2 for 40.

When I woke up this morning, the first thing I did after I got out of the shower was play the following two songs on my turntable. They are each significant in their ways to me, and were symbolic of my turning the big 4-0 today.

The first selection, Abba’s big career-launching Eurovision hit “Waterloo”, was the first 45rpm record I ever latched onto at the early age of 2. I played the utter merde out of that record, wearing out/warping/breaking/losing copy and after copy much to my family’s chagrin. There’s one family favorite story of me having an utter melt-down when a freshly acquired copy was irretrievably lost behind a restaurant booth, while then-current Governor of CT Ella Grasso was seated at the table across from us. My poor dad…at least he took it in stride.

Thanks Abba, for letting my family know just how gay I was from such an early age.

And did you see the first of their iconic outfits? Agnetha is just killing it with her satin coat, shocking blue pants tucked into gold boots and matching hat, while Frida looks like she gave birth to both Jane Fonda’s hairdo and Dolly Parton’s western outfit for the film “9 To 5”. And is that choker the inspiration for the gem that changes colors in the hands of those in “Logan’s Run”? If she happened to be standing outside in a field it looks as if the sun would start fires just by reflecting off of it, causing a laser-beam of doom.

Poor Björn, called “Born” by the announcer. (Also notice he’s miming playing a guitar, that sounds acoustic on the track, with one that looks like it was stolen from -or by- Ace Frehley from KISS.) I suppose he had the last laugh, selling billions of albums. Having Napoleon there was a nice touch.

The second selection is from 2012, and is currently getting some buzz. It’s by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, featuring Mary Lambert and it’s called “Same Love”. It’s nice to see a straight hip hop artist who’s bucking the trend and putting out honesty-filled songs rather than the usual empty boasting. It’s a song for marriage equality, and it has an incredibly moving and lovely video:

SubPop put out a limited picture disc 7″ of the song, which now adorns the wall in my kitchen. I take it down periodically to play, and today seemed a pretty fitting opportunity. It’s part of where I currently am in my own journey of life, headed unknown into the future…as well as to the next record, of course. That selection is usually the easier decision to make.

It’s never to early to learn how to strike a pose.

For those thinking about going to see Madonna live: just watch this and donate the money to charity.

One in a Million Girl

I’ve written before about Amanda Palmer — another muse of mine. Today she did something remarkable that has to be shared.

After leaving her record label a few years ago, the Dresden Dolls front-woman went into manic DIY mode, releasing music via web-based donate-what-you-will methods, touring like crazy and using twitter to score places to stay and food to eat. All the while raising and recruiting an army of listeners who were tired of the same old “music industry churn”, who were interested in a more direct way to engage with the artist – not just as listener or random concert-goer, but as an investor and participant in the artistic process.

And the result of this interactive, “do what you love and the money will follow” method?

Today, with a few days to go in her Kickstarter Campaign to finance her next album, she exceeded the One Million Dollar mark. In true style, she marked the moment with a tweeted photo of her nude and proud self (NSFW).

If the artistic vision entices you – or just the nude photo – head on over to her Kickstarter page before midnight on May 31st and become a part of the benefactor throng.

*Lastly, for our NYC Readers (that’s you, Jungalero and Funkschnecke!) Amanda and her band will be celebrating the close of the Kickstarter Campaign Thursday, May 31st at midnight with a street-closing, police present-ing block party and rooftop concert at a currently undisclosed location in Brooklyn (and webcast at www.partyontheinternet.com)  No doubt her twitter feed will reveal all in due time.

R.I.P Donna, R.I.P. FNX

First – word that Donna Summer has died.

“On the Radio” was the first album I ever owned.  I played it over and over, until the songs entered my dreams (including my nightmares….The song below I still associate with some creepy dream I can’t even remember now). It’s interesting to look at modern music, Gaga/Madonna/Brittany electropop, and think that Donna’s disco-era output paved the way for synth-beats we’ve come to know and love from countless artists, from those pop starts to Robyn, Kylie, Depeche Mode and more. Love disco or hate it, Donna Summer opened a door that many others walked through and made their own.

Second – word yesterday that Boston Alternative Rock Station 101.7, WFNX, has been sold to clear channel. All of the radio staff, including DJ greats like Julie Cramer, were laid off almost instantaneously.

The anvil drops on the last New England vestige of a world in which the term “alternative” meant something. For those of us who grew up in the region looking to find our music, FNX served many and lead to my own discoveries of Siouxsie and the Banshees, Cocteau Twins, Cure, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails….the list goes on and on. The music industry moves to cannibalize quality once again, leaving in its wake garbage (not to be confused with Garbage, who I also discovered through FNX).

Fortunately the rights to all historical media, recordings and events are held by the former owner, Phoenix Communications – so WFNX may live beyond the airwaves, perhaps in some online form. Until then, however, we mourn the only way we know how – by sharing this video, who’s song WFNX referenced as the song of the year for about 10 years running.

Try a Little Administrative Professionals Day

Well, the holidays just keep rolling, with this week being Administrative Professionals Week (apparently a day wasn’t enough to honor our frontline workforce). For years Jungalero and I have honored this day, often by gifting each other something completely ridiculous, or simply calling it out with kitsch.

What better way this year than to bring this classic back to the fore. Jungalero, I’ll give you Dolly if I can be Lilly, we’ll let Funkschnecke cover Jane.

 

Brother and Sister in Space

“I believe this video sums up what the internet is about.”

The comment thread for this YouTube video had me literally crying with laughter; it’s where the quote above comes from. As commenter scizoskotty21 also notes there, “they’re poking fun at the Madonna ‘‘lazy” videos she normally shits out with the third or fourth singles from her album.” If that’s the case, it’s brilliant.

A Take on Take On…Me

Life in reverse (with lots of water and balls)

Such a simple concept, but this is undeniably fun. I rewound this many times to see parts more than once (or twice….or three times….) and while there are too many fun moments to single out, I will give a special shout-out to the “viking”. You made me laugh out loud. Cheers.

And kudos for using “Brazil”. I’ll always love any version of that song thanks to the film of the same name.

Found on Towleroad.com.

Dancing in deep water

Quite a few times we’ve gone to see a band at at show and an opening act that I’ve never heard of totally blows me away, often stealing the show from the main act. This happened, back in the day, when P J Harvey opened for David J at a small venue in Chicago. And again, the earth’s orbit shifted when Elliott Smith opened for the Tindersticks around the time of Good Will Hunting (although, for me, NO one could steal the show from the Tinderstick back then)

Recently we saw the band Peggy Sue open for a band we wanted to see. We were completely seduced by Peggy Sue’s intertwining vocals, their strong rapport with a relatively sparse audience, their coolness and humor in the face of technical mishap, and especially their captivating musicianship. They bring a blend of dark brooding rock and tribal/folk music and what seems like a myriad of other influences with lyrics that feel honest, a bit raw and provocative. I wished so badly that they had been the main act and allowed to play longer… Thus I’ve listened to nothing but Peggy Sue since that show.