Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCIV--John Fogerty: Rock and Roll Girls

After last week's nice character study, we're going back to fun--lookin' out my back door (so to speak) and just enjoying the view....

I wrote  about John Fogerty and Credence Clearwater Revival a while back so I won't rehash their history, other than to note that only the Beach Boys (and I'm not even sure about them) were their peers in the annals of American rock and roll bands.  After CCR's demise in 1972, Fogerty released solo albums in 1973 and 1975 before taking a hiatus from the music business.  He came back with a vengeance in 1985 with his album Centerfield  which would go on to hit #1 on the Billboard 200 and propelled Fogerty back into the mainstream of rock and roll.  He's released six more albums (for a total of nine solo LPs) since and solidified his stature as one of rock's greats.  Fogerty has won a Grammy, been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, toured the world over, and has often been a benefactor of veterans groups.  Not bad for a kid who grew up, like me, in the San Francisco Bay Area....

"Rock and Roll Girls" was released in 1985 on the aforementioned Centerfield LP and reached #20 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  Surprisingly, the song went to #10 in Austria--who knew there were so many cool kids in Austria?

Fans of CCR may notice the thematic similarity between their 1970 #2 hit "Lookin' Out My Back Door" and "Rock and Roll Girls" (each penned by Fogerty)--both songs are basically paeans to taking a moment to sit back and enjoy watching the world go by.  But while the former is full of dream-like imagery, the latter is based more in the here and now.  The song opens with a signature Fogerty guitar line, quickly introduces a pulsating drum (which more or less carries the song until its end), before Fogerty's vocals send us on our way.  Two facets stick out:  the first is the joyous saxophone (listen to Springsteen much?), and the second, which is one of those special moments that truly make a song great, is the way Fogerty gives the words in the stanza that end in a long "o" a yodelesque (pretty sure there is no such word) quality--it just takes it up a notch and is fun as all hell to sing along (loudly) to as you're flying down the highway...or mowing the lawn...or washing the dishes...you get the picture.  One thing is for sure--there are few songwriters who can pack as much into three minutes of music as John Fogerty can (most of his singles--even the ones with CCR--don't even hit three minutes in length), and "Rock and Roll Girls" is another that can be added to his pantheon of pop songs.

Lyric Sheet:  "If I had my way, I'd shuffle off to Buffalo/Sit by the lake and watch the world go by/Ladies in the sun, listening to the radio..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

What's good for General Motors is good for America...

More good paying jobs lost...

...or not.

General Motors announced yesterday that it will be closing as many as five plants and laying off over 14,000 employees--and in doing so, also noted that Donald Trump's misguided steel tariffs had cost GM over a billion dollars.  Two of those plant closing are here in my home of Dtroit--and one of them, the Warren plant, is roughly thirty minutes from where I live.

It will not be a Merry Christmas for the families of those losing their jobs.  Or the businesses that those workers support with the strong wages they receive from said jobs.

I don't think it's an accident that now almost three years into the Trump Administration--after the Herculean efforts by President Obama and his Administration to save the auto industry--that once again good paying jobs are disappearing under republican leadership.  The rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer isn't a bug of conservatism, it's a feature.

Maybe someday it's base will recognize this and start to dig themselves out of the hole republicans have been throwing them into for the last thirty years.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Thanksgiving in Trump's America

Is it 2020 yet?

While most Americans were watching football and enjoying the last vestiges of their holiday break this past Sunday, American border patrol agents outside of Tijuana were tossing tear gas at asylum seekers from Central America--including women and children--as they tried to rush a border fence, tired of living in squalid conditions as they waited for a hearing to protect them from political oppression, including death squads, in their native countries.

Because, you know, there's no way we're taking a chance on a handful of tired and poor immigrants running roughshod over our beloved America and taking over the country.

I'm sure the Trumpites are waving their American flags today--nothing shows America's strength quite like tossing a canister of tear gas at a three-year-old.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

When in Romaine...

To republicans, this is good food...for plebes like us

Ir's important to note, as we go through another food safety recall, this time a nationwide one for romaine lettuce, that for the past thirty years republicans have cut funding for food safety again and again at both the state and federal level so as to continually enable their agenda of keeping Corporate America richer while letting the rest of us get sicker.

It's estimated that 80% of the time Americans get sick to their stomachs it's food poisoning, so the next time you're sitting on the toilet pooping water or puking into a waste basket until your throat burns, you'll have one more reason to hate the republican party.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Their hands are not clean either

Corporate America:  money over murder

While Donald Trump is rightfully being vilified for his refusal to take action after the CIA has  confirmed the crown prince of Saudi Arabia had journalist Jamal Khashoggi murdered, it's important to realize that Trump is not only protecting his assets, but the assets of American oil companies and American weapons manufacturers who are also more than happy to sell America's soul for their insatiable greed. 

I've often said that if Corporate America could find a way to make money without people its leaders would be more than happy to let us all die...and we're witnessing right now as corporations are willing to let a crown prince kill at will as long as his money keeps flowing into their coffers.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCIII--Sheryl Crow: Leaving Las Vegas

It's hard to believe it's been twenty-five years since the music store I worked at received a promotional copy of Sheryl Crow's debut album, and I, looking for something new, gave it a listen.  We received exactly one copy of it for sale, and the CD sat in the store for six months before anyone purchased it--at one time I considered pulling it for return but since I really liked the LP, held onto it (prescient move).  Needless to say, Crow has gone on to have quite the career.

Sheryl Crow was born in my one time home of Missouri (meh), was an all state track athlete in high school, graduated with a degree in music from the University of Missouri, and was a music teacher in my actual Missouri home (meh) of Fenton where she also sang commercial jingles before heading westward to chase her dreams.  She sang backup for Michael Jackson on his Bad tour and sang backing vocals for a number of artists before hooking up with a group of musicians who called themselves the Tuesday Night Music Club...and the rest is history.  Over the past twenty-five years Crow has released ten LPs. sold fifty million records, won nine Grammy Awards, and toured throughout the world.  She's had nine top ten albums on the Billboard 200 and three top ten singles.  Interestingly (or not), it would be a toss up as to what has more...either artists she's worked with or organizations she's donated to (the woman is a wonder--everything from cancer research to women's organizations to hunger to politics to...you get the picture).  Crow is a breast cancer survivor and has adopted two boys.

"Leaving Las Vegas" was released in 1994 from Crow's debut album Tuesday Night Music Club and was a moderate hit, reaching #60 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  The song was written by David Baerwald, whom regular readers (both of you) may recall from earlier FNJ featured tune "Welcome to the Boomtown", and his being one half of David + David.

Opening with emaycee fave hand claps and a rock solid bass line, "Leaving Las Vegas" explores the dark underbelly of the American Dream from the confines of our most decadent city.  Baerwald writes a nice character study of a woman looking for redemption and seeing a fresh start away from Vegas as her ticket to a happier life, and Crow delivers the goods with an impassioned performance bolstered by some fine "Whoa-oh-ohs" in the backing vocals..  While I have my doubts the protagonist makers her way out (at least for good), I like the way the song juxtaposes the gambling Vegas is known for and her gamble on leaving as a quick fix for what ails her.  And in the end, while not necessarily every aspect, a lot of life is just one big crapshoot--and "Leaving Las Vegas" is a fine vignette of one person throwing the dice.

Lyric Sheet:  "Such a muddy line between/The things you want/And the things you have to do..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCII--Ben Lee: Catch My Disease

Listening to piped in music at work can sometimes be painful, but every now and again a little gem will force its way out of the loudspeakers and into my heart.  Such was the case with this week's tune--and it gives me a little joy as I count down the hours until retirement (somewhere in the many thousands...).

Ben Lee began performing at the all too young age of 14 with his first band Noise Addict.  By 1995 the band had broken up and Lee embarked on a solo career that has lasted to this day.  Lee hasn't had a lot of commercial success here in the States, but in his native Australia he's had three top fifteen albums and three top forty singles.  He's also won three ARIA's (Australia's equivalent of our Grammy) and been nominated for several others.  Over the course of the last twenty-three years Lee has released 14 albums and three EP's.  While his career has slowed considerably commercially, Lee released his latest album in 2017 and continues to tour.  He is currently married to the actress Ione Skye, who some may remember from the film Say Anything... (among others).

"Catch My Disease" was released in 2005 on the album Awake Is the New Sleep (nice title).  While it was never released as a single here in America, it was a success in Australia, reaching #27 on their charts and also winning Lee an ARIA for Song of the Year.  Surprisingly enough, the song is used quite often in medical TV shows here in the States....

I've noticed in songs featured over the past few weeks and a few to be featured in the upcoming weeks, how many of the songs are ones that I've picked for the sheer joy they've given me.  Which isn't to say they are vacuous pop songs, just that they have made me very happy in the listening.  And "Catch My Disease" was written specifically for such moments--Lee had been known as a somewhat somber artist until visiting India where he was encouraged to put joy into the world.  I originally thought this song was about asking a woman to catch his disease, which was love, but actually it's asking all of us to catch a little joy in our day to day lives, and hey, that's not such a bad message.  Anyhoo, the song opens with emaycee fave hand claps in conjunction with a pulsating bass drum, slowly adds in some keyboards and a little guitar, and then Lee begins singing little vignettes, all of which are punctuated with the line, "And that's the way I like it."  Lee does a nice job of both capturing the joy he feels vocally and spreading it to the rest of us--and joy ain't such a bad disease to catch.  In the end, this one's just fun--it makes me smile every time it comes on at work, and God knows I can use all of that I can get in my workday....

Lyric Sheet:  "I hear Beyonce on the radio/And that's the way I like it/And that's the way I like it/They don't play me on the radio/But that's the way I like it...."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Can we get an "Amen!" for Michigan?

In Michigan, Democrats came, saw, and conquered

Though I don't watch her show anymore, Rachel Maddow has spent considerable time over the past eight years explaining (and rightfully so) how Michigan has been a laboratory for implementing the republican game plan--everything on the GOP wish list, from passing a right to work (for less) law to privatizing government responsibilities, from taxing seniors and giving tax breaks to corporations to cutting working folks' pensions, the GOP has done here in Michigan.

No more.  Last week Michiganders delivered a gut punch to the republican agenda from top to bottom.  For the first time since I moved here nearly twenty years ago, Democrats will control the top three spots in our state--Governor (Gretchen Whitmer). Attorney General (Dana Nessel), and Secretary of State (Jocelyn Benson).  For the first time since 2010, Democrats will be on par with republicans for the U.S. House, with seven representatives each.  Also for the first time since I moved here, my U.S. House representative will be a Democrat (Elissa Slotkin).  While we didn't end republican control in our state legislature, we did end the republicans' super majority which means their agenda is done through at least 2022.  We added a Supreme Court seat, elected the first Muslim woman to the U.S. House (Rashida Tlaib), and passed propositions ending gerrymandering, implementing automatic voter registration, and legalizing marijuana.

I know I'm biased as Michigan is my adopted home, but the Democratic rout in Michigan has to be the most under reported story of the 2018 midterm elections.  In a state that is a must win for Donald Trump in 2020, we provided a blueprint for turning a recovering purple state blue again.  And it's a very progessive blueprint.

Michigan is a bellwether for 2020 because Michigan voters resoundingly found the republican experiment to be a massive failure.

Just like Donald Trump.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

And they laid Jesus Christ in his grave

When it comes to republicans, me and Jesus share similar reactions

It's been said that what makes satire so appealing is its proximity to the truth. 

And to prove those words as gospel (so to speak) truth, I present for your edification "GOP Jesus":

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

This is the Catholic Church

Another stellar moment in Catholic history...

Not content with their legacy of standing idly by while Mussolini turned Italy into a racist haven for fascists and Hitler murdered six million Jews, the Catholic Church has decided to vocally embrace the far right government currently ruling Poland, even though the party is inching closer and closer (through disregard of its constitution, court packing, and politicizing government jobs) to authoritarianism.

But, hey, as long as the Church's real estate holdings and cash assets are safe and the government is hating on abortion and gays, what's the loss of a few civil rights and a little human suffering, right?

The Catholic Church:  Enabling Fascists Since the 1930's.

What a proud legacy.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

National Fucked Up League

Two men who show us every day what courage really means

While most folks are familiar with Colin Kaepernick, not nearly as many are familiar with Eric Reid.  Reid was Kaepernick's teammate on the San Francisco 49ers, and was among the first to join him in taking a knee to protest police brutality and systemic oppression of African-Americans in the United States.  After his contract with the 49ers ran out after last season, Reid was unable to secure another until reaching agreement with the Carolina Panthers four games into this season.  Rather than take the easy route and temper his protest, Reid has continued to take a knee and speak out quite eloquently about inequality in America.

For his troubles, Reid has found himself drug tested five times in the six weeks he's been back in the NFL--note that the drug tests in the NFL are random, and the odds of any player being tested five times in six weeks is less than 1/2 percent.  Can you say "harassment" boys and girls?

It's too bad ESPN has become the TMZ of sports journalism because this seems like quite a coincidence to me.

Anyway, the next time you see the NFL and their television network cohorts doing one of their support the troops spectacles, remember that the only troops they truly care about are the white ones.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Traitor Mitch

This man has done more damage to our country than Donald Trump

Mitch McConnell wrote an op-ed for Fox News this week in which he called on Democrats to work with republicans in a bipartisan way for the good of the country.

Yessireee.

God what I wouldn't give for one, just one, Democratic member of Congress to stand before God and media and say, "Bipartisanship?  Mitch McConnell can go fuck himself."

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCI--Fountains of Wayne: A Dip in the Ocean

Outside of Bruce Springsteen and the Avett Brothers, I'd be hard pressed to name a musical artist whose work I have enjoyed more over the last fifteen years than Fountains of Wayne.  And while I admittedly do not keep up with new music anywhere near what I once did, their final album, Sky Full of Holes, would be my choice for album of this decade, bar none.  For me, they're the perfect mix of smart, pop, and humor (much of it tongue in cheek)--and this week's tune showcases all three.

Fountains of Wayne formed in the tiny little village of New York City in 1995, when college friends (and college band mates) Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood reunited after a few years apart.  They released their self-titled debut in 1996, met with a modicum of success and critical acclaim, followed that up with another well received LP, Utopia Parkway, before reaching the cusp of fame with their third album, Welcome Interstate Managers which featured their biggest hit single, "Stacy's Mom" (which was nominated for a Grammy).  The band would go on to release two more albums before calling it quits earlier this decade.  The band toured extensively throughout their seventeen years, and while they never quite achieved the success they should have, they did have a devoted following for their music, which some have described as Geek Rock.

Fun Fact:  The band tooks its name from a lawn ornament store in Wayne, New Jersey, called, appropriately enough, Fountains of Wayne.

Fun Fact #2:  Schlesinger has also been nominated for an Oscar--he wrote the title track for Tom Hanks' That Thing You Do! which received an Academy Award nod for Best Original Song.

"A Dip in the Ocean" was the sixth song on their fifth and final album, the aforementioned Sky Full of Holes, released in 2011.  The song was never released as a single, but the album, surprisingly enough (as it didn't have a hit single like Welcome Interstate Managers), was the highest charting of their career, reaching #37 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard 200.

As I've noted a time or two here on FNJ, you can take the boy out of California but you can't take California out of the boy, and any song about spending a day driving up the coast and eventually hitting the beach for swim is probably going to be the berries for me.  Add in some killer power pop hooks, a driving rhythm section, and some pitch perfect backing vocals (especially the "Yeah by the water now" in the chorus) and you've got all the makings of a great song.  As I noted with the Secret Machines and FM radio last week, I've a hunch that had "A Dip in the Ocean" been released in the 70's it would have been all over top 40 AM radio.  As is, it's a song that has filled me as much joy as any song in recent memory, and every time I hear it I'm ready to hit the beach somewhere along the California coast and suck in all the sea air while I'm floating in the Pacific....

Liner Notes:  "It's you and me on a beach in 1998/Leaning into the breeze from the willows/And rhythm and grace are reborn in this place/I'm assured the procedure is painless..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Goddamn right, it's a beautiful day

We won, we won, we won...

Forget the spin--Trump can claim victory because of the Senate and the media can claim it was a split decision, but all the evidence points to Tuesday being a humongous night for Democrats.  The House alone means that cuts to Social Security and Medicare, as well as a repeal of Obamacare, are dead.  We turned it around in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and my home here in Michigan, and if we hold the states Hillary Clinton won in 2016, plus add those three, Donald Trump can move to Moscow or take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut (either way I don't care).  The Democratic margin of victory of  +.9.2 is the largest in recent times (even beating Dems in 2006 and 2008 and republicans in 2010).  Even though we lost the Senate, our candidates garnered more votes than theirs.  And all of this despite electoral maps that were absolutely brutal for us this year.

Yes, we lost some races we would have liked to have won, and we may need to rethink strategies in Ohio and Florida (write them off and pour money into more likely winners?), but this election was a complete and total repudiation  (seriously, read the link, it'll make your day) of Donald Trump.

So celebrate (for about five minutes and get started on 2020):

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Just fucking vote

Fuckin' A, 110 percent...

There's a lot to be nervous about going into tomorrow's midterm elections...like basically the future of this experiment that we've been conducting surprisingly well for the last 242 years.

Like...will there be a blue wave?

Can we win the Senate?

What if the blue wave doesn't materialize?

What happens to the Mueller investigation?

What will the election's outcome mean for 2020?

In the end, try to remember that even if we don't win as many as we'd like, if we win just one more seat in the House than they do we can effectively end much of the Trump agenda (cuts to Medicare and Social Security will be dead, dead, dead).  Or that every governorship we win means that there's one more state where republicans will not be able to gerrymander its districts to their own advantage.  And that even if we just break even in the Senate, it still means republicans are going to have to tailor their agenda to make sure they can get 51 votes.

It's a cliche, but this is a marathon, not a sprint.

So don't get caught up in the future--fight the battle that we can fight tomorrow.

And just fucking vote.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CC--The Secret Machines: Sad and Lonely

You'd think for #200 that I'd have come up with some super special single--nah, just another rock solid tune from a small band who did their part, like so many other bands, to bring a little musical joy into my life.

The Secret Machines started out in Dallas in the late 1990's, moved on to Chicago where they released their first EP, and eventually landed in New York where buzz about their music brought them interest from Warner Brothers and shortly thereafter they released their first LP.  The trio's music has been described as krautrock (new to me--experimental music from German bands of the late 60's...so many cool kids in Germany!), shoegazing (also new to me--experimental music from Brit bands of the late 1980's...so many cool kids in Great Britain!), psychedelic rock (see also, Zeppelin, Led and Floyd, Pink), and they themselves describe their music as space rock (experimental music by the Secret Machines...so many cool kids here in the States!).  David Bowie (who really should have an FNJ tune of his own by now...someday!) was a big fan of the band.  Since 2002 they've released three LP's and four EP's and while the last was in 2010, the rumor mill has another one just around the corner (or not).  Original members Brandon Curtis and Josh Garza still remain, though sadly, other founding member Benjamin Curtis (brother of Brandon) died in 2013 at the all too young age of 35 from lymphoma.

"Sad and Lonely" appeared on the Secret Machines debut album Now Here Is Nowhere  (great title) in 2004,  and although it was released as the album's second single, never made any dent on the Billboard charts..  I've often felt, though, that if it had been released in the 1970's. it would have been a staple of FM radio for the last forty years.

The first thing I'd note about "Sad and Lonely" is...how it doesn't really seem like the type of song that would make a list of my favorites.  The Secret Machines have been compared to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, both of which rank right up there with The Doors for three of my least favorite bands of all time (as millions of 70's hard rock fans think to themselves, "emaycee sucks!").  The song opens with over a minute of instrumental, and originally it was the drumming from the intro that got me hooked on the song.  There's some nice industrial guitar throughout, and though the vocals are awfully reminiscent of Zeppelin's Robert Plant, there's an urgency to them that draws you into the song.  "Sad and Lonely" closes with roughly a minute of what could best be described as ethereal ambience--space music for the masses.  All in all, it's one of those out of left field tunes that continues to surprise me with each new listen, for both its simplicity and its complexity--and how much I just love the song despite its not being much like my usual musical tastes.

Lyric Sheet:  "And it feels like those around want you to die/Well sometimes you feel just like crying/You're still in love with me and you don't know why..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee