What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Middle-aged Dummies are back and bursting at the "themes" to get going! Full theme ahead! (3 Viewers)

As I was scrolling upthread, I noticed that somebody guessed "Kourtney Kardashian" for the Mystery Theme. That's inspired shenanigans right there. I don't know why, but I did a double take and

:lmao:

Then I thought of the weirdness with her and Lamar Odom (was that Kourtney or Khloe?) and after that I just sort of sat there, trying to figure out which sister was which (refused to Google it) and then I snapped out of it saying "Slava Ukraine" or something like it. Man, I have nothing profound to say other than we live in weird times.

eta* Does Khlöe have an umlaut? Which letter is it over (I refuse to Google that, too)?
That was my guess. I thought for sure I had it since she dated Travis Scott and went to school in Arizona. I still think I’m right.
 
Lake Shore Drive orients you to the city. I was so used to "water to the East" from my years of living here, that when we moved to Memphis, where the water (Mississippi River) was on the West, I was constantly lost until I mentally flipped my map of Memphis over. Instead of adapting to the idea that the water could be to the West, I flipped the entire city around in my head so that I could orient myself with water on the East.

Nice anecdote. I'd get so confused about "water to the East" and which way and what that meant that I'd be lost in a heartbeat. I have a staggeringly bad sense of direction and require many maps and much hand-holding by GPS to go anywhere. I cannot orient myself around rivers or natural landmarks. Good thing I never tried to be a Boy Scout or whatever the older version of that is. If you asked me to mentally flip a city in my head? Oh my.

I think I've just revealed the only weakness I have (lol) right now for your consumption. Treat me gently.
@Yo Mama needs to work this into one of his World’s Worst Superheroes writeups.
Nowhere man?
 
Lake Shore Drive orients you to the city. I was so used to "water to the East" from my years of living here, that when we moved to Memphis, where the water (Mississippi River) was on the West, I was constantly lost until I mentally flipped my map of Memphis over. Instead of adapting to the idea that the water could be to the West, I flipped the entire city around in my head so that I could orient myself with water on the East.

Nice anecdote. I'd get so confused about "water to the East" and which way and what that meant that I'd be lost in a heartbeat. I have a staggeringly bad sense of direction and require many maps and much hand-holding by GPS to go anywhere. I cannot orient myself around rivers or natural landmarks. Good thing I never tried to be a Boy Scout or whatever the older version of that is. If you asked me to mentally flip a city in my head? Oh my.

I think I've just revealed the only weakness I have (lol) right now for your consumption. Treat me gently.
@Yo Mama needs to work this into one of his World’s Worst Superheroes writeups.
Nowhere man?
Actually, I think Lost Boy works best here.
 
kupcho1 – rain

It's Raining Again – Supertramp
Despite @Eephus spotlighting this song earlier in the countdown, I hope everyone has been enjoying the mix of artists I've pulled together for the rain theme.
The last few (counting down from #10 - #5):
  • Eurythmics
  • Neil Sedaka
  • The Temptations
  • Eddie Rabbitt
  • Blind Melon
  • Albert Hammond
Now we have Supertramp with a very saxy opening (I hope I didn't steal any @shuke thunder).

Make sure you catch the brief "it's raining, it's pouring" riff during the instrumental at 2:20. They revisit it with a children's chorus at 3:45, but the foreshadow it earlier in the song.

From powerpopblog:
Roger Hodgson: I wrote It’s Raining Again on a day when I was feeling sad because I’d lost a friend. I was in England looking outside the window and it was pouring rain and literally, the song came to me. I started playing these chords on this pump organ and I just started singing It’s Raining Again.

The first version of it was much slower and more melancholy and then when I recorded it with Supertramp I decided to increase the tempo and it was more upbeat. So it’s another of my songs with a sad lyric set to up upbeat melody.
You're old enough some people say
To read the signs and walk away
It's only time that heals the pain
And makes the sun come out again
 
Lake Shore Drive orients you to the city. I was so used to "water to the East" from my years of living here, that when we moved to Memphis, where the water (Mississippi River) was on the West, I was constantly lost until I mentally flipped my map of Memphis over. Instead of adapting to the idea that the water could be to the West, I flipped the entire city around in my head so that I could orient myself with water on the East.

Nice anecdote. I'd get so confused about "water to the East" and which way and what that meant that I'd be lost in a heartbeat. I have a staggeringly bad sense of direction and require many maps and much hand-holding by GPS to go anywhere. I cannot orient myself around rivers or natural landmarks. Good thing I never tried to be a Boy Scout or whatever the older version of that is. If you asked me to mentally flip a city in my head? Oh my.

I think I've just revealed the only weakness I have (lol) right now for your consumption. Treat me gently.
@Yo Mama needs to work this into one of his World’s Worst Superheroes writeups.
Maybe he'll tell to you to sit on a RItz.

I'm looking forward to this one. There are about twenty ways to go here.
I ended up going 100 different ways with it. Phew, that took over an hour to write up.
Takë it to thë pët pëëvës foldër, soldiër.
 
Last edited:
kupcho1 – rain

It's Raining Again – Supertramp
Despite @Eephus spotlighting this song earlier in the countdown, I hope everyone has been enjoying the mix of artists I've pulled together for the rain theme.
The last few (counting down from #10 - #5):

I'm going to need a ruling on whether posting that it's raining again when it resumed raining outside my house constitutes spotlighting.
 
4s

New Songs That Caught My Attention
Crashdiet: It's a Miracle
Mudhoney: Pokin' Around
Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark: Enola Gay (were they on an earlier playlist?)
Mary J. Blige: Family Affair
The New Cars: More
Big Wreck: Blown Wide Open
New Order: Dreams Never End

Known Songs
Frank Sinatra: My Way
Allman Brothers: Jessica
STP: Crackerman
Skid Row: 18 and Life
Simon & Garfunkel: The Sound of Silence
Radiohead: The National Anthem
U2: Hold Me, Thrill Me...
New Edition: Cool it Now
Sly & the Family Stone: Everyday People
Radiohead: Weird Fishes
Def Leppard: Photograph
Flock of Seagulls: I Ran (So Far Away)
Gun: Word Up
 
#4: MUDHONEY - POKIN' AROUND

I've been digging through the late 80s/early 90s bands leading up to the grunge explosion and punk of that era. Early Soundgarden, Bleach, Meat Puppets, Melvins, and that got me on Mudhoney. I am pretty sure the only song I knew of theirs was Freak Momma on the Judgement Night soundtrack. If I did, it certainly didn't stick and it all sounded new. Very dark sense of humor in the songs and I was surprised to see they were putting out albums as recent as 2023. All of the albums have been enjoyable, and I have the book Mud Ride: A Messy Trip Through the Grunge Explosion by Steve Turner at home waiting to be read soon. I chose Pokin' Around because I like the Dinosaur Jr feel the song had to it. It was one of the first songs that really made me want to start digging farther.

Recommended listening: Freak Momma is one of my favorites on that soundtrack, so I had to put that in the post. Superfuzz Bigmuff and Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge are obvious and great starting points for anybody else not familiar with Mudhoney. I also really liked a few of their recent albums, especially Vanishing Point. Their pov and sense of humor don't get much darker than on Digital Garbage. The back to back combo of Please Mr. Gunman and Kill Yourself Live is proof of that.



NEXT: The 70s band I thought I was going to do for part 4 before Journey took over.
 

Batman​

4 - U2 - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me​


Relevant Lyric - They want you to be Jesus
Now go down on one knee
But they want their money back
If you're alive at thirty-three
And you're turning tricks
With your crucifix
You're a star
Ooh child

Batman Vibe Score - 8/10 - U2 ride this one well and show a sense of fun

Where to Find - Batman Forever Soundtrack

Quick Hit Comment - A prescient comment about the fame industry ties up nicely with the Batman phenomenon.

Next Up - This song took 30 years to find a Batman film. But its use is stunning
 

Songs in D Minor - The Saddest Key of All​

4 - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Enola Gay​


Lyric - Enola Gay
Is mother proud of little boy today?
Ah-ha, this kiss you gives
It's never ever going to fade away

Source - https://musicstax.com/track/enola-gay/7bJSbd2Upa4iYVHlbRKEJm
https://tunebat.com/Info/Enola-Gay-Orchestral-Manoeuvres-In-The-Dark/3WIg3fd3W8I5HU8g3Y6P0k

Sadness Quotient - 11/11 - An atom bom causing mass human destruction songs arent meant to be light hearted

Comment - Apparently this plane is now considered homosexual in politics. Go figure.
OMD have many songs in D Minor, but this is by far their best.

Next Up - A song with many key changes, and a dickhead artist at the helm.
 
Hate to say it, but the #4s were a letdown for me after so many amazing playlists in a row. I did find a few new-to-me favorites, though! "Pokin' Around" by Mudhoney followed by "It's Not Easy" by Ofege was a fantastic sequence. Although I don't usually like straight country (no pun intended), I also really enjoyed George Strait's vocal on "Amarillo by Morning." :)
 
My #3 song is the last artist with a 4 in artist connection, but they ended up at #3 on the strength of a perfect 10 on song connection to Chicago.

I passed my #2 song on the street today and managed to snap a couple of pictures though I was driving.

My #1 is cheating. So sue me.
 
-OZ- - song / music moments from the Marvel cinematic universe

Family Affair - Mary J. Blige

I love this song, although its presence in Love and Thunder is CheesyAF. The movie wasn’t good, but if you relaxed and just let yourself go, it was fun at many times.

Call her the queen of R&B or hip hop soul, a 2024 rock and roll HoF inductee, Ms Blige is exceptional, and family affair is just a fun song.

Let's get it crunk upon
Have fun upon up in this dancery
We got ya'll open, now ya floatin'
So you gots to dance for me
Don't need no hateration, holleration
In this dancery
Let's get it perculatin' while you're waiting
So just dance for me
Come on everybody get on up
Cause you know we gots to get it crunk
Mary J. is in the spot tonight
And I'ma make you feel alright
(Make you feel alright)
Come on baby just party with me
Let loose and set your body free
Leave your situations at the door
So when you step inside, jump on the floor
Let's get it crunk upon
Have fun upon up In this dancery
We got ya'll open, now ya floatin'
So you gots to dance for me
Don't need no hateration, holleration
In this dancery
Let's get it perculatin' while you're waiting
So just dance for me
It's only gonna be about a matter of time
Before you get loose and start to lose your mind
Cop you a drink, go 'head and rock your ice
Cause we celebrating "No More Drama" in our life
With a Dre track pumpin', everybody's jumpin'


Next up - another bittersweet moment, with dancing.
 
World’s Worst Superheroes #4

Crackerman

Artist - Stone Temple Pilots (1992)

Strengths - Won an online contest by fitting a stack of 15 Ritz crackers in his mouth at one time without breaking any; honest to God, one time he was able to throw a cracker over the length of his house (he swears he could clear that nearby mountain if the wind was right but nobody believes him).

Weaknesses - While those cracker-related tricks can make you incredibly popular on a fake football message board, there is no practical use in real life.

Origin Story - One time in Jr High while he was showing off his best moves to Flock of Seagulls at the Spring Fling dance, one of his classmates pointed at him and yelled: “Check out Crackerman over there!” Everyone laughed and he left the dance in tears. The name stuck, so Crackerman ultimately leaned into the bit and learned all sorts of tricks with crackers to amuse his friends.


There Goes My Hero

Situation
- You spend an insanely inordinate amount of time on a message board with people you’ve never met who may or may not have ever played an imaginary form of football. Your family desperately needs you to be there for them in real life.

Day 1
You’re at your daughter’s piano recital, and during a particularly difficult section, you snicker audibly while looking at your phone and everyone looks at you angrily.

Your wife: “Shhhhhh! What are you laughing at anyway?”

You: [still looking at phone] “There’s this guy who looks like an old Steelers coach who found some poop in the ceiling of one of the bathrooms at work. You should read some of the funny things he’s doing to try to find the culprit.”

Your wife slaps the phone out of your hand and moves to another seat.

Day 2
Your son asks to use your laptop to do some homework.

Your son: “Hey dad, are you looking to buy mommy some exercise clothes? Is that what this page with a bunch of yoga pants is for?”

You: [quickly reaches over to close tab] “Uh yeah, you know how much your mom loves to exercise.”

Your son: “Why are you signed in to this Siberian dating site? Are you and mommy breaking up?”

You: [grabs laptop away from son] “No, no, of course not. See, there’s this funny online draft where we take turns choosing Russian brides. . . You know what, just use your mom’s computer.”

Day 3
You’re sitting at the dinner table with your family, but you haven’t touched your food and haven’t spoken a word for over an hour.

Your wife: “Is everything ok honey? You look upset. I thought things were going better since they shut down the politics page of your sportsy-talking website.”

You: [forming the mashed potatoes on your plate into the shape of a football] “Sorry, babe. I’ve just been arguing with people all day. There’s this guy in my TV draft who said Frasier is just a modern-day Three’s Company. And in my dangerous animal draft everyone disagrees with me that 10,000 rats would defeat two grizzly bears. And I’ve been adding up the words and letters in this mystery theme thing all week. I think I think too much.”

Day 0
You walk into your home after work (your stupid boss recently made you get your butt back in the office). Inside, you’re met by your entire family as well as a huge group of strange-looking people that you’ve never met.

Your wife: “Honey, come have a seat. We’re here to talk to you about your recent behavior. We all love you and need you in our lives.”

You: “What is this, an intervention of some kind?”

Your wife: “Yes dear, we’re all here for you. I even got some of your online friends to show up. There are people from Canada, Africa, New York, and some town in England here. There’s a guy with a new wave haircut and two guys with heavy metal hairdos. There’s a woman putting dots over all the vowels on our books and a woman with 500 cats with an I Love Trains t-shirt on (I’m not sure if she knows what that means). There’s a woman with a Chicago accent making everyone try to guess at the meaning of some riddle (I think everyone’s stopped paying attention to her a while ago). There’s a guy and his wife over there having an argument about the time she hooked up with a musician at a concert before the two of them met. There’s a guy watching Mad Men, a guy in a Thor costume, a guy playing video games, a guy hitting everything with mallets, and a guy looking at our stereo and shaking his head disappointingly at our setup. There’s a guy and his daughter. . . “

You: “Hey, it’s the dice guy who loves noodles! Roll man, roll man roll! How did you find everyone anyway?”

Your wife: “I sent a private message to the guy holding a saxophone over there and he had all the answers. There’s a bunch of other people here but I can’t think of anything funny to say about them right now and I think I’m getting close to my character limit (sorry if I left you out). Anyway, there’s someone really important to talk to you.”

Joe Bryant: “Crackerman, you most definitely have not been excellent to your family. I’m giving you a two month ban from our website. Have a nice offseason, guy.”

You: “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”
:laugh: :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

And then I learned that circa 1992 A Flock of Seagulls was relegated to playing Junior High events. 😪
 
#4: MUDHONEY - POKIN' AROUND

I've been digging through the late 80s/early 90s bands leading up to the grunge explosion and punk of that era. Early Soundgarden, Bleach, Meat Puppets, Melvins, and that got me on Mudhoney. I am pretty sure the only song I knew of theirs was Freak Momma on the Judgement Night soundtrack. If I did, it certainly didn't stick and it all sounded new. Very dark sense of humor in the songs and I was surprised to see they were putting out albums as recent as 2023. All of the albums have been enjoyable, and I have the book Mud Ride: A Messy Trip Through the Grunge Explosion by Steve Turner at home waiting to be read soon. I chose Pokin' Around because I like the Dinosaur Jr feel the song had to it. It was one of the first songs that really made me want to start digging farther.

Recommended listening: Freak Momma is one of my favorites on that soundtrack, so I had to put that in the post. Superfuzz Bigmuff and Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge are obvious and great starting points for anybody else not familiar with Mudhoney. I also really liked a few of their recent albums, especially Vanishing Point. Their pov and sense of humor don't get much darker than on Digital Garbage. The back to back combo of Please Mr. Gunman and Kill Yourself Live is proof of that.



NEXT: The 70s band I thought I was going to do for part 4 before Journey took over.
Shuke had no Mudhoney on his list?

That calls for a Crackerman-like intervention!
 
#4: MUDHONEY - POKIN' AROUND

I've been digging through the late 80s/early 90s bands leading up to the grunge explosion and punk of that era. Early Soundgarden, Bleach, Meat Puppets, Melvins, and that got me on Mudhoney. I am pretty sure the only song I knew of theirs was Freak Momma on the Judgement Night soundtrack. If I did, it certainly didn't stick and it all sounded new. Very dark sense of humor in the songs and I was surprised to see they were putting out albums as recent as 2023. All of the albums have been enjoyable, and I have the book Mud Ride: A Messy Trip Through the Grunge Explosion by Steve Turner at home waiting to be read soon. I chose Pokin' Around because I like the Dinosaur Jr feel the song had to it. It was one of the first songs that really made me want to start digging farther.

Recommended listening: Freak Momma is one of my favorites on that soundtrack, so I had to put that in the post. Superfuzz Bigmuff and Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge are obvious and great starting points for anybody else not familiar with Mudhoney. I also really liked a few of their recent albums, especially Vanishing Point. Their pov and sense of humor don't get much darker than on Digital Garbage. The back to back combo of Please Mr. Gunman and Kill Yourself Live is proof of that.



NEXT: The 70s band I thought I was going to do for part 4 before Journey took over.
Shuke had no Mudhoney on his list?

That calls for a Crackerman-like intervention!
It is a work in progress!!
 
World’s Worst Superheroes #4

Crackerman

Artist - Stone Temple Pilots (1992)

Strengths - Won an online contest by fitting a stack of 15 Ritz crackers in his mouth at one time without breaking any; honest to God, one time he was able to throw a cracker over the length of his house (he swears he could clear that nearby mountain if the wind was right but nobody believes him).

Weaknesses - While those cracker-related tricks can make you incredibly popular on a fake football message board, there is no practical use in real life.

Origin Story - One time in Jr High while he was showing off his best moves to Flock of Seagulls at the Spring Fling dance, one of his classmates pointed at him and yelled: “Check out Crackerman over there!” Everyone laughed and he left the dance in tears. The name stuck, so Crackerman ultimately leaned into the bit and learned all sorts of tricks with crackers to amuse his friends.


There Goes My Hero

Situation
- You spend an insanely inordinate amount of time on a message board with people you’ve never met who may or may not have ever played an imaginary form of football. Your family desperately needs you to be there for them in real life.

Day 1
You’re at your daughter’s piano recital, and during a particularly difficult section, you snicker audibly while looking at your phone and everyone looks at you angrily.

Your wife: “Shhhhhh! What are you laughing at anyway?”

You: [still looking at phone] “There’s this guy who looks like an old Steelers coach who found some poop in the ceiling of one of the bathrooms at work. You should read some of the funny things he’s doing to try to find the culprit.”

Your wife slaps the phone out of your hand and moves to another seat.

Day 2
Your son asks to use your laptop to do some homework.

Your son: “Hey dad, are you looking to buy mommy some exercise clothes? Is that what this page with a bunch of yoga pants is for?”

You: [quickly reaches over to close tab] “Uh yeah, you know how much your mom loves to exercise.”

Your son: “Why are you signed in to this Siberian dating site? Are you and mommy breaking up?”

You: [grabs laptop away from son] “No, no, of course not. See, there’s this funny online draft where we take turns choosing Russian brides. . . You know what, just use your mom’s computer.”

Day 3
You’re sitting at the dinner table with your family, but you haven’t touched your food and haven’t spoken a word for over an hour.

Your wife: “Is everything ok honey? You look upset. I thought things were going better since they shut down the politics page of your sportsy-talking website.”

You: [forming the mashed potatoes on your plate into the shape of a football] “Sorry, babe. I’ve just been arguing with people all day. There’s this guy in my TV draft who said Frasier is just a modern-day Three’s Company. And in my dangerous animal draft everyone disagrees with me that 10,000 rats would defeat two grizzly bears. And I’ve been adding up the words and letters in this mystery theme thing all week. I think I think too much.”

Day 0
You walk into your home after work (your stupid boss recently made you get your butt back in the office). Inside, you’re met by your entire family as well as a huge group of strange-looking people that you’ve never met.

Your wife: “Honey, come have a seat. We’re here to talk to you about your recent behavior. We all love you and need you in our lives.”

You: “What is this, an intervention of some kind?”

Your wife: “Yes dear, we’re all here for you. I even got some of your online friends to show up. There are people from Canada, Africa, New York, and some town in England here. There’s a guy with a new wave haircut and two guys with heavy metal hairdos. There’s a woman putting dots over all the vowels on our books and a woman with 500 cats with an I Love Trains t-shirt on (I’m not sure if she knows what that means). There’s a woman with a Chicago accent making everyone try to guess at the meaning of some riddle (I think everyone’s stopped paying attention to her a while ago). There’s a guy and his wife over there having an argument about the time she hooked up with a musician at a concert before the two of them met. There’s a guy watching Mad Men, a guy in a Thor costume, a guy playing video games, a guy hitting everything with mallets, and a guy looking at our stereo and shaking his head disappointingly at our setup. There’s a guy and his daughter. . . “

You: “Hey, it’s the dice guy who loves noodles! Roll man, roll man roll! How did you find everyone anyway?”

Your wife: “I sent a private message to the guy holding a saxophone over there and he had all the answers. There’s a bunch of other people here but I can’t think of anything funny to say about them right now and I think I’m getting close to my character limit (sorry if I left you out). Anyway, there’s someone really important to talk to you.”

Joe Bryant: “Crackerman, you most definitely have not been excellent to your family. I’m giving you a two month ban from our website. Have a nice offseason, guy.”

You: “NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!”
You're taking "Never meet your heroes" to a new level.
 
4. More
Artist: The New Cars
Album: It's Alive! (2006)
Todd's role(s): co-producer, co-writer, lead vocals, guitar
Writer(s): Todd Rundgren, Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes

The song: That's ... the Cars ... isn't it? So why is Todd Rundgren singing?

The Cars disbanded in 1987. Nearly 20 years later, despite the death of singer/bassist Ben Orr and lack of interest by singer/songwriter/guitarist Ric Ocasek, lead guitarist Elliott Easton and keyboardist Greg Hawkes (an old friend of wikkidpissah's) decided they wanted to work together again under the Cars name. They recruited Rundgren, whom Easton had worked with on Jules Shear's first solo album (#18 on my list), and Rundgren brought in his former Utopia bandmate Kasim Sulton on bass and his sometime collaborator Prairie Prince from the Tubes (he also played on XTC's Skylarking and a few of Todd's albums and tours) on drums. (Cars drummer David Robinson declined an offer to participate, saying he was retired.)

The main purpose of this venture was a "reunion" tour, but the band also went into the studio to record three tracks (two of which had Kenny Aronoff on drums instead of Prince). The best of these is "More," which has the churning guitar patterns found on many of the old Cars hits, and a swelling, harmony-heavy chorus, just like many Cars songs from the '80s and also like many of the Utopia songs from their new wave phase. It captures the new wave sounds of the '80s well -- especially in the second half when Hawkes' distinctive synth sounds come to the fore -- without coming off as cheesy.

The album: This is not a "serious work" -- Rundgren called it "an opportunity... for me to pay my bills, play to a larger audience, work with musicians I know and like, and ideally have some fun for a year." Ocasek gave his blessing because "I want Elliott and Greg to be happy" but told Stephen Colbert that he was putting Rundgren "on notice."

The vast majority of It's Alive is concert recordings featuring 12 Cars songs, two Rundgren songs ("I Saw the Light" and "Open My Eyes") and one new song (the single "Not Tonight"). Rundgren handled all the lead vocals except for the Ben Orr showcase "Drive," which was sung by Sulton.

The album ends with three new songs recorded in the studio with production credited to the entire band. (One would think Rundgren called most of the shots, given his experience with the producer role compared with the others.)

The critical consensus seemed to be that the project was cromulent. "It's not earth-shaking, but it's far better than nearly any other reunion of this kind," the allmusic.com review states. The record didn't move the public, selling less than 20,000 copies in its first 5 months of release. When the band returned to the road after a hiatus due to Easton breaking his collarbone, it played much smaller venues than the initial dates.

The New Cars played their last shows in 2007, but members worked together in various combinations after that. A Rundgren solo tour in 2009 included Hawkes, Prince and Sulton in his backing band; the following year, Prince and Sulton went on the road with Rundgren again. In 2010, the four surviving members of the Cars reunited for an album and tour; one wonders if the New Cars venture made Ocasek change perspective about his old material. And Rundgren and Sulton were part of a Utopia reunion tour in 2018.

You Might Also Like: "Not Tonight" appears twice on It's Alive, in live and studio forms. It's more self-consciously quirky than "More" -- and also seems to wink at two similarly titled Cars songs, "You're All I've Got Tonight" and "Tonight She Comes" -- but it too does a good job of replicating the '80s new wave thing, though the reference to a Blackberry in the lyrics dates it to the mid-00s. https://open.spotify.com/track/77ICoMA25MLKM8PHNWPyiS?si=0344590bc06345f7

At #3, the longest song that isn't prog or jazz/rock fusion on a Rundgren-related album.
 
4. My Way - Frank Sinatra

Well...whenever I'm really unsure about an idea, first I...I abuse the people whose help I need. And then I take a nap. - Don Draper, season 7, episode 6, The Strategy

Those of us who are more ignorant of the past than we realize didn't know that Frank's most enduring song was not recorded until 1968. Further, we didn't know that Paul Anka wrote it for Sinatra and ripped off the melody from a French song. Finally, we didn't know that Frank got the song done on the first take, or that it reached as high as #2 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart.

Besides referring to the impending pitch to Burger Chef, other 'strategies' were present in this episode:


1. When Bob learns he's been hired by Chevy to work for Buick, it's revealed that Chevy's strategy was always to leave SCDP once their work on the XP was what they wanted. Maybe this exchange between Pete Campbell and the visiting execs from Chevy was a bit of foreshadowing:

Pete (referring to their 'state of the art' computer: It's big and powerful and costs a fortune, but it can't make coffee.

Jack Flynn: They've got a computer twice that size working on the engine for the XP.

2. Megan's brief visit, as we'll learn soon if we haven't been able to read her body language correctly, is part of her long game of extricating herself from Don's life. This time, she only says "I miss my things" as an excuse for taking everything that she can on her flight without raising suspicion.

3. The scene in which the song appears happens because Peggy wanted Don to finally reveal to her his creative process in order to craft the perfect advertising strategy. It's a nice bookend to when we last saw them in this situation, the "that's what the money is for" scene two seasons earlier.

4. Though it doesn't pay off in this episode, we also see Jim Cutler in the early stages of his strategy to get rid of Don by landing a cigarette account.

5. We see a 'lack' of strategy when Bob Benson has to bail one of the Chevy execs out of jail. He confesses to Bob on the way back to his hotel that he doesn't have a problem with the law in Detroit: I've got that city wired. His lack of strategy for New York got him in trouble.

6. Finally, we see the reappearance of Jim Hobart, the shadowy nemesis boss of uber ad agency McCann-Erickson, who has been pursuing Don since the 9th episode of season 1. Jim's reappearacne now coincides with Bob Benson learning he's going to be hired by Buick, a client of McCann's. His interaction with Roger at the New York Athletic Club seems insignificant in the moment but pays off in the very next episde, which is also where our next song appears.
 
Shuke had no Mudhoney on his list?

I have a list of about 200 artists in the queue that I just need to spend some time finalizing my favorite song. Mudhoney is one of them. However I think this is the first one that KP has posted that is in my queue.

By the way, that 200 includes about 30 I've added from this thread, those are in addition to the ones I've already posted in the past few weeks.
 
Apologies for missing so much of this. Work has been insane. And I've been unable to keep up. The posts are fun. I just haven't had the ability to comment with any intelligence (I know, never stopped me before, I see you pip, calm down).
Ha! Most of that pertains to sports allegiances :wink:

Your former fantasy baseball league drafts today!
 
#, Please # 4
Song: 18 And Life
Artist: Skid Row
Year: 1989


(Official Music Video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghd2bkIadG4
(Live version) Skid Row - 18 and Life (Live at Wembley 1991)

4 Lines:
Tequila in his heartbeat,
his veins burned gasoline
It kept his motor runnin'
but it never kept him clean


Number Theory:

You know, some of the songs on this countdown I’m sure that many of you haven’t in ages (if at all). Though for this one I wouldn’t blame you if you felt like you just heard it a few days ago. But more seriously, as teased last time, I have a full crossover with Yambag, and nearly missed doubling up on Skid Row. Of course, my reference was from Youth Gone Wild (“Your Park Avenue leads to Skid Row), but still

This is another song where I don’t have to explain the number too much. 18 being the age of “adulthood”, and thus (usually) the minimum that people can be put in jail for life. Which, understandably, is a bit of what the song’s about. That and a kid (/young adult) trying to survive when his upbringing and area he lives in work against him.

Significant Digits:
Off album#: 1
Track #: 5
Charted as high as #4 U.S. Billboard Hot 100, #6 Canadian Singles, and #12 UK Singles

Artist crossover with other playlists: 32
(Known: 30) Up to 1 full crossover!


Next on the countdown, going down to single digits will take some work. I’ll better check my schedule.
 
Don Quixote – Afrobeat

It’s Not Easy (Spotify) - Ofege (Nigeria)
Ofege could qualify for the boy band list as well, as the band members were in high school when they recorded this album back in 1973. They were another band in the Nigerian fuzz rock scene, like Ofo the Black Company, The Funkees, and The Wrinkars Experience that have been on my list.

If you asked me to name a song that was high on my list on ones that motivated me to want to share a list like this, “It’s Not Easy” may have been the first that I’d name. I struggle just listening to “It’s Not Easy” once. Just something about the guitar and background vocals that makes me want to listen over and over again. Pitchfork’s review of Ofege’s Try and Love album includes this about the track:

Try and Love peaks on “It’s Not Easy,” the lone track with lyrics written by bassist Paul Alade. It’s one of those songs that never fails to stop time and launch you into a rapturous reverie. The mood is as languorous as Traffic’s “Dear Mr. Fantasy” or Bob Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay,” but it replaces the latter song’s grown-up creepiness with an adolescent’s doe-eyed earnestness and tenderness. The yearning beauty of the melody and the swaying, sighing backing vocals could move Jagger and Richards’ wild horses to tears. No wonder the song’s been licensed in four TV shows this decade. Perhaps the pinnacle of West African love balladry, “It’s Not Easy” is the anomalous, gooey center of an album that proved these young Nigerians could compete on rock’s world stage with the best that the West had to offer.

 
Last edited:
El Floppo – Mallet Rock

Swordfishtrombone - Tom Waits
#4

When I thought of this theme, Waits and this song were one of the 1st I immediately play listed for it.

Marimba is the lead melodic instrument, and is used to creat the whole vibe of the tune- but not in a jazzy (despite the musician being a jazz guy) or referential way. It's just pure Waits dive-bar carnival sound brought about by marimba.

I also play listed Clap Hands, love both, but felt the percussion/mallet use was so textured in that one I wanted to highlight the more simple and featured approach here
 
GTA #4 - It Was A Good Day - Ice Cube (Radio Los Santos, SA)

Radio Los Santos is probably the station that best typifies the story and soundtrack of the game, playing primarily contemporary West Coast hip-hop, hosted by IRL DJ Julio G. You get your NWA track as well as many solo efforts from its members, you get some Cypress Hill, you get some 2Pac, but the pick of the station is one of the calmer tracks on the playlist. Scientists have tried to work out which day this good day actually was, filtering down amongst other factors when Yo! MTV Raps aired, the Lakers beat the Supersonics, and when the Goodyear blimp was flying, alas it seems as if the day in question was purely apocryphal and/or just a combination of things that happened on various different days.

Up next at #3 we go to the only station we've not used yet
 
#4 songs

Zegras11 – New wave


I Ran (So Far Away) - A Flock Of Seagulls

And speaking of the unused station, this is the first track of Zegras' which is on it, and was additionally on my long list within the overall top 50. I'd have guessed more, but there was at least one track used which is on a different station so also had crossover potential, and there's still three tracks to go so who knows. That said, there's plenty of stuff that Zegras could use which would be anachronistic to Vice City so there's always going to be some stuff that'll be a swing and a miss
 
jwb – songs that sound great on a decent 2-channel system

The Sound of Silence (Acoustic Version) – Simon and Garfunkel

I chose the acoustic version of this because it's mixed better, with nothing to get in the way - Art is on your left, Paul on the right. And they sound amazing. There's not much to say - just give it a good deep listen and hear how great these two sounded together.
 
On that note, while this scene is one of the more memorable of the series, I think what gets overlooked is Jessica Pare's performance; Meagan is certainly beautiful, but she's also still very young, so her slightly awkward/less than smooth execution is perfect. In other words, Pare is just 'clumsy' enough to give a performance that a young but unpolished Meagan would deliver. It's the same kind of subtlety that Wikkid himself would ascribe to January Jones' performance as Betty Draper when everyone else was criticizing her.

I've watched through episode 8 of Season 5 (Tomorrow Never Knows was in that one), so I'm catching up on your write-ups. Agree with everything in this paragraph!

My watching has slowed not because Season 4 bored me, but because we turned to Season 2 of Severance now that all the episodes have run. Then I want to watch the third and fourth seasons of Slow Horses before I cancel Apple TV on April 15. :) I'll be back to this after watching those!

IMO Season 5 is much better than Season 4. Season 4 felt like one of those episodes of a show where they're setting up storylines for later, which are fine when it's just one episode but it seemed like most of the season.
 
On that note, while this scene is one of the more memorable of the series, I think what gets overlooked is Jessica Pare's performance; Meagan is certainly beautiful, but she's also still very young, so her slightly awkward/less than smooth execution is perfect. In other words, Pare is just 'clumsy' enough to give a performance that a young but unpolished Meagan would deliver. It's the same kind of subtlety that Wikkid himself would ascribe to January Jones' performance as Betty Draper when everyone else was criticizing her.

I've watched through episode 8 of Season 5 (Tomorrow Never Knows was in that one), so I'm catching up on your write-ups. Agree with everything in this paragraph!

My watching has slowed not because Season 4 bored me, but because we turned to Season 2 of Severance now that all the episodes have run. Then I want to watch the third and fourth seasons of Slow Horses before I cancel Apple TV on April 15. :) I'll be back to this after watching those!

IMO Season 5 is much better than Season 4. Season 4 felt like one of those episodes of a show where they're setting up storylines for later, which are fine when it's just one episode but it seemed like most of the season.
Like I said in the write-up, it was wikkid that framed Betty's character and how JJ played her that helped me see the actual genius of it, which really unlocked a lot of how I understood the whole show after that.

Regarding the bolded, the show certainly did that a lot, and there's at least 1 thread started in season 1 that pays off in season 7. Season 4 definitely did a lot of heavy lifting with little payoff in the moment, though there were some great self-contained moments in season 4 at the same time, with them dealing with Miss Blankehsip's passing being one of the top ones.

Also, now that you're past season 4, I'll share my sadness about how Sal's dismissal from the company; he worked so hard to do right and then something out of his control was his undoing.
 
Single (Named) Lady #4 - Sade - "By Your Side" (2000)
Full name: Helen Folasade Adu

Sade was born in Nigeria but she's British enough to satisfy the stringent requirements of middle aged dummy countdowns. She's the mononymous singer of her eponymous band which has had remarkable stability and longevity except for a series of drummers that would impress Spinal Tap. I wrote the eligibility rules expressly to allow cases like Sade. She's a member of a band legally (and presumably financially) but I think the world considers her a solo artist because she's the only face on the jacket. She's only released six albums in a 40+ year career including only two this century. If anything, the scarcity has strengthened her mystique. She continues to drop a single or soundtrack cut every few years just to let everyone know she's still the queen.

"By Your Side" is a stripped back song built on an arrangement of organ, acoustic guitar and a simple mechanistic beat. It's another love song from an artist who's recorded a lot of them. But where many of her songs celebrate the passion and desire of love, "By Your Side" is a sincere declaration of a supportive love that's grounded in empathy.
The video is a metaphorical journey from a wilderness scene that looks from a Bjork video to a city far off in the distance. Along the way, Sade picks up objects and puts them in a little bag. She eventually arrives in the city and begins her new career giving away flowers from a freeway median.
 
ditkaburgers - Girl Groups X Boy Bands #4

Cool It NowNew EditionBoy BandBoston, MA2nd favorite song of theirs - another airport jam. Something about New Edition calms me in an airport

ditkaburgers has always hated to fly but when she went away to college, she got into the habit of listening to the same playlist of songs to psyche herself up on the way to the airport. "Cool It Now" was either the second of third song in the playlist.
 
ditkaburgers - Girl Groups X Boy Bands #4


Cool It NowNew EditionBoy BandBoston, MA2nd favorite song of theirs - another airport jam. Something about New Edition calms me in an airport

ditkaburgers has always hated to fly but when she went away to college, she got into the habit of listening to the same playlist of songs to psyche herself up on the way to the airport. "Cool It Now" was either the second of third song in the playlist.
Glad that New Edition made the list - my favorite boy band. I’ve had them on my shortish list of artists (and their solo work) in one of the artist rounds.
 
Glad that New Edition made the list - my favorite boy band. I’ve had them on my shortish list of artists (and their solo work) in one of the artist rounds.

Most boy bands are lucky to launch one or two successful solo careers. New Edition had four: Bobby Brown and BBV of course but Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill both had some hits as well.
 
4s - Radiohead double up!

Saxy!
kupcho1 – It's Raining Again – Supertramp
Charlie Steiner – My Way - Frank Sinatra

New to me favs
KarmaPolice – Pokin' Around - Mudhoney - not sure I've heard this one.
Don Quixote – It’s Not Easy (Spotify) - Ofege - got a heavy Dear Mr. Fantasy vibe from this.
falguy – Blown Wide Open - Big Wreck
krista4 – Lake Shore Drive – Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah


Other greats
Dr. Octopus – Jessica - Allman Brothers Band
scorchy – Dreams Never End - New Order
landrys hat - Everyday People - Sly & the Family Stone
MrsKarmaPolice – Weird Fishes / Arpeggi - Radiohead
Tau837 – Photograph - Def Leppard
DrIanMalcolm – Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters - Elton John
Zegras11 – I Ran (So Far Away) - A Flock Of Seagulls
 
MADs adjacent new release single is another in the ongoing series of Ryan Adams' live covers. This time it's "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" with Adams on piano with a string section.
There are 24 of these singles on Spotify since last May and some of them have two tracks. I think I've listened to almost all of them once but I can't say why because none have been worthy of a second listen.

 
4. "Hip-Hop" - Dead Prez

Two emcees, M-1 and Stic.Man, deliver what could be the ode to the genre within the genre. Yes, there's Common and Mos Def to be considered, but this 1999 release is unique in its call-and-response chorus, not to mention its essence, which is a message about commercialization of the art form of hip hop and lyrics about elevating one's self and consciousness beyond material things.

Yes, that's all indeed there, but there's also the snaking, winding bass line that permeates the track, a bass line so unique that nothing else in hip-hop has ever sounded quite like it, either before or after. Kudos to the DJ, Hedrush.

It's bigger than hip-hop
Hip-hop
Hip-hop
Hip


eta* Here's Mix Master Mike juggling the beat from "Hip-Hop" with an old blues classic from the movie Scratch


eta2* Here's a mash-up of Grizzly Bear's "Two Weeks" with the song

 
Last edited:
MADs adjacent new release single is another in the ongoing series of Ryan Adams' live covers. This time it's "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" with Adams on piano with a string section.
There are 24 of these singles on Spotify since last May and some of them have two tracks. I think I've listened to almost all of them once but I can't say why because none have been worthy of a second listen.

Yes they all follow the same pattern and are quite dull.
 
4.

Who? – Dickey Betts

What? – Allman Brothers Band

Where? – Montclair State College, Beacon Theater, Meadowlands Racetrack, Radio City Music Hall

When? – approximately 20 times between 1990-2001

Why? – It’s hard to not smile during a Betts solo, especially on the song I featured, Jessica. The Allmans had a resurgence in the 1990s and I was there for it. The Montclair State Show was in a small college campus theater – and it was amazing and hooked me.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top