max abelson's super groovy music video spectacular

#836: serge gainsbourg - new york u.s.a. (no. 1) (1964)

i have nothing against the continuing crop of think pieces about new york in the decade since 9/11 (and i really mean that, like for example i adore peter w. kaplan’s essay), but it would be lovely if the internet shut down for a day so everyone could watch serge gainsbourg’s two music videos for the song he wrote about new york city two years before the world trade center’s 1966 groundbreaking, on repeat.

see the other new york u.s.a. video here.

#832: gza & wavves - liquid swords (2011)

wavves playing with 1995’s most interesting rapper and later getting “walked out by security because of screaming girl fans!” in summer of 2011 is the new wavves playing with 2007’s most interesting r&b producer and publicly insulting the new york observer in summer of 2010. remember summer ‘10? mem-o-ries.

#778: smif-n-wessun ft. raekwon - black trump (1998)

“i have always had a great relationship with the blacks” - donald trump, 2011

“then why does black trump not mention you by name outside of the title?” - raekwon, 1998.

#777: iggy pop - real wild child (from blah-blah-blah) (1986, the late show)

“i think we’re ignoring a far more fundamental question. nbc in its promotional material is referring to the facts of life: down under as a movie. isn’t it, in fact, a movie-length t.v. show?” says gerard mulligan. “any thoughts on that, iggy?” says david letterman. “well, i think gerard is being a bit dogmatic. what about mchale’s navy joins the air force? there was batman,” says iggy pop. “munster, go home!” says david letterman. ”munster, go home!, exactly,” says iggy pop. 

the good thing about watching old clips of letterman with iggy pop is that the host reminds me of former new york observer editor peter w. kaplan. also maybe more importantly iggy pop just really seems like a great human being, even on lesser late night t.v. programs.

and speaking of blah-blah-blah, here is my bloomberg profile of the century foundation, the think tank where j. robert oppenheimer and arthur schlesinger and franklin d. roosevelt’s pals used to hang out and come up with social security and stock market regulation. it now has lots of fun wall street people on its board—like the vice chairman of citibank, for example—who don’t particularly mind that it’s gone steadily downhill: “would i like for the century foundation to be more influential and blah-blah-blah?” trustee bradley abelow said. he’s the former head of operations at goldman sachs, and state treasurer of new jersey. “sure! would I like to be 6-foot-5 and blonde? maybe. i’d like everything i do to be more impactful and be more successful.” 

the story’s also got the full scoop on a century-sponsored dinner with tea-smoked quail, if you’re into fine details like that.

#735: the walker brothers - the sun ain’t gonna shine anymore (1966)

late january is just the right time to listen to songs so wintry they’ve got the season’s name in the title. scott walker’s winter night, which i’ve always thought of as a sort of weather-focused sequel to the sun ain’t gonna shine anymore, toes the line between heavenliness and the ice-rink music that plays on those sunday afternoon nbc figure skating tv programs i like to watch alone in my torn pajamas, with the volume turned way up, sobbing quietly.

i also appreciate winters love from animal collective’s sung tongs, but not winter wonder land from strawberry jam, mostly because i’m disappointed it’s not the same song darlene love sings on phil spector’s a christmas gift for you from philles records. the belle and sebastian b-side winter wooskie is only manageable if you’re in the mood to listen to a belle and sebastian b-side called winter wooskie. gillian welch’s winter’s come and gone is the best song about blackbirds that isn’t blackbird, but it’s still too early in the year to listen to it.

and as it happens, gillian reagan at capital new york put together a list of 37 other wintery songs by asking locals for some good low-fahrenheit music to diagnose and cure january doldrums. there are former observer writers like me and zachary woolfe, joe pompeo, jonathan liu and tom mcgeveran (hi guys!), but also my new bloomberg colleague devin leonard, plus real all-around swell gents like nick sylvester and joe “shots” coscarelli. read it and not weep.

#715: novos bainos - preta pretinha (1973)

the reaction to my news about bloomberg and the observer could not have been more generous—it’s enough to warm the heart on this very cold new york december afternoon. thank you very much, everyone. truly, without exaggerating, it’s made me nearly as smiley as the guy from novos bainos who plays the brazilian ukulele or whatever it is in this preta pretinha clip. please enjoy.

#706: beastie boys - hey ladies (1989)

there’s a certain point at which every man who’s honest with himself and others has to just throw up his hands and admit once and for all that michael “mike d” diamond is the greatest star that 20th century music videos ever knew. his only shortcoming is that he is not, as widely believed, at least by me for much if not at all of the 1990s, related to dustin “screech” diamond. the latter, incidentally, was the subject of the first profile i wrote for choire sicha’s transom column in the observer after graduating from college in 2006. the piece, “screech grown up; in trouble; well hung,” is available here.  

#699: little feat - willin’ (1977, live)

when i was writing this morning’s obituary for credit suisse investment bank chairman paul calello, i was very happy to hear from both his brother-in-law alex gibney and his neighbor larry rockefeller (john d.’s greatgrandson) that mr. calello and his friends and family really liked sitting around singing little feat and john prine songs. the world is a funny place. mr. calello is dead at 49.

#695: elliott smith - thirteen (big star) (1996)

i have caught my first flu of the year, but am really doing my best to fight back to health with multilayered sweaters, saxondale, those oversized cans of trader joe’s soup, an inhuman quantity of tap water, and gobs of emotional mid-90s acoustic guitar.

please take a gander at my cover story in this morning’s new york observer, which is about where the financial crisis-era wall street executives are now. (still on wall street, is the answer). “have you ever noticed,” the chairman of citigroup, richard d. parsons, explained, “that in the nfl, or in the nba, or in major league baseball, this guy was a failure at cleveland, and then he becomes the coach in houston? these guys just move around from one team to another. why is that? because there isn’t a very deep pool of skilled talent that exists. and so, too, for a lot of financial stuff: not everybody who’s walking up and down fifth avenue at noon is capable of running a derivatives book. it takes a certain amount of skill and knowledge to be in that business.”