#991: kleenex - nice (1978)
what’s your favorite primary color post punk deutschland ditty about poodles from a band named after facial tissues? this one.
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1960s on mon
1970s on tues
1980s on wed
1990s on thurs
2000s on fri
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ft. the beatles, aretha franklin, neil young, dr. dre, serge gainsbourg, duke ellington, the kinks, jimi hendrix, pavement, the clash, smog, the smiths, al green, the rolling stones, cat power, dusty springfield, yo la tengo, antony, wilco, elvis, talking heads, elliott smith, r.e.m., ray charles, velvet underground, otis redding, the monochrome set, randy newman, the cure, gillian welch, queen, stevie wonder & more
"mtv makes me want to smoke crack." -beck
see the archives & a random post
"i just happen to be here, and it's okay." -caetano veloso
"sing a simple song but keep the swing strong." -de la soul
"think straight, keep a clean plate." -joanna newsom
"keep a clean nose, watch the plain-clothes." -bob dylan
"keep your feet warm, but keep your clothes on." -harry nilsson
"it took me about three or four weeks to toilet train my cat, nightlife. most of the time is spent moving the box very gradually to the bathroom." -charles mingus
"she had a chihuahua named carlos that had some kind of skin disease and was totally blind." -tom waits
"you can't hold the hand of a rock 'n' roll man." -joni mitchell
"think about something else. was art tatum talented?" - shoot the piano player
"hey there, hey now, well, you can make a pacemaker blink, easy thing, make a man's heart go bibbity bom. -john cale
"i’ve still got things inside me, sad things, happy things, that people don’t know about." -loretta lynn
"to try to maximize the relationship of listening to a record through promotion is like experiencing driving a car by reading about stimulus programs." -bonnie 'prince' billy
"after cheesecake with all of your friends and family, who's gonna front the bill? me... say you want to take first-class trips, well i want to work those first-class hips. yes i do." -r. kelly
"too much cheesecake too soon, old money's better than new" -roxy music
"my mother used to tell me about vibrations. to think that invisible feelings, invisible vibrations existed scared me to death." -brian wilson
"i'm an idiot for you." -iggy pop
"i mean every letter in the words in the sentences of my quotes." -lil' wayne
"lyrics choochoo from my mouth like locomotion." - pato banton
"i'm going to boogie my scruples away." -lowell george
"i drive a rolls-royce, cause it's good for my voice." -t.rex
"i'm dealing in rock and roll. i'm not a bonafide human being." -phil spector
"phil approached me with a bottle of kosher red wine in one hand and a .45 in the other, put his arm around my shoulder and shoved the revolver into my neck and said, 'leonard, i love you.' i said, 'i hope you do, phil.'" -leonard cohen
"they’d whisper at each other and look at phil and whisper at each other. finally this lady, tanked, comes over to phil and says, 'alright, sonny, what’s your problem?' and he said, 'premature ejaculation, what’s yours?'" -tom wolfe
"he's got a mind like a sewer, and a heart like a fridge" -elvis costello
"i bite my nails and if that fails i go get myself stoned, but when i do i think of you and head myself back home." -gram parsons
"i would say groucho marx, to name one thing, and willie mays, and the second movement of the jupiter symphony, and louis armstrong’s recording of potatohead blues, swedish movies, naturally. sentimental education by flaubert, marlon brando, frank sinatra, those incredible apples and pears by cézanne, the crabs at sam wo’s, tracy’s face." -woody allen
"where have you been all my life?" -emmylou harris, to my brother tommy
"he had a huge room with nothing in it except this huge vast hammond organ, right next door to the police." -david bowie
brian eno songs that will make good book titles for my 10-volume memoir, in order: here he comes, baby's on fire, golden hours, brutal ardour, taking tiger mountain, events in dense fog, through hollow lands, some of them are old, everything merges with the night, dead finks don’t talk
ry cooder albums that every man should own: into the purple valley, boomer's story, paradise and lunch
"really, we don't want people twiddling their goatees over our stuff." -radiohead
thelonious monk's middle name: sphere
#1 song on the white album (tie): long long long, happiness is a warm gun
"the only word is love." -john lennon
"i love songs about horses, railroads, land, judgment day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. and mother. and god." -johnny cash
"i could even find it in my heart to love mike love." -belle & sebastian
"the moon is clear, the sky is bright, i'm happy as the horse's shite." -the pogues
"i hope that you all out there, young, old, tall, short, fat or thin, quick or slow, no matter what kind or color or shape or person you are, if you like to make music, why, go ahead.” -pete seeger
"chuck berry isn't merely the greatest of the rock and rollers, or rather, there's nothing mere about it. say rather that unless we can somehow recycle the concept of the great artist so that it supports chuck berry as well as it does marcel proust, we might as well trash it." -robert christgau
mashable.com says about us: "you can expect the unexpected with this awesome gem. groovy." 33 1/3 says: "it's nice to have someone steer me in a more worthwhile direction." others say: "pulitzer."
download albums, see album covers, photos, posters, quotes & 'staches
the olden days: 2008 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 2009 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 2010 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 2011 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 2012 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o.
make a tumblr!
1960s on mon
1970s on tues
1980s on wed
1990s on thurs
2000s on fri
i'm a reporter at bloomberg news, here's some work
my email & twitter
ft. the beatles, aretha franklin, neil young, dr. dre, serge gainsbourg, duke ellington, the kinks, jimi hendrix, pavement, the clash, smog, the smiths, al green, the rolling stones, cat power, dusty springfield, yo la tengo, antony, wilco, elvis, talking heads, elliott smith, r.e.m., ray charles, velvet underground, otis redding, the monochrome set, randy newman, the cure, gillian welch, queen, stevie wonder & more
"mtv makes me want to smoke crack." -beck
see the archives & a random post
"i just happen to be here, and it's okay." -caetano veloso
"sing a simple song but keep the swing strong." -de la soul
"think straight, keep a clean plate." -joanna newsom
"keep a clean nose, watch the plain-clothes." -bob dylan
"keep your feet warm, but keep your clothes on." -harry nilsson
"it took me about three or four weeks to toilet train my cat, nightlife. most of the time is spent moving the box very gradually to the bathroom." -charles mingus
"she had a chihuahua named carlos that had some kind of skin disease and was totally blind." -tom waits
"you can't hold the hand of a rock 'n' roll man." -joni mitchell
"think about something else. was art tatum talented?" - shoot the piano player
"hey there, hey now, well, you can make a pacemaker blink, easy thing, make a man's heart go bibbity bom. -john cale
"i’ve still got things inside me, sad things, happy things, that people don’t know about." -loretta lynn
"to try to maximize the relationship of listening to a record through promotion is like experiencing driving a car by reading about stimulus programs." -bonnie 'prince' billy
"after cheesecake with all of your friends and family, who's gonna front the bill? me... say you want to take first-class trips, well i want to work those first-class hips. yes i do." -r. kelly
"too much cheesecake too soon, old money's better than new" -roxy music
"my mother used to tell me about vibrations. to think that invisible feelings, invisible vibrations existed scared me to death." -brian wilson
"i'm an idiot for you." -iggy pop
"i mean every letter in the words in the sentences of my quotes." -lil' wayne
"lyrics choochoo from my mouth like locomotion." - pato banton
"i'm going to boogie my scruples away." -lowell george
"i drive a rolls-royce, cause it's good for my voice." -t.rex
"i'm dealing in rock and roll. i'm not a bonafide human being." -phil spector
"phil approached me with a bottle of kosher red wine in one hand and a .45 in the other, put his arm around my shoulder and shoved the revolver into my neck and said, 'leonard, i love you.' i said, 'i hope you do, phil.'" -leonard cohen
"they’d whisper at each other and look at phil and whisper at each other. finally this lady, tanked, comes over to phil and says, 'alright, sonny, what’s your problem?' and he said, 'premature ejaculation, what’s yours?'" -tom wolfe
"he's got a mind like a sewer, and a heart like a fridge" -elvis costello
"i bite my nails and if that fails i go get myself stoned, but when i do i think of you and head myself back home." -gram parsons
"i would say groucho marx, to name one thing, and willie mays, and the second movement of the jupiter symphony, and louis armstrong’s recording of potatohead blues, swedish movies, naturally. sentimental education by flaubert, marlon brando, frank sinatra, those incredible apples and pears by cézanne, the crabs at sam wo’s, tracy’s face." -woody allen
"where have you been all my life?" -emmylou harris, to my brother tommy
"he had a huge room with nothing in it except this huge vast hammond organ, right next door to the police." -david bowie
brian eno songs that will make good book titles for my 10-volume memoir, in order: here he comes, baby's on fire, golden hours, brutal ardour, taking tiger mountain, events in dense fog, through hollow lands, some of them are old, everything merges with the night, dead finks don’t talk
ry cooder albums that every man should own: into the purple valley, boomer's story, paradise and lunch
"really, we don't want people twiddling their goatees over our stuff." -radiohead
thelonious monk's middle name: sphere
#1 song on the white album (tie): long long long, happiness is a warm gun
"the only word is love." -john lennon
"i love songs about horses, railroads, land, judgment day, family, hard times, whiskey, courtship, marriage, adultery, separation, murder, war, prison, rambling, damnation, home, salvation, death, pride, humor, piety, rebellion, patriotism, larceny, determination, tragedy, rowdiness, heartbreak and love. and mother. and god." -johnny cash
"i could even find it in my heart to love mike love." -belle & sebastian
"the moon is clear, the sky is bright, i'm happy as the horse's shite." -the pogues
"i hope that you all out there, young, old, tall, short, fat or thin, quick or slow, no matter what kind or color or shape or person you are, if you like to make music, why, go ahead.” -pete seeger
"chuck berry isn't merely the greatest of the rock and rollers, or rather, there's nothing mere about it. say rather that unless we can somehow recycle the concept of the great artist so that it supports chuck berry as well as it does marcel proust, we might as well trash it." -robert christgau
mashable.com says about us: "you can expect the unexpected with this awesome gem. groovy." 33 1/3 says: "it's nice to have someone steer me in a more worthwhile direction." others say: "pulitzer."
download albums, see album covers, photos, posters, quotes & 'staches
the olden days: 2008 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 2009 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 2010 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 2011 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o. n. d. 2012 j. f. m. a. m. j. j. a. s. o.
make a tumblr!
#989: ace frehley - new york groove (1978)
one of the great mysteries of american history is why kiss pretends they’re playing along to new york groove here in the video, when everyone knew it was from one of those four solo albums that each member of kiss made in 1978.
they were all released on the same day, featuring different bands of studio musicians with sad and un-kiss-like names like allan schwartzberg and steve buslowe. gene simmons also had cher, joe perry, janis ian—janis ian!—and something called the citrus college singers on his.
were he, paul stanley and peter criss so upset about ace frehley having this shimmering and sparkle-eyed song to himself that they insisted on being in the video, pretending to play? or did ace hire impersonators to lend the video weight? it’s own of america’s profound, intractable enigmas and no one will ever know.
#987: bob marley & the wailers - rastaman chant (1973, rehearsals)
bob marley’s rastaman chant has regained its position as the world’s best chant now that fireman ed, leader of the nfl’s famous “j-e-t-s jets jets jets,” has publicly resigned from his position via a metro op-ed.
#984: the boys next door (nick cave & the birthday party) - these boots were made for walking (1978)
it was the poet rimbaud or mtv founder bob pittman who said that all you need for a good nancy sinatra cover song and an accompanying video are polka dots, fury, eye shadow, broken hearts, magic marker, genius, obscure australian opiates, and practice.
#978: elvis costello - live at rockpalast(1978)
here’s how to spend the next 45 minutes of your life: watching elvis costello play 13 songs* from the era that followed working in an office next to a lipstick factory, printing out invoices for lady mustache waxes when he wasn’t writing songs for his first album next to an empty instant coffee tin. after that he used his my aim is true advance money to buy back the records he’d sold to pawn shops.
then came 1978, when, according to the best series of liner notes ever written, nick lowe helped him make songs that sounded like dinosaurs eating cars, so magazines put his four eyes in its rock pin-up pages. that was before his life staggered into wooziness and gas-station candy diets and racist slurs to stephen stills outside of a holiday inn in ohio.
1978 was the year elvis costello had a mullet in germany, and you should watch it all.
*mystery dance, waiting for the end of the world, lip service, two little hitlers, the beat, night rally, this year’s girl, no action, (i don’t want to go to) chelsea, lipstick vogue, watching the detectives, pump it up & you belong to me
#975: jean knight - mr. big stuff (soul train, 1971)
the edna turnblad of stax records’ one hit wonders. a stone gas, the late don would have said.
#973: randy newman - political science (1972, old grey whistle test)
i believe this is the most important statement about u.s. policy since sail away, and if you’d think i’d joke about randy newman songs on this of all days, debate night, then you’d also think this version of political science is better than the one on the album with an orchestra. randy newman should host a debate and play interludes.
#971: procol harum - repent walpurgis (pop2, 1971)
friends and strangers! jews and gentiles! sinners and innocents! follow the advice of these mustachioed goy prog rockers and repent—but ignore the part about walpurgis, which as far as i can tell is a reference to the ancient northern walpurgisnacht, the wrong holiday in the wrong season with definitely the wrong vibe. gut tontif, good yom tov, and most of all gut yahntiv.
#968: randy newman - i think it’s going to rain today (1971, bbc)
randy newman is in the news today, which is never a bad thing. his new song, which lampoons racist fury about the white house, is good enough to forgive it for being a satirical little ditty whose chorus and title are bad bing crosby jokes. and because randy newman is one of fifteen people currently living who cannot be faulted, no one should point out that he’s already written songs from inside the cranial cavities of american racists (sail away) and xenophobes (political science) and rednecks (rednecks, from good old boys, which i would like to make into a musical), that aren’t just funnier, they’re terrifying and sublime.
instead of worrying about those details, and for something even more topical, listen to the windy storm tonight while watching our hero sing about rain — his other profoundly great subject. in a song that describes gray streaks, broken windows, empty hallways, stylish scarecrows, frozen smiles, chased-away love and kicked cans, “human kindness is overflowing” stands out as the saddest line. and that is why we love him.
#966: the move - beautiful daughter (1970)
unbeatable mustaches, possible ancient-sanskrit undertones, a sunburst acoustic guitar, and on the original recording an introductory field recording with the line “do you like reggae? it’s my music,” which my dad used to say to me over and over. what more you could ask from the band that would become electric light orchestra, i honestly don’t know.
#964: neil young - star of bethlehem (1974, live)
there are two song subjects: love that’s there and love that’s not. the first is sunshine in the month of may and babies and walking together and vibrations and excitations, rivers and rainbows, dawn and dew. the second is love that was taken away forever, or at least a little while, because of babies who said goodbye and left frying pans too wide.
i’m sorry to say there are songs that are even sadder, the ones about love that never started in the first place—less devastating but more unsettling than songs about real love lost. and then the most brutal of all, the songs that aren’t just about agony but can cause it, don’t care if a romance is lasting, or gone, or if it never even existed: these are the love songs that don’t believe in love at all, and have tried to and failed.
their saving grace is that they usually have emmylou harris singing harmony. you may not believe in anything, friends, but you can believe in her.
#955: aretha franklin - share your love with me (live in montreux, 1971)
footage of singing that could make grown men ill, and shouts that heal the sick.
#954: emmylou harris - blue kentucky girl (1979)
how could you not be very fond of the nation that gave us emmylou harris? just think, who’re the first five terrific people who come to mind? they’re matt groening, janet malcolm, thomas jefferson, stanley kubrick and walt “clyde” frazier, aren’t they? and guess what, they’re all from the united states of america! happy birthday, beautiful.
#948: the kinks - alcohol (1972, beat club)
a very special sunday p.s.a from the super groovy spectacular and the davies family: after many renowned brooklyn cantors with names like moshe koussevitzky, but before radiohead’s life in a glass house, the kinks brought along a clarinet and a little brass section to get across their message—a very important message about sin, gin, demons, floozies, indecision, lags, suckers, gutters and trouble. clarinets make everything realer, just like ray davies’ gap teeth.
#943: roxy music - editions of you (1973)
a lot of people have read john milton’s paradise lost, which is excellent, but fewer have continued on to the even better sequel, paradise regained. so they don’t know the part where brian eno floats down and plays a synthesizer solo with feathers rising up from his shoulders. and then just when you think it’s all over, he sings harmony for bryan ferry: “don’t play yourself for a fool, too much cheesecake too soon,” he says, and stands. “old money’s better than new! no mention in the latest tribune! don’t let this happen to you!”
