It was a very good year

Here's hoping our long national nightmare ends this year...

I've read a number of people over the past few days who have noted that 2019 was a miserable year.  I get it--Australia is literally on fire and climate change keeps getting the short shrift from republicans; fascism is becoming the norm in India, Hungary, Poland, and Brazil; North Korea continues to make a fool of Donald Trump and is a whisker away from a nuclear catastrophe; every study released this year concerning the Trump tax cuts shows that the only thing it accomplished was making rich people richer; the media continues to be a dead man walking when it comes to exposing how abnormal Donald Trump is vis a vis the Presidency (and just about everything else); and perhaps worst of all--and something I never thought I'd live to see--the greatest experiment in democracy in mankind's history is on the verge of being destroyed because one of the political parties in our home country is much more concerned with appeasing the wealthy and coddling racists than with securing the blessings of liberty that made America the grandest dream mankind ever dreamed.

Despite all that (and plenty more that I'm sure I didn't mention) I will guarantee you that 2019 was a very good year--because despite all the bad news, despite the republican party becoming the Junior Nazi party, despite insurmountable odds...we're still fighting for what is right.  We impeached Donald Trump.  Though we still have far to go, we continue to make strides in civil rights for women, minorities, and the LGBTQ community.  The minimum wage will raise tomorrow in numerous states.  We have actionable plans for addressing climate change.  The candidates we have who are sparring to see who gets to challenge Donald Trump next November are all light years better than he (well, except maybe Tulsi Gabbard), and might be the most impressive group of candidates in our nation's history.  Every single day there is some American somewhere in this crazy land that is standing up to republicans' creeping fascination with fascism and saying, "Nope, not on my watch."

And as long as we're still fighting for what is right, there is hope...and as Stephen King once noted in The Shawshank Redemption, "...(H)ope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

Onward.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLX--Life, Sex & Death: Fuckin' Shit Ass

What the hell, let's close out year number five with a little ditty whose title would send a bunch of junior high school boys into fits of laughter....

Welp...not every band makes the best of moves.  Life, Sex & Death formed sometime around 1990 (they're one of the few bands I've featured here on Friday Night Jukebox who do not have a Wikipedia entry), and their record label decided the way to sell the band was to claim their lead singer, known only as Stanley, was actually homeless.  "Stanley" turned out to be Chris Stann, who was anything but homeless, and the band lost any and all credibility that it might have had.  They released one LP, and were done within a couple of years--though some have said they may have at least had a competent career without the Warner Bros. ruse.

"Fuckin' Shit Ass" was released on their only album, The Silent Majority, in 1992.  It was not released as a single, and the album never so much as sniffed a record chart.

Embarrassing Fun Fact:  I actually have a playlist on Spotify called "Fuck It" which features songs in which the word "fuck" plays a prominent role.  Hey, we all can't be perfect....

"Fuckin' Shit Ass" opens with what sounds like a man storming around his house saying, "Some...fuckin'...shit ass...ugh!" which becomes rhythmic before adding first a drum beat, than some metal guitars, before finally segueing into a Cheap Trickesque (I shit you not) chorus that calls for love and peace.  Alrighty then...not sure what else I can add, other than for whatever odd reason it caught my fancy, and I still thoroughly enjoy the song's juxtaposing of unbridled anger with a paean to peace.  I doubt Life, Sex & Death would have ever had me as a life long fan (definitely a lot more heavy metal than power pop), but once again we see how every now and again a band can have just one special moment that turns into a lifetime of listening.

Lyric Sheet:  "What will it take to feel love instead of hate?/What will it take to make peace the word for today?..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Money talks and bullshit walks

A History of (Misguided) Violence

Leaving aside the fact that it's easy to talk about another Civil War and a lot more difficult to shoot your daughter's libtard best friend (to paraphrase Al Capone in The Untouchables, "...just a lot of talk and a gun."), the main reason you'll never see another Civil War in America is because it would get in the way of rich folks making money.

While there are a million little pieces that make up America's economy, it's heart is in New York and California, two liberal bastions.  And once the libs start dying in those two states, it will take about, oh, a millisecond for the economy to collapse.  And the minute that happens, I can goddamn guarantee you that the wealthy elite in this country will grab Donald Trump by his shit stained underwear and convince him rather quickly to call off his minions, lest he and his family spend the rest of their lives shoveling shit out of cesspools with spoons.

Quod erat demonstradum--i.e., money talks and bullshit walks.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLIX--Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here

Whatever gene it was in my generation that sent millions of my peers into music stores to buy Pink Floyd records apparently was not a part of my DNA.  I can't think of one of their songs, outside of this week's tune, that I remotely liked, and their whole psychedelic rock shtick was lost on one whose soul was much quainter than those souls whose idea of fun was dropping acid.  Still, my liking of their one tune fits nicely into my opinion that if any band sticks around long enough, you're bound to find at least one song of theirs that you like (except REO Speedwagon, who put the shit in shitty pop tunes).

Fortunately for me, the history of Pink Floyd is a bit long to cover in a paragraph, especially considering that their Wikipedia entry was far too long to read in its entirety for someone whose interest in the band is middling at best.  They formed in 1965 in London, England, with original members Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright.  David Gilmour would join in 1967, followed shortly by the departure of Barrett due to mental health issues.  The band would continue in that form until the eighties, with Wright and Waters departing, and Gilmour and Mason continuing on through the mid-nineties.  The band has had a pair of small reunions since, though they have not overcome their personal differences enough to make that Big Bucks Reunion Tour.  For their career, Pink Floyd has sold over 250 million records, having released 14 studio albums, three live albums, and 14 compilations.  My opinion of the band notwithstanding, they truly do stand in the pantheon of great rock bands, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility.  Roger Waters, for his songwriting, and David Gilmour, for his guitar playing, would also make many a best of list for their respective talents.  Sadly founding members Syd Barrett and Richard Wright have passed away and joined many other wondrous talents at the Great Rock Concert in the Sky.

Fun (and heartwarming) Fact:  The band members always made sure that Syd Barrett was taken care of financially for his contributions to the band, which allowed Barrett to face his personal difficulties with plenty of financial stability.

"Wish You Were Here" was released in 1975 on Pink Floyd's appropriately enough titled album, Wish You Were Here.  Though the song was never released as a single in its original incarnation (a live version was released at one point), the song is considered a classic and was ranked #324 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time.  The album, though poorly received critically at its release, is also considered a masterpiece and was voted #211 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of all time.  Just for good measure, the LP also sold over 13 million copies.

There are songs that come along that force the listener to put on their big boy pants (like Seger's "Night Moves" or Springsteen's "Born to Run" to name but a pair), and "Wish You Were Here" is one such song.  While there seems to be some debate as to what the song is about--lyricist Waters claims it's about himself, music writer Gilmour says he never sings the song without thinking about Syd Barrett--most fans tend to side with Gilmour as to the song's intentions.  Hear the opening acoustic guitar solo and you will never, ever, ever forget it.  Gilmour's plaintive vocals echo a sadness that is still palpable.  Even the song's nuances are stunning--the chorus part after another piece of the the acoustic guitar intro, the emptiness of the wind blowing at the song's end--one wouldn't think it possible for a band that one doesn't care for to make a song that would be on one's top ten songs of all time, but Pink Floyd has done it for me.  I've never been one for believing pop music is an art form (it's called "pop" music for a reason), but "Wish You Were Here" is one of those songs that would certainly leave me open to thinking that it is.

Lyric Sheet:  "Cold comfort for change?  Did you exchange/A walk-on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?"

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

While we were sleeping

Greed will eventually be the end of the U.S. of A.

Sadly lost again in all of the hoopla surrounding the piece of shit that is Donald Trump, is the fact that  Fortune 500 companies last year had an average tax rate of 11.3% on record profits, which is less than most average citizens pay on millions less in income.  Ninety-one companies in the Fortune 500 paid nothing, another 56 paid less than 5%.  Corporate taxes have fallen to 1% as a share of federal revenue, as republicans continue to ensure that the rich get richer and the rest of us get fucked.

Something to think about the next time you're driving down the road and get cut off by a Fed Ex driver:  remember that that truck that is driving on roads you paid for belongs to a company that paid zero in federal taxes last year, and therefore zero for the road on which you just got cut off.

It's only a matter of time before the economic payback shit storm hits, and it will not be pretty for Corporate America at all.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Lost in the shuffle, Part 2

Not quite at the bottom but getting closer

The Social Justice Index is a report which ranks 41 highly developed nations with regard to poverty, education, the labor market, health, justice, and social inclusion.  Want to guess where the Make America Great Again administration has us ranked?

Thirty-sixth!

That's right, despite having wealth beyond what most countries can only dream of, the "best" healthcare in the world, a "growing" economy, and some of the best educational institutions in the world, Donald Trump has managed to make it so that the people of thirty-five nations (out of 41!) are better off than we are.  Only the people of Israel have a greater chance of falling into poverty than Americans--even worse, this affects children at an even higher rate than the general population.

Just so much greatness.

A few more years and they can turn The Land of Opportunity into The Land of Uneducated Pestilence Stricken Starving Children.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Lost in the shuffle, Part 1

This should never happen in the richest nation on earth.  Never.

It's easy to lose sight of signs of the further decline of America's greatness in the daily onslaught of all the terrible deeds of Donald Trump and his impending impeachment.  But it's important to note that the republican party's War on the Poor continues apace, as the Trump administration has recently proposed changes in food stamp rules that this spring will result in three million more Americans going hungry--and most of them will be in the republican stronghold of rural America.

Most Americans are a major hospital bill or a blown car engine away from joining folks the like of the young man in the picture above.  We would be wise to see this move by Donald Trump for what it is--another way for republicans to take care of the wealthy and let the rest of us (literally) starve.

The Make American Hungry Again movement continues its quest to turn America into a third world country.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLVIII--Nanci Griffith: On Grafton Street

I first discovered Nanci Griffith on Other Voices, Other Rooms, her paean to the artists who influenced her (which won a much deserved Grammy Award for Contemporary Folk Album in 1994).  I have been quite a fan of hers since (even went to see her with John Prince--a dream concert for an Old Fart Folkie), and could quite easily have picked any one of eight or nine songs on that album for this week's tune.  But I wanted to highlight a song that she had written (all fifteen of the songs on Other Voices, Other Rooms were written by the artists she was influenced by), and chose this week's tune because it seemed to me to reflect best her songwriting abilities...though any of another seven or eight could have probably done the same.

Nanci Griffith's career got its start in 1978 in Austin, Texas and has extended to the present day.  While she has never had a great deal of commercial success, she can best be described as an artists' artist--with the testament of the plethora of musicians who have played at one time or another on one of her albums (Bob Dylan, John Prine, Indigo Girls, Emmylou Harris, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. of U2, and Adam Duritz to name a few).  Over the course of the last forty-one years, she has released 20 studio albums, five compilations, and one live album.  While her highest charting album here in the States broke the top fifty on the Billboard 200, she has had two top twenty albums on the U.K. charts (so many cool kids in the U.K.).  Griffith has also written a couple of top ten hit singles on the country charts for Kathy Mattea and Suzy Boggus.  Griffith's backing band is known as the Blue Moon Orchestra (kind of cool for a backing band name).  She is a survivor of breast cancer and thyroid cancer. 

(Not so) Fun Fact:  Griffith's high school boyfriend was killed in a motorcycle accident after taking her to the senior prom.  He has been the inspiration for a number of her songs since.

"On Grafton Street" was never released as a single.  It appeared on Griffith's 1994 album Flyer, which was the highest charting album of her career, peaking at #48 on the Billboard charts.

In "On Grafton Street," Nanci Griffith weaves the tale of a woman walking the streets of a foreign town at Christmas time who is reminded of a lost love (Griffith has noted that Flyer was her most autobiographical album, so there's probably a germ of reality in this one), but despite once having believed she couldn't live without him is surprised to find so many years later that her life has gone on just fine without him, and that the memory of him can still bring a smile to her face.  While it would have been easy to turn such a song into a sappy affair, Griffith does a nice job of letting the unexplained remain unexplained, with her nod to the path to happiness not always being the one we wished.  Griffith has a beautiful voice, makes good use of the sweet melody that permeates both song and chrous, and lets the instruments throughout speak softly but carry a big stick.  Every now and again a song comes along that--while maybe not your exact experience--has a ray of truth to it that you've seen reflected in your own life, and makes for some winsome listening.  "On Grafton Street" is one such song, and is a testament to the enduring--if sometimes fleeting--nature of love.

Lyric Sheet:  "It's been twenty years or more/Since I last said your name/I hear you live in Dallas now/In a house out on the plains/Why Grafton Street brought you to mind/I really can't explain..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLVII--Indigo Girls: Closer to Fine

A folk song and female vocalists...does it get any better than that?  Not for emaycee it doesn't....

Amy Ray and Emily Saliers met in elementary school, began playing together in high school, and by the time they reached Emory University, they had become the Indigo Girls.  They released their first single in 1985, an EP later that same year, and their first full-length album in 1987.  They then signed to Epic Records and released their first major label album in 1988, which also became their first hit.  Over the course of the last thirty-four years, the Indigo Girls have released fifteen studio albums (two of which hit the top ten), three live albums, and five compilations.  Both Ray and Saliers have released solo albums, but they continue to tour and record together, having released their latest album in 2015 and completing their most recent tour in 2018.  They have been nominated for seven Grammy Awards, and won once for Best Folk Album.  Ray and Saliers are both very politically active, having associations with environmental groups, animal rights groups, anti-death penalty groups, and are considered icons in the gay rights movement (both are lesbians).  Overall, a nice little career for the duo.

"Closer to Fine" was the first single released from their ever so cleverly named 1988 album, Indigo Girls.  It would go on to be the highest charting single of their career, reaching #58 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  They are joined by the Irish band Hothouse Flowers for backing vocals on the single.

Fun Fact:  There's a great scene in the movie The Hollars (hardly an Oscar nominee but well worth 90 minutes of your time) where as a woman is being carted into surgery for a brain tumor, her two sons and her husband serenade her with "Closer to Fine."  Not quite as good as the Indigo Girls' version, but uplifting in its own way.

Written by Emily Saliers (Indigo Girls do not collaborate on their songwriting, just work together on the arrangements once they're in the studio), "Closer to Fine" is a song about the many paths that life offers us to happiness, and that the less one thinks about said paths, the happier one is likely to be (as an official old fart, I can attest to the accuracy of this).  There are several aspects of the song that stand out to me--first being, as a devotee of the acoustic guitar, is the wondrous harmony between Ray and Saliers guitar playing, which shines through the song.  Though written by Saliers, Ray takes the lead vocals, but Saliers harmonizing on the chorus is as wondrous as their acoustic guitars.  But what really takes the song to another level for me is one of those special moments that so many great songs have, and in "Closer to Fine" it's where their voices jump up an octave as they accentuate the word "fine."  It not only makes for fun singing along, but emphasizes the notion that they are indeed fine, and that happiness is right at their fingertips.  I can honestly say this is one of the better folks songs of the last thirty years, and one that reminded me of the joy I took from folks music, and would send me on a folk finding spree that would last for the better part of the next ten years. A great, great song.

Lyric Sheet:  "And I went to see the doctor of philosophy/With a poster of Rasputin and a beard down to his knee/He never did marry or see a B-grade movie..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Phrase of the year

On a day in which I learned that Merriam Webster's word of the year was "they" (explanation here) and that most of the year's top words revolved around the impeachment of Donald Trump, and after reading about Attorney General William Barr's lie-filled interview on MSNBC earlier today concerning the IG Report on the FBI's conduct concerning Donald Trump's collusion with Russia, in the spirit of both I would like to nominate "Lying sack of shit" as the phrase of the year.  To wit:

Donald Trump?  Lying sack of shit.

William Barr?  Lying sack of shit.

Mike Pompeo?  Lying sack of shit.

Mick Mulvaney?  Lying sack of shit.

Devin Nunes?  Lying sack of shit.

Mitch McConnell?  Lying sack of shit.

Trump children?  Lying sacks of shit.

Think of it--it's the perfect phrase for republicans these days:

"Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Lying Sack of Shit, said today..."

"Lying sack of shit and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was on Capitol Hill this morning to..."

"Ivanka Trump, lying sack of shit, was set to debut her new line of..."

It's short, it's sweet, and in direct opposition to republican distortion of facts, it's truthful.


Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

False prophets and their enablers

How stupid do you have to be?

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves."  Matthew 7:15

It was beyond pathetic to watch as Rick Perry and Nikki Haley embarrassed themselves this past week trying to stroke Donald Trump's  penis  ego by proclaiming that he has been chosen by God to lead America.

After supposedly sending his only begotten son to be mankind's savior, who instructed his followers to heed the golden rule and to look out for the least among us, why in the fuck would make anyone think that God--if one chooses to believe in such--would decide that what America most needed now was a selfish, greedy, perverted, and cruel idiot for our leader?

For fuck's sake, if there was ever an argument for there being no God, Donald Trump being God's chosen would have to seal the deal.  There is no way in hell any God that stupid could have created such a magnificent universe.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

It's the little things in life

Piss off, douchebags

You know, I have my ups and downs with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (often because I think she toes the centrist line a bit too much), but the woman is absolutely fearless.

Having a bad day today?  Then make your day a little bit better and watch as Speaker Pelosi absolutely bitch slaps a simple-minded reporter from the conservative Sinclair Broadcasting Corp. after he asks her if she hates Donald Trump:

Swear to God, when you look up "Badass" in the dictionary, there's a picture of Nancy Pelosi next to the definition.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

High horse horseshit

Need I say more?

Seems that republicans are outraged--outraged, I tell you!--that during this weeks impeachment hearings before the House Judiciary Committee, Professor Pamela Karlan said that while Trump can name his son Barron, he cannot make him a baron.

The horror.

Let me tell you, when the leader of your party has paid off prostitutes, probably slept with underage girls, has used the office of the Presidency to enrich himself again and again, is a racist, and in all likelihood, is a traitor to his own country, you should probably tamp down the outrage on what was actually a clever play on words.

More simply, go fuck yourselves.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLVI--Adam and the Ants: Antmusic

And again this week we have another tune discovered during the After Dinner Music Sessions, courtesy of CBS Records and their promotional single extravaganza...

Adam and the Ants formed in London in 1977.  Their first incarnation lasted until January of 1980 when three members of the band left to form Bow Wow Wow .  The second incarnation would go on to have considerably more commercial success than the first, especially in their native U.K., and last until 1982.  Adam Ant (yeah, nobody really named their kid that--real name Stuart Goddard) was the only link between the two, and he would go on to some solo success, as well.  The band released three LPs during their short tenure, with one going to #1 and another to #2 on the British charts.  Adam Ant would release six albums before calling it quits (two more top five albums in the U.K.) in 1995, though in another instance of Money Matters in Rock and Roll, resumed his solo efforts in 2013 and has released two more albums.  The band had six top five singles, and Ant himself had two more.  The band has also released 11 compilations and three box sets, which is pretty impressive considering Adam and the Ants have only released eleven studio albums in their careers.  Still, they had an impressive run for four years, and are considered part of the second British Invasion into the U. S. music market (though with considerably less financial success than the first).

"Antmusic" was released in 1980, and was the third single from their album Kings of the Wild Frontier.  The single would reach #2 on the British charts, though it did not have any success on the Billboard Hot 100.  The album would reach #1 in the U.K. and was the best selling album for 1981 in their native land (it would peak at #44 on the Billboard 200).  The album would also go on to win a Brit Award for album of the year.

Fun Fact:  In what will be a first and last here on Friday Night Jukebox, this week's band makes use of Burundi drums and their music is considered to be Burundi beat (for the music it borrows from comes from Burundi--the only other band to employ the sound is Bow Wow Wow and I didn't like any of their songs).

And speaking of Burundi drums (segues are for amateurs), one of the many things that sets "Antmusic" apart from so many other minor hits is the drums, which are almost like two drumsticks clicking together and really help, along with the chants, to make the chorus ever so memorable.  The song itself, I believe, is a kick in the ass to disco (though it could just be to the music industry's trend of over saturating talentless tripe in the name of making a buck), and suggests that this month's flavor should be, surprisingly enough, "Antmusic."  Ant does a fine job of of vocalizing his disdain for flavor of the month as a means to making music, there's some nice guitar (nothing fancy, just your average 80's pop song guitar solo) that adds a little edge to the song, and the lyrics are a bit clever as to why one should prefer to be an ant rather than a coked up disco dancer.  No, this one won't make anyone forget "Night Moves," "Baba O'Riley," or "Born to Run," but it's a nice cut that provided a bit of a segue (that word again!) from the punk movement to new wave.  And every now and again, a little fun goes a long way in providing listening pleasure.

Lyric Sheet:  "It's so sad when you're young/To be told you're having fun/So unplug the jukebox/And do us all a favor, yeah/That music's lost its taste/So try another flavor/Antmusic..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLV--The Producers: What She Does to Me (The Diana Song)

A million years ago when I first started managing a music store, CBS Records and its affiliates used to send every store a promotional copy of every single they released for public consumption.  As you might imagine, my store received hundreds of promotional 45s every year, and which ever ones the people who worked for me didn't want, I'd take home and my first wife and I, being poor newlyweds with a baby on the way, would listen to each of them for an evening of cheap entertainment.  You'd be surprised though how many of them actually turned out to be decent little singles--just like this week's tune.

The Producers formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 1981 and thanks to some success through the southeastern U.S., were able to cobble together a ten year career.  The band does occasionally reunite for one off affairs in Georgia, but for the most part its members have moved onto other bands/vocations.  The Producers released three albums during their initial run, and had an unreleased album hit the shelves to little fanfare in 2001.  They also still have an unreleased album from 2012 just waiting in the vaults for a little magic to help it see the light of day.  They only had one album and one single chart over the course of their career.  While two of the band's original members are still making music, two have joined the mundane masses, one driving a taxi and the other as the owner of his own cleaning service. 

"What She Does to Me (The Diana Song)" was released in 1981 on the band's cleverly named debut LP, The Producers.  The song reached #61 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and the album hit #163 on the Billboard 200.  As noted above, these were the only chartings the band ever had...and still two more than I've ever had.

A couple of years after the Producers debuted, Rolling Stone released a record guide, entitled appropriately enough, The Rolling Stone Record Guide.  Under the entry for the Producers, the critic noted that they were the kind of band that made him wish he'd devoted his life to baseball after all...which in light of my love for "What She Does to Me" seems a bit harsh.  Frankly, the song was another in a long line of great 1980's power pop singles, and as the YouTube video notes, is a lost gem from that era.  It's a tale of a woman torn between two lovers (actually based on one of the band members' wife), and the torment of one of her paramours knowing that even when he's with her, his competition is right there, too.  The band has some nice guitar work throughout, the drums drive the single into the fast lane, and the band as a whole does a great job of conveying the angst of falling in love with someone and knowing that no one else makes you feel the way he or she does.  No, the Producers will never make anyone forget the Rolling Stones, but they did put together a hell of a song about the pain of love, and one great song is a hell of a lot more than any Rolling Stone critic ever had.

Liner Notes:  "He's looking over my shoulder/Though I'm with you tonight/He knows that he'll have you tomorrow/And you'll be holding him tight..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Scruples? They don't need no stinking scruples...

Today's republican party

When your political party has fallen as far as the republican party has, to a place where your point man for your President's impeachment is a man (though he's not one in any sense of the word), Jim Jordan, who has been credibly accused by two people of enabling years of the sexual abuse of dozens of young men while he was a coach at Ohio State University, it's pretty much time to give the whole pious prudes, God fearing Christians shtick a rest.

From convicted child molester Dennis Hastert, to Roy Moore, to Jim Jordan, to John Engler (he represented Michigan St. in their sexual abuse scandal involving hundreds of young women), to, more than likely, Donald Trump, the republican party has become a cesspool for the perverted.

To be clear:

Socialism?  Better than perverts.

Green New Deal?  Better than perverts.

Open immigration?  Better than perverts.

Raising taxes on the wealthy?  Better than perverts.

Medicare for all?  Better than perverts.

Whatever claim republicans might have one time made to moral superiority to Democrats has pretty much flown right on out the window. 

If republicans can be this spineless in the face of the abuse of children, they are not a party to be trusted with the future of our republic in any way, shape, or form.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

The blind leading the blind

It's coming sooner than you think

News this past week that Facebook CEO and future victim of the coming class war Mark Zuckerberg had a secret meeting at the White House is definitely cause for alarm, as I think it's safe to assume that how to bridge the gap between rich and poor wasn't on the discussion list.  It's become obvious that Facebook is little more than the Fox News of social media--just another division of the republican party.

It's really hard to underestimate the utter tone deafness of these people--billionaires have become almost as hated as politicians in America, and giving them even more of our money and not throwing a few crumbs to the rest of us has all the earmarking of a disaster in waiting.

Because there's going to come a time when it's food for my kids or an extra billion to the eighty billion you already have, and the end result will not be pretty for the eighty billion dollar man (or woman).

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Not so supportive after all

Another American hero

Amazing, isn't it, how supportive of America's military the republican party is when it supports their racist agenda (see also, Kneeling in the NFL or Kaepernick, Colin) but when an American soldier is actually doing what he's supposed to do in being honest, courageous, forthright, and protecting America's best interests, as Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman did this week in Donald Trump's impeachment inquiry, his family has to live under 24 hour surveillance because of all the threats from the republican party's followers, even more so now with the news that the U.S. Military is thinking of moving them to a military base to insure his family's safety.

How obtuse does our national media have to be to not be screaming this hypocrisy from the rooftops each and every day?

It's reaching a point where it's virtually impossible to have any respect for anyone who votes for a republican candidate--and to wonder if there is a shred of actual patriotism left in their being.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

There goes my hero

A true American hero

Once again this past week, the NFL completely embarrassed itself (but it's a toss-up whether Jay-Z embarrassed himself more) in setting up a phony workout for Colin Kaepernick and having the much smarter Kaepernick see through it  and shove the NFL's hypocrisy up its ass just one more time.

But I'd like to point out something that was not reported on by any national sports outlet (so much for journalistic integrity...)--at his workout, Kaepernick sported a shirt with the name Kunta Kinte on it.

For those not familiar, Kunta Kinte is a character in Alex Haley's novel Roots who was kidnapped to America as part of the slave trade.  Once under his master's thumb, Kinte refused to be called by his slave name, Toby, and would only answer to Kunta Kinte until it was literally beaten out of him.

By wearing that shirt, Kaepernick made it perfectly clear that he was only going to return to the NFL as a free man, and not as the slave the NFL would have preferred.

Kaepernick has easily been the most courageous and inspirational American of the last decade, and the NFL is much poorer for not having a man of his character and talent among its players.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLIV--Fatboy Slim: Praise You

I was introduced to this week's tune by the music video for it (seen below--well worth watching for the humorous approach it takes without turning the song into a novelty hit), with a big assist once again from my darling daughter for making a tape of the album for me to enjoy the song more than just when the video was playing on Much Music.

Fatboy Slim, born Quentin Leo Cook (aka Norman Cook), began making music in the late 70's as both a DJ and in various bands in England before becoming the bassist for the Housemartins where he enjoyed his first commercial success.  Cook was in a couple more bands (frankly, Cook has been in more bands than a cat has lives and it's a bit much to cover all of them in a paragraph) before taking on the persona of Fatboy Slim (moniker chosen because Cook liked its oxymoronic nature) and having even more commercial, as well as critical, success.  Cook would go on to release four albums as Fatboy Slim before moving on to more bands and more commercial success.  For his career, Cook has used 24 aliases and been in nine different bands, and holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the most top forty singles under different names.  He is credited with popularizing the big beat genre of music (and yes, I had to look up big beat music), and has won ten MTV Video Music Awards and two Brit Awards.

Fun Fact:  The Housemartins were a Socialist Christian band (take that American Evangelicals), and their first album had the message "Take Jesus--Take Marx--Take Hope" on its back cover.

"Praise You" was released in 1999 as the third single from the album You've Come a Long Way, Baby.  It would go on to be a #1 single in the UK (Cook has enjoyed considerably more success in his native UK than here in America) and Iceland, #4 in Canada, #6 in Ireland, and, ahem #36 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States (apparently not nearly enough cool kids here in the States).  The album was also #1 in the UK, though only reaching (says the man who has had soooo many albums hit the top 40) #34 on the Billboard 200.

It takes an incredible amount of musical talent to take something so complicated as making a record and make it sound so incredibly simple...but Fatboy Slim pulls it off with honors on "Praise You."  Cook uses less than twenty-five different words for the lyrics and repeats the music again and again, but when you've got an admirable aspiration (praise) and a fantastic groove you're often going to have a hell of a hit single.  The music is no more than piano, bass, and drums (there may be a synthesizer/organ toward the close), but it's more than enough to drive the melody and the funk.  The lyrics may or may not be a reference to God/Jesus (a lover perhaps?), but it makes no matter.  Fatboy Slim has created a gem of a song that once again serves as reminder why I've devoted so much of my life to listening to music, and makes it all the worthwhile.

Rap Sheet:  "We've come a long, long way together/Through the hard times and the good/I have to celebrate you baby/I have to praise you like I should..."

Enjoy (for those wondering just how funky emaycee is, just take a look at the dancers in the video and know that they are much better than I...):

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Homeless on the range

Add caption

The latest victim in the republican party's war against humanity are the homeless.  Fox News, taking its cue from Adolph Hitler's adopted son Donald Trump, has been excoriating the homeless as proof positive that Democratic policies of socialism and safety nets are a massive failure, and as a means to drive a bigger wedge between urban and rural Americans.

Leaving aside the fact that homelessness is proof positive of the failures of both capitalism and free markets to lift all boats in a rising tide (among many, many others), apparently conservatives are worried that promoting hatred among their followers toward Muslims, Latinos, African-Americans, Women, and the LGBTQ community isn't going to be enough for Herr Trump to win re-election so they're adding even more Americans to their campaign to Make America Hate Again.

Before you know it, they'll be down to nothing but white males...oops, too late.

Fuck Donald Trump.
emaycee

Nobama

What do we got that you ain't got?  Courage!

It would be hard to understate how massively disappointing (but not surprising) that former President Obama sat in a room full of rich liberals and warned the Democratic Party about embracing Democrats who lurch too far to the left because it would be too upsetting to our rich liberal friends and the snowflakes who occupy the center.

This, of course, from the man whose complete and utter lack of political courage cost us first, the Supreme Court, and second, the Presidency to the most vile man to ever hold the office.  Not to mention, whose complete and utter lack of political courage brought us a recovery from the Great Recession that did not trickle down to America's poor and middle class and merely increased the chasm that is income inequality.  The same man whose complete and utter lack of political courage let all the scumbags whose colossal failure and outright corruption caused our economy to collapse walk away scot-free.

Apparently now that Mr. Obama is getting ready to make his fortune from his New York Times bestseller memoirs and his "motivational" speeches to Corporate America, the rest of us plebes should defer to his wisdom and suck up to the rich folks.

Fuck that--I'm tired of Democratic leadership who are more than content to let the rich get richer--just not as rich!--and the poor get poorer--just not as poor!--as they do when republicans are in control.  And I can goddamned guarantee you that any Democrat who wins the nomination had better be one whole hell of a lot better than not just being Donald Trump...if he or she wants anything more than just my vote.

I've spent far too much time supporting milquetoast Democrats who are too happy to tell me what we can't do--if I'm going to use what precious time I have left on this planet supporting them they fuckina-A better be working toward what we need to do to make life better for the ninety percent of us who didn't win a ticket for the gravy train.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Grim reapers

The republican healthcare plan

A new study shows that in states where Medicaid Expansion was enacted, 19,000 lives were saved, but in states where it wasn't, 15,000 lives were lost.

Considering that every state where Medicaid wasn't expanded is controlled by republicans, I'm pretty sure we can surmise that all that pro life talk from folks on the right is pure horseshit.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

3,2,1...

How much better can the rich eat?

Right on cue, just a few days after I warned that the wealthy would do whatever it takes to keep Elizabeth Warren from the Presidency, comes the revelation that Campbell Brown, the head of Facebook News, helped to start a website that is attempting to sabotage Warren's campaign.

Keep in mind that this woman is the head of Facebook News.

So much for impartiality on the part of Facebook.

It's time to call these people for what they are:  an enemy of the people.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLIII--Mickey Newbury: An American Trilogy

A few years back I was listening to this week's tune, and it dawned on me where my love for traditional American music (which, surprisingly enough, has grown as I age) came from:  my father.  My father loved this song--and a number of other songs that might be referred to as Americana--and that love trickled down to me....

Mickey Newbury, whose career began as a songwriter in the mid-sixties in Nashville, has been called a songwriter's songwriter, and with the likes of Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and John Prine singing his praises it's not hard to see why.  Unfortunately for Newbury, he was something of a rebel in the country music scene, and didn't have quite the good fortune that other country "outlaws" (Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Roger Miller, Jennings again) when it came to his recording career.  Over the course of thirty years, Newbury released sixteen albums, only one of which reached the Billboard 200.  He also only had two singles reach the Billboard Hot 100 (though he did have a number of hits on the country charts.  Newbury, who suffered from depression and said that he wrote about his sadness, did have quite a few hits as a songwriter (Newbury was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame), and his influence on seventies country (he was mentioned in Jennings "Luckenbach, Texas" which was featured here on FNJ) is immeasurable.  Sadly, Newbury passed away in 2002 at the all two young age of 62 from the effects of emphysema.

Fun Fact:  In 1968, Newbury had a different top five single that he had written on the Pop/Rock, Easy Listening, R & B, and Country charts.  He is the only songwriter ever to pull off this feat.

"An American Trilogy" was released in 1972 on Newbury's album, Frisco Mabel Joy.  It would peak at #26 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and the album would be the only one of his career to hit the top 100 on the albums chart.  Elvis Presley also had a minor hit with a live version he recorded a little after Newbury's original version.

"An American Trilogy" juxtaposes the southern anthem "Dixie" with a marching hymn of the Union Army, "Battle Hymn of the Republic," and closes with a lullaby from the Bahamas, "All My Trials."  It's entirely possible I'm reading too much into Newbury's choice of these songs, but still I wonder if he wasn't projecting a battle we still fight today between those who see an America that never was (and was a much worse place than they'd be willing to admit) and the forces that seek to actually help America fulfill its promise.  Closing with a lullaby wherein the hope is that all of life's troubles will soon be behind him is...perhaps wishful thinking?  From a strictly musical standpoint, the deliberateness of Newbury's vocals and the empathy he instills in them are a wonder, while the instrumentation is stark--an acoustic guitar, a stand up bass (guessing), and a soulful harmonica at the song's end are all Newbury needs to evoke the sadness for the past with the perseverance for a better future that "An American Trilogy" symbolizes.  Suffice it to say, it's a stunning effort from an overlooked genius, a powerful testament to what music can be.

Lyric Sheet:  "So hush little baby/Don't you cry/You know your Daddy's bound to die/But all my trials, Lord will soon be over..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLII--Crobsy, Stills, Nash, and Young: Ohio

Regular readers (both of you) may recall that way back when Friday Night Jukebox began, the first song I wrote about was Crosby, Stills, and Nash's "Suite:  Judy Blue Eyes."  We're two hundred and fifty some odd featured tunes into this experiment, and this week we're going back to our first group...and adding the inimitable Neil Young, with arguably, the most powerful protest song ever written.

Crosby, Still, and Nash formed in 1969, with each of the members (David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash) coming from successful groups (the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and the Hollies respectively).  Joined off and on by Neil Young, CSN had a lot of success from the late sixties (including an appearance at the original Woodstock) to the late seventies.  To call the band volatile would be an understatement--Neil Young has left numerous times (in fairness, Young did have much more solo success than the others), Crosby did time in prison, and both Crosby and Stills had serious problems with freebasing cocaine.  Still, they have managed to release eight studio albums throughout the years, four of which hit the top ten (including one #1), and have had a #1 live album and #1 hits collection as well, and they have also had 30 (!) tours over the course of the last fifty years.  CSN was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997; each of the members was also inducted with the bands noted above (Neil Young has gotten in for his solo work and, like Stills, his work with Buffalo Springfield).  While the band has not been together since their last tour in 2015, all of the members have said they wouldn't rule out another reunion.

"Ohio" was released as a single only in June of 1970, though a live version was released on their #1 live album, 4 Way Street.  The studio version did not appear on an LP until their first greatest hits collection, So Far, in 1974.   "Ohio" would go on to reach #14 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.

Written (by Neil Young) and recorded only two weeks after the National Guard murdered four students at Kent State University on May 4, 1970, "Ohio" is a powerful testament to the evil the right wing is capable of, even as people exercise their constitutional right to peacefully protest.  It wasn't an accident that Young singles out Richard Nixon--conservatives have never believed in the right to dissent, only believing that dissent should be crushed by any means necessary.  From it's ominous guitar at the song's beginning (not sure Young has ever played a better guitar part) to David Crosby's plaintive wail of "How many more?" toward the end, CSNY sing a song that indicts a subset of American leaders who, for all their talk about the sanctity of life, seems to only revere life when it still resides in the womb.  It also serves as a stark reminder, especially in the age of Donald Trump, of the people who seek to subjugate us--and the power we still have in numbers to mourn the dead, to honor their sacrifice, and to change the world.  Literally one of the most stunning works of art pop music has ever produced.

Lyric Sheet:  "[Ad-libbed] How many more?"

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Beware the Ides of Wall Street

It'll be about this cartoonish, too

As Wall Street (and the wealthy and Corporate America) has made it perfectly clear that they'll stop at nothing to stop Elizabeth Warren, it would behoove us all to question just about any criticism we see leveled at Senator Warren--especially from Joe "I Fellated Big Banks With My 2005 Bankruptcy Bill" Biden and Pete "I've Taken $1.3 Million In Donations From Wall Street" Buttigieg.

But it's just not the big guns--think Wall Street is above paying people to make negative comments about Warren on Liberal web sites?  Or paying people to set up anti-Warren Facebook pages?  Think again--these people are scum who care more about money than human lives and will do whatever it takes to keep getting richer.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you...

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Calling bullshit

You bet your ass she does...

A recent poll from The New York Times (which admittedly may be an outlier and has questionable disclaimers) shows Elizabeth Warren losing to Donald Trump in several key battleground states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which to be honest, if we're going to win in 2020 we pretty much need to win in all three.  The poll also shows Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders winning or tied in all three.  The interesting thing, though, is the reason being given for Warren losing--you see, it's that she's too far left for voters in the suburbs.

As if Bernie Sanders is the second coming of Ronald Reagan.

No, the reason is because she's a woman and there are still a subset of Americans who are not voting for a woman for President.

Because from where I'm sitting, the only difference between Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders economically, judging their positions as a whole, is that Warren doesn't have a penis.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLI--Lynyrd Skynyrd: Sweet Home Alabama

When I think about music today, I often wonder if there are any songs like this week's featured tune:  one in which the first three guitar notes can be played and an entire generation of people recognizes the song.  There very well may be (I'm admittedly hopelessly out of the loop on newer music), but I've yet to hear it.

Lynyryd Skynyrd (pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd--get it?) formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964.  Skynyrd paid their dues for eight years, performing throughout Florida and later the rest of the south before being "discovered" by Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat, and Tears fame in 1972.  They released their debut album in 1973, which sold a million copies, and the band worked as the opening act for The Who on their Quadrophenia tour further increasing their profile.  The band had another hit and a couple of albums that were disappointments before releasing what would be their last album in their original form--which ended up being one of their bigger hits, unfortunately much of the success due to tragedy: a plane crash in 1977 killed lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and his sister, backup singer Cassie Gaines.  Several other members of the band and its crew suffered severe injuries in the accident, as well.  The band called it quits for ten years before reuniting with Ronnie's brother, Johnny, on lead vocals.  They're currently completing their final tour (albeit with one, count 'em one original member left--sadly most of the rest of those not killed in the plane crash have passed as well), and are supposedly releasing their last album sometime this year.  For their career, Skynyrd has released fourteen studio albums, 24 compilation albums (we have a new Friday Night Jukebox record!), and 12 live albums (also an FNJ record).  The band has sold 28 million records here in the U.S., been elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and regularly shows on on all-time lists both as a band and for their various works.

Fun Fact:  Lynyrd Skynyrd was named for a high school gym teacher (Leonard Skinner) several band members were students of who was something of a hard ass when it came to young men with long hair.  Over time, Mr. Skinner embraced the band, and they him, even introducing the band at one of their concerts in Florida.

Fun Fact #2:  When you check out the comments for "Sweet Home Alabama" on its YouTube viewer, 99% of the comments are incest jokes.  I mean, I get it, but 99%?  Sheesh, give it a rest.

"Sweet Home Alabama" was the first single from their second album, Second Helping, released in 1974.  The song would reach #8 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album hit #12 the Billboard 200.  The song also was ranked #398 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time.

Welp...this week's ain't easy.  There seems to be all kinds of debate on whether or not the song is a celebration of racist former Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, or a condemnation.  Songwriter Ronnie Van Zant claimed he was not a fan of Wallace, but music writer Ed King said he thought it was a tribute to Wallace.  The song was originally written as an answer to Neil Young's "Southern Man" which condemned the south's racism--and ended up being a tribute to one of the nation's most racist states.  And to top it off, none of the song's writers were even from Alabama.  In the end, it's an imperfect song about one's home, enlivened with three guitars worth of strumming, some jaunty piano, and Van Zant's stellar vocals.  While I'm not a fan of all the song's themes, I'm also not a fan of all the themes in Nabokov's Lolita--but it doesn't mean either isn't a remarkable piece of art.  Which is a fancy way of saying, yup, I can shake my fanny to it and that's enough for me.

Lyric Sheet:  "Now Muscle Shoals has got the swampers/And they've been known to pick a song or two/Lord they get me off so much/They pick me up when I'm feeling blue..."

Enjoy:

 

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Joni loves Chumpie

Right message, wrong candidate

If you had asked me after the 2016 election if we would have had a shot to defeat Joni Ernst in Iowa in 2020, I would have been a solid no.  Ernst won her initial election easily (albeit against a weak candidate), as did Trump in taking Iowa's six electoral votes.  While it still is going to be an uphill struggle, I wouldn't rule it out anymore.  Ernst has proven to be a much weaker candidate than advertised.

She continues to support Trump while farming bankruptcies in her state are going through the proverbial barn roof thanks to his idiotic tariffs.  She can't decide whether or not asking foreign governments to interfere in our elections is wrong.  She talks tough about deficits but voted for Trump's tax cut for the wealthy...which have had the effect of sending the nation's deficits through the White House roof.  With each passing day, it appears Ernst isn't quite the candidate she promised Iowans she would be.

And who would have ever guessed that a republican candidate who touted herself as Xena, Warrior Princess, would turn out to be Joni, Creampuff Senator?

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Trump's most troubling number

Not only is the pay bad, but the uniforms suck, too

A new poll from Franklin & Marshall has some numbers that will be overlooked...but should put fear in the hearts of the republican party.  A full 70% of Pennsylvanians, despite the supposedly fantastic Trump economy, said their economic well being was either the same (50%) or worse (20%) since Trump won the 2016 election.  When 70% of the people in a battleground state are not better off financially three years into a President's term--and with little hope of the economy getting better than it is--it's not exactly a ringing endorsement of the party in power.

What we're seeing is what we usually see when a republican administration has a good economy:  the rich getting richer and the rest of us still struggling to get by.

And this is why the candidacies of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are still going strong--they're putting forth ideas and policies that help the American economy work for all of us, and not just the wealthy elite.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Whiny little crybabies

Learn how to speak republican...waaaahhhh!

Leaving aside the fact that republicans aren't arguing that Trump is innocent or that his quid pro quo with Ukraine isn't illegal (which means that he's guilty and that it's illegal), but are criticizing the process under which Democrats are impeaching him....leaves one to wonder if there is no level of chutzpah that republicans won't ignore.

I mean talking about rules when their party's leader has shit on the Constitution, reached levels of corruption that are unprecedented, uses cruelty as a crutch, and thinks his sexual deviancy is a divine right should be cause to allow every American to bitch slap every elected republican whenever they may choose.

How Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer can get through each day without appearing before the press and saying, "You know what? Republicans can go fuck themselves!" is beyond me.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Spare me the crocodile tears

Fuckin' A lock him up...

I might be able to buy into all of the hand wringing over Donald Trump getting booed and the calls to lock him up at the World Series--out of respect for the office of the President, as they claim--if they had shown the same concern for the office of the First Lady, for being a United States Senator, or for the Cabinet Dept. of the Secretary of State...but frankly, they couldn't be bothered.

And methinks this has more to do with Hillary Clinton's lack of a penis than out of any concern with the decorum of the Presidency.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCL--Bread: Aubrey

My introduction to this week's tune wasn't actually the original version, but a cover version by Frank Sinatra...Jr.  Yes, the man whose musical career would have been as long as mine had his father not been one of the greatest crooners in pop music history sang this on some way back when talk show (maybe the Muscular Dystrophy telethons that Jerry Lewis once did?) and I spent years trying to find it, though it probably would have helped had I not thought the song was called "Auburn" instead of "Aubrey."  To this day I have been unable to find the Frank Sinatra, Jr. version, which may have been a one off.  Just as well--the Bread version is much better.

Bread formed in 1968 in Los Angeles and had a nice run over its relatively brief career.  More or less the brainchild of frontman David Gates, Bread had several hits in their first five years before drugs and the strain of constantly recording and touring took their toll, and they called it quits in 1973.  The band re-formed in 1976 for two years, before calling it quits for good until the obligatory Let's Make a Ton of Money Reunion Tour in 1996 (which lasted a year).  During its 1970's heyday, the band released six albums, five of which hit the top thirty on the Billboard 200 (with the highest peaking at #3).  Bread also released thirteen singles during that time, six of which hit the top ten (and with one #1 hit as well).  In keeping with the Let's Make a Ton of Money theme, the band has also released more compilation albums (ten) than it has studio albums--we Americans do love our Greatest Hits packages.  Sadly, three of the five musicians who made the bulk of Bread's music have passed away since 2005, though David Gates continues to record and perform, and had a modicum of success in his post Bread career.

"Aubrey" was released in 1973, the last single from their 1972 release The Guitar Man (the title track is also a really nice tune).  It would eventually reach #15 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.

Fun Fact:  Though used to name children of both sexes, Aubrey was primarily a man's name until the release of this single.  Since that time it has become primarily a woman's name.  Oh, the things you learn here on Friday Night Jukebox....

Given their history (most of the songs I know by Bread, outside of the two tunes noted above, have been incredibly sappy), it would have been easy for Bread to take a song with the subject of an unrequited love and turn it into another mawkish tune.  Somehow Gates avoided his usual fate and turned in a stellar effort, making the love never realized more wistful than maudlin.  The music is sparse, featuring an acoustic guitar, some strings and a celeste (it's looks somewhat like a piano, but hits different octaves--and yes, I had to look it up to know that), but it's Gates' vocals which carry the song.  He has several very lovely moments when his voice hits higher notes to stress the emotion of the lyric--it probably happens in ballads more than I realize, but I really noticed it in "Aubrey."  In the end, Gates does a fine job of showcasing why the girl was so special to him and why, while his life will go on, there will always be a little sadness that he never got to know her.  I don't feature a lot of ballads here on FNJ, so when I do you know that it's a special tune...and I'd say that "Aubrey" fits that bill nicely.

Lyric Sheet:  "But how I miss the girl/And I'd go a million times around the world just to say/She had been mine for a day..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCXLIX--Bananarama: Really Saying Something

While technically their second single, this week's tune was the first of theirs I had heard and one I fell in love with at first listen...and still am in love with to this day.  As is sometimes the case, though, the band never had another song that I even remotely liked.  Doesn't make the magic of the first any less wondrous....

Bananarama formed in 1981 in London by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, and Karen Woodward.  They were an immediate success--within a year they had a record deal and three top ten hits in their native U.K.  Over the course of the last thirty-eight years, Bananarama has released nine studio LPs (their debut album is the only top ten hit they had in the U.K, and their best showing here in America was #15), and, wait for it...twelve compilation albums, because surprisingly enough, they became one hell of a singles band, especially in the U.K.  They have released forty-five singles, 31 of which charted in the United Kingdom (ten in the top ten, but nary a number one), and 11 here in America (with three top tens and one #1).  Dallin and Woodward have remained with Bananarama since their forming, but Fahey (who married and eventually divorced Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame) became disillusioned with the band's direction and left to form Shakespears Sister (with which she had some success, including a Brit Award).  They reunited in 2017 for the obligatory Let's Make a Hell of a Lot of Money Reunion Tour, and Fahey once again departed at its end.  Bananarama released their latest album this year, and is touring in support of it.

Fun Fact:  Bananarama is in the Guiness Book of World Records for having the most charted singles by an all female group.

"Really Saying Something" was released in 1982 from Bananarama's debut album, Deep Sea Skiving (Skiving, for the two of you who may be interested, is British slang for skipping school or work without good reason--and yes, I had to look it up).  It would reach #5 on the U.K. charts, though only climbing to #108 (with a kinda/sorta bullet?) on the Billboard Hot 100 (the Hot 100 has an addendum called "Bubbling Under" which charts the ten singles between 101 and 110).  At some point I should also note that the British ska band Fun Boy Three provided backing vocals for the chorus...which probably only matters to the members of Fun Boy Three and their families....

Let's see...female vocalists?  Check.  Incredibly catchy Motown tune (originally released as "He Was
Really Saying Something" by the Velvelettes in 1964)?  Check.  Funky drum and bass beats?  Check.  Nonsensical yet fun phrasing in the chorus ("Bop bop shoo be doo wah")?  Check.  And that's about all you need to know--a really bouncy pop tune about a boy trying (and succeeding!) to win a girl's heart.  Banararama stayed true to the song's Motown roots (especially with the harmonies) while adding a few modern (at the time) touches by infusing the song with reggae/ska inflections.  "Really Saying Something" isn't a song to make anyone forget "Born to Run" but it's still a hell of a pop tune and another nice edition to the pantheon here at Friday Night Jukebox.

Lyric Sheet:  "My heart started thumping'Blood pressure jumping/He was really saying something/Really saying something/Bop bop shoo be doo wah..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee