital recording movie scoring – were fascinating.
In summary: A++, grab it if you find it and be prepared to stifle laughter if reading it in a public place.
I leave you with some videos; first, here he is at La Notta Della Taranta in 2003:
This is the first part of his Horse Opera. The rest is on YouTube and it is all totally ridiculous:
This is half an hour of actual opera, specifically, The Tell-Tale Heart which is not ridiculous at all. Or at least not any more ridiculous than opera is supposed to be.
Oysterhead performing on Conan:
And finally, Copeland jamming out with Matt Stone, Taylor Hawkins, and Chris Chaney at the Sacred Grove, his home studio:
In which Travie McCoy and Matt McGinley of Gym Class Heroes go ice fishing to the strains of Holy Horseshit, Batman! from GCH’s fourth record The Papercut Chronicles II, and, in the process, step all over the hook in order to explain how ice fishing works.
(Yes, yes, I know, it’s a tour video, so it’s more about tour shenanigans than the song. I totally love it, though, trodden upon hooks or not, because, not going to lie, if these two had their own fishing reality show, I would watch the hell out of it, even if they stepped all over their hooks every week while explaining how to tie on flies or whatever.
Another show I’d watch if it existed: Travie McCoy and Pete Wentz going for casual strolls around New York / LA / where-ever and discoursing on street art the same way Ice Cube gets down with his love for architecture in Los Angeles. And for anyone who may be wondering, yes, Travie McCoy does have Hall & Oates tattooed on his hands. Unironically, because he loves them.)
But back to the hook. In-video tomfoolery aside, it does play over the credits, unmolested, which is good, because it is a really great hook, and The Papercut Chronicles II is, overall, a really great record.
I am going to see Dead Can Dance live at the end of this month and I am SO EXCITED. They’re going to be at the Beacon, too, which means KILLER ACOUSTICS, which means Lisa Gerrard is going to make us all feel like our souls have come loose from our bodies. I CAN’T WAIT.
This is Opium, from Anastasis, their first new record in 16 years. If you like it, I very strongly encourage you to dig into their back catalog because there are a ton more gems where this came from. And they are giving away some free EPs on the their website so be sure to grab those, too.
And now jumping forward in time and across several genres, here’s the latest from [STRANGERS], called Safe/Pain. It is, as usual, dreamy and delicious.
Produced by Bas Productions at ZENEssex Studio
Camera: Tom Brown, Jasper Sharp
Sound/Lights: Gary Clark
Set design: Richard A. Sharpe
Editor: Kevin Burtt
Direction: Claire Coulton/ [STRANGERS] / Richard A. Sharpe
