Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCXLI--Phish: Character Zero

From the You've Come A Long Way, Baby Files:  When this week's tune was first released, we had quite the time at the music store where I worked figuring out the word in the chorus that came after "I've seen the man..." (the album did not have a lyric sheet).  Our best guess was actually correct (it was "Mulcahy"), which I found out a few years later when that newfangled Internet thingie had become quite the rage.  Nowadays, we could have googled the song and known the answer in about thirty seconds or so....

Phish began in 1983 at that hotbed for rock and roll acts, the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont.  Other than a hiatus from 2000-2002 and a disbandment from 2004-2008, the band has been together since then, and four of the original five members have been together since 1986.  While they have had a decent amount of commercial success, much like the Grateful Dead (who they are often compared to and at one time resisted such a comparison) they have made their mark as a live band, with devoted followers the world over.  Through the course of their career, Phish has released 16 studio albums (six of which have reached the top twenty on the Billboard 200), and, not surprisingly as a band well known for its live performances, have officially released 15 live albums (two of which hit the top twenty).  In all, Phish has sold over 8 million albums and DVDs in the U.S.--which ain't half bad for four guys from the University of Vermont.

Fun Fact:  During their 1995 tour, Phish challenged their fans to two games of chess.  At each concert, Phish would make a move sometime before or during their first set, and the audience was invited to make a move during the band's set break.  Phish won the first, and their fans the second.  There's never a dull moment in the world of rock and roll...

"Character Zero" was not released as a single (though Phish has released a couple of singles, none have ever charted on the Billboard Hot 100).  It was the second song on their album Billy Breathes, which is notable not only for being the highest charting album Phish has ever had (#7), but for its disturbing cover, which would probably end up in the pantheon of disturbing albums covers despite the fact that its image contains nothing that is either pornographic or violent.

"Character Zero" explores the conundrum between opposing statements--in this case between "life is short so stop and smell the roses" and "life is short so seize the day" (my favorite is "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and "out of sight, out of mind" both of which I have found to be true over the course of my life).  While there are no grand answers, there is a nice rock and roll song--which features only one stanza and the simple chorus of "I've seen the man Mulcahy" (Mulcahy has been said to refer to a D.J. that songwriters Trey Anastasio and Tom Marshall liked, God, or, in a reference to God, Father Mulcahy from the old M*A*S*H TV show).  The first time the stanza is played quietly with a funky guitar as its background, and the second is full on rock and roll.  There's a great instrumental jam--surprise!--about halfway through that will thrill any fans of old fashioned electric guitar, and a nice vocal performance throughout, especially considering the range it follows.  I've never been a big fan of jam bands (though many have had some delightful moments), but this one is a hell of a pop song from a group of very musically talented young men.  And another in a long line of surprising songs that seem to come from out of nowhere (or the rock and roll ether, your choice).

Lyric Sheet:  "Well I'm convinced the whole day long/That all I learn is always wrong/And things are true that I forget/But no one taught that to me yet..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

May he rot and burn in hell

Another disciple is on the way!

David Koch, who with his brother Charles was responsible for making the economic well-being as well as the health from food safety to climate change, from affordable healthcare to pollution controls, considerably worse for 95% of the people on the entire planet, and was a poster boy for all the evil that unfettered greed foments, died today.

Good-fucking-bye and good fucking riddance.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Their terrible roars

Back to the future?

Egberto Willies had an interesting piece in The Daily Kos this past weekend in which he posited that republicans are doing the necessary groundwork to set up for minority rule.  While I believe republicans are a little further along than Mr. Willies estimates, I've actually thought about this for a while (since there are more red states by number than blue states and each state gets two senators, the Senate has for quite some time now done the bidding of a minority of Americans), my question is "For how long?"

Instances where a minority rules a majority don't usually end well for the minority--and I have a hard time imagining America will be any different.

From gun control to healthcare, from climate change to minimum wage laws, republicans have consistently supported the few--and it's only a matter of time before the shit hits the fan.

If they're lucky, it will just be an electoral  landslide.  If not...

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

For I was hungry and you gave me food

Republican version:  if you're poor, fuck off

Donald Trump's acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Agency, Ken Cucinelli, went on NPR this week and announced that as far as he was concerned the motto on America's Statue of Liberty should read, "Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet, and who will not become a public charge."

This is wrong on so many levels (we won't help those in need, so what, the government can give even more of our money to rich people?), but the one that kills me the most is that I can goddamn guarantee that Cucinelli will swear to the high and holy heavens that he's a good Christian...and yet completely ignores that the Bible has numerous instances of Christ imploring his followers to reach out and help the poor.

It's not even the hypocrisy anymore--it's a complete and total lack of being able to see the humanity in these people.  They've become nothing more than psychopathic flacks whose hateful rhetoric and actions are turning America into an actual shithole.

The whole lot of them needs to be set adrift on the cesspool from which they emanated.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Stupid is as stupid does

Your average republican

In his infinite wisdom (that's sarcasm for my republican readers), Donald Trump has decided to make a campaign issue out of cities that are banning plastic straws in favor of paper straws.  One fully understands how earth shattering not being able to purchase plastic straws must be to republicans, so Trump has been selling them to his more than gullible supporters--a box of ten for $15.00.  And thus far, Trump has sold over 44,000 of them.

Not sure how much grocery shopping your every day republican does, but at the store where I work we sell them at .99 cents for a box of fifty.  Man, I'm all in for Elizabeth Warren in 2020, but there's no way I'm sending her fifteen bucks for ten straws.  I mean it really takes a special kind of stupid to fork over an hour's pay for a ten cheap shit straws made in China.

I swear, just for shits and grins Democratic led cities should start passing laws outlawing hitting one's testicles with a hammer.  I'd really love to know how many republicans would smash their gonads just to troll the libtards.

If they did, though, at least the morons wouldn't be able to breed anymore.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Look in the mirror, mother fucker

You don't have to be Einstein to figure this one out, Mitt

In the wake of the El Paso shootings, Utah republican Senator Mitt Romney tweeted out the trite thoughts and prayers, and at the end of his tweet asked "From what dark and repugnant corner of the mind comes such senseless and vile brutality?"

Um, how about the corner occupied by your fucking President?

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Rat smells his own hole first

In a wee bit of trouble there, Donnie?

Despite Donald Trump's conspiracy ridiculousness (what, the Clinton's control Trump's government? riiigghhhhtttt...), it makes a whole hell of a lot more sense that if Jeffrey Epstein's apparent suicide was either enabled or was actually murder for it to be the responsibility of the Trump administration.  Bill Clinton was a skirt chaser--Donald Trump has shown again and again that he's a sexual predator, the kind that would make a perfect fit with a sex trafficker like Epstein.

Besides, even if Clinton has a role in the upcoming documents to be released from Epstein's original trial, it's an embarrassment (and an expensive divorce from Mrs. Clinton) for the Democrats.  If (if? yeah, sure...) Trump has a role it's a disaster of epic proportions.  The President of the United States having sex with underage girls?  And young women that were trafficked as well?  Not even sure our pathetic media could explain away that.

I don't want to sound like some Trump supporter conspiracy theorist--time will tell if there was foul play or if Epstein just decided he didn't want to spend the rest of his life in jail (though if I were a betting man, I'd bet on the foul play).

But the plain truth is that if the Epstein documents blow up, Trump has a lot more to lose than anyone else in the entire world.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCXL--Donnie Iris: Ah! Leah!

There are any number of artists that I've enjoyed a song or two by...and then because of time and circumstance never delve much deeper into their music catalog only to be surprised years later that they actually had a bit more success than I had noticed.  Such was the case with this week's artist--who went on to release ten albums after his solo debut and have a number of top 100 singles after I'd enjoyed the hell out of what I thought was his one hit.

Donnie Iris was born Dominic Ierace in New Castle, Pennsylvania in 1943, took up music at a young age, and hasn't stopped making it since.  He was in a number of local bands before helping to form The Jaggerz in 1964, and in 1970 the band had a #2 hit with "The Rapper," written by Iris (I actually gave it a listen, and if you're a fan of 70's style pop--as I am--it's definitely worth your time).  Alas, future success eluded the band and Iris would join up with white boy funk band Wild Cherry (of "Play That Funky Music" fame) for their final release.  Through Wild Cherry Iris met Mark Avsec, and in 1980 Iris would form Donnie Iris and the Cruisers, of which Avsec was the chief Cruiser.  While big success never materialized for Iris, he did go on to release 11 albums, the last of which was released in 2010.  His first five albums all reached the Billboard 200, and between them had seven singles hit the Billboard Hot 100.  Donnie Iris and the Cruisers continue to tour, mostly in his native Pennsylvania up through Cleveland.  All in all, one would have to say for a minor player on the music scene, Iris ended up having a hell of a career.

"Ah! Leah!" was the first single released from Iris' first solo effort, Back on the Streets, in 1980.  It would eventually reach #29 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, though surprisingly to me the song wasn't Iris' biggest hit.  His single "My Girl" charted at #25 a few years later.

Fun Fact:  Iris certainly hasn't been afraid to capitalize on the success of "Ah! Leah!"--in the years since its charting, Iris has released a live album entitled Ah! Live! and a Christmas album called Ah! Leluiah!  Nothing like a hit single to help your Ah! Livelihood!

Iris has been nothing if not versatile in his music throughout the years--"The Rapper" is a War influenced funk pop hit, "My Girl" is a throwback to fifties doo wop groups (Iris once led a doo wop band), and "Ah! Leah!" is pure power pop.  Opening with some forceful power chords, "Ah! Leah!" tells the story of a man and a woman who despite their having a volatile previous relationship can't overcome their intense desire for each other when they're in close proximity.  Iris evokes the man's passion with compelling vigor and the band's choral backing through the chorus makes for a dynamic interplay.  There's a nice guitar solo, the drums highlight the narrative's intensity, and Iris hits some octaves in the song's coda that are beyond us mere mortal singers.  It's a hell of a single--especially for a guy whose persona at the time was a cross between Buddy Holly and Steve Urkel....

Lyric Sheet:  "It ain't no use!  We're headed for disaster/Our minds said "No!" But our hearts were talkin' faster, Leah!...

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCXXXIX--Sophie B. Hawkins: Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover

This week's tune is a bit different than my usual fare--in fact it's the type of song that generally bores me, but for some odd-ass reason this one stayed with me.  Though I'd be willing to bet my penchant for females vocalists played at least a small part.

Sophie B. Hawkins (the B. is for her middle name, Ballantine) was born in Manhattan, and like many a Friday Night Jukebox alumni has managed to turn a modicum of commercial success into a lifetime of making music.  After attending the Manhattan School of Music for a year and studying percussion, Hawkins left to begin her career in music.  She released her debut album in 1992, which featured her first hit single, and she was also nominated that year for the Best New Artist Grammy.  Hawkins would go on to release five total albums (though she's only released one since 2004), two of which hit the Billboard 200.  In keeping with what has been somewhat of a theme this year, she has released almost as many compilations (three) as she has studio albums.  Hawkins also had two singles make the top ten.  She continues to tour and also has become a painter.  What a great gig--make a little music and you, too, can become Picasso...

"Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" was released in 1992 on Hawkins' first album, Tongues and Tails.  It was her biggest charting hit, reaching #5 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.

Yeah...quasi-dance songs that make much use of synthesizers don't generally tend to be my kinds of songs, but there's a quaintness to Hawkins lyrics and a fierceness in her vocals that makes the song's protagonist's desire come to life.  Hawkins makes good use of her percussion training, as well as offering enough directional breaks in the music to keep it interesting.  If nothing else, her use of the age-old word "shucks"--which as far as I know, it's the only song that ever has--gives it a smile worthy moment, and the best songs so often have those special little quirks that keep you listening again and again...just to hear that special little quirk again and again.  In the end, a powerful performance by Hawkins plus a universal theme makes for a dandy little tune.

Lyric Sheet:  "Shucks, for me there is no other/You're the only shoe that fits/I can't imagine I'll grow out of it..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,

emaycee

More of this, please

When asked by members of the media if there was anything Donald Trump could do to make things better after 29 Americans died in less than 24 hours due to mass shootings, Beto O'Rourke responded thusly:


"What do you think? You know the shit he’s been saying. He’s been calling Mexican immigrants racists and criminals. I don’t know, like, members of the press, what the fuck? Hold on a second. You know I, it’s these questions that you know the answer to. I mean, connect the dots about what he’s been doing in this country. He’s not tolerating racism, he’s promoting racism. He’s not tolerating violence, he’s inciting racism and violence in this country. So, you know, I just, I don’t know what kind of question that is."


History will not be kind to members of our current media who seem to live in an alternate reality when it comes to Donald Trump--but Beto O'Rourke today gave them a much deserved boot to the head.

It probably won't make much of a difference amongst the media--but if O'Rourke's questioning of the media's motives gets a few Americans to understand the media's utter incompetence in reporting Donald Trump's racism and clarion calls to white nationalism, the better our chances of sending him back to the cesspool from whence he came in 2020.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Ready Bullshit One

Yeah, it's all Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde's fault

How fucking stupid are republicans?

House Minority Idiot Kevin McCarthy and Texas Lieutenant Moron Dan Patrick both went on Fox News (who else would believe such idiocy?) today to say that the mass shootings that continue to plague America are the fault of video games.

This might work if no other nation on the face of the earth had video games, but since they all do and none of them have near the problem America does with mass shootings, it's pretty easy to call bullshit on the latest republican excuse.

No, the problem is Donald Trump's racism.

And Mitch McConnell's fealty to both Russia and the NRA.

And not treating white nationalists exactly as we would treat Islamic terrorist cells.

But the one thing I can guarantee you it is not, is fucking video games.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

No. Just No.

These are the hands of the republican party

You know what's un-American?  Shooting innocent people because you don't like the way the country's future demographics are playing out.

And despite the claims from those on the right, it's also racist.

For the record, white nationalists are a much greater threat to the future of America than Islamic terrorists.

Fuck Donald Trump

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCXXXVIII--Guns N' Roses: Patience

Shortly after Guns N' Roses released Appetite for Destruction, I told my then boss at the music company where I worked that I thought GNR had a chance to be as big as Led Zeppelin had been back in the day.  My boss (an idiot) scoffed--but I tell you what, while they might not have become quite as influential as Zeppelin, they came pretty darn close.

Guns N' Roses had its beginnings in 1985 with remnants (and then some others) from the Los Angeles based bands Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns.  As with most of the other bands featured here who became larger than life, their history is a bit long to recap in a paragraph so I'll just recap some of their highlights. The five original members (Axl Rose, Slash-great rock and roll nickname--,Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan, and Steven Adler) survived together until the mid-nineties, but those first ten years could best be described as incredibly tumultuous, with much infighting and even more drug abuse.  Eventually lead singer Axl Rose consolidated control of GNR--though the original band reformed in 2016 for a world tour.  They've released six studio albums, two of which have hit #1, two of which hit #2, and one each at #'s 3 and 4, and one greatest hits package which hit #3.  They've sold over one hundred million records worldwide and are the 41st best selling music artist of all time.  Their debut album, the aforementioned Appetite for Destruction, is the best selling debut album in American history, and is the 11th best selling album of all-time in the U.S.  Their reunion tour grossed $562 million and is the second highest grossing tour ever.  They were elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 (their first year of eligibility), and show up on numerous best bands/albums/songs of all-time compilations.  The band has not been without controversy--numerous law suits, and charges of racism and misogyny have dogged the band (much deserved) many times through the years.  Despite that, their legacy as one of rock's greatest band is secure.

"Patience" was the only single from their second album G N' R Lies (released in 1988).  The song would reach #4 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, and has been a staple of their live shows since its debut.

Fans of Friday Night Jukebox (both of you) will correctly surmise that "Patience" is a song directly up emaycee's alley.  A ballad with credible lyrics, not one, not two, but three acoustic guitars, and in a bit of a twist, the song opens with almost a minute of Axl Rose whistling (for those who think this is minor, try whistling a tune for a minute--it isn't easy).  I've always been of the belief that the true measure of a guitarist's greatness is how well he or she does with an acoustic guitar (don't take that the wrong way--I loves me some electric guitar) because of the nuances (the lack of power generated by an amp).  Just listen to the fancy acoustic parts in this one--Slash's fingers dance ever so nimbly again and again.  But what really takes the song into the stratosphere--and solidifies its greatness--is the song's coda, wherein Rose rips apart his vocal cords to tell the woman of the song in a quasi-rap how much he needs her, while the acoustic guitars strum lightly and the band provides a calm backing with their cooing of "patience, yeah..." over and over.  Just a great song from a great--if greatly flawed--band.

Lyric Sheet:  "Shed a tear 'cause I'm missin' you/I'm still alright to smile..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

A moment of clarity

Goddamn, right--embrace who we are

"If we embrace a far-left agenda, they're gonna say we're a bunch of crazy Socialists.

If we embrace a Conservative agenda...they're gonna say we're a bunch of crazy Socialists."


That was South Bend, IN mayor and 2020 Democratic Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg at this week's debate amongst the 20 some odd Democratic candidates vying to be the one to send Donald Trump back to whatever sewer it was he crawled out of in New York.  Of all the points made by the all the candidates in the four debates thus far, this is far and away the most important. 

Only four or five of those candidates will be left standing after Iowa and New Hampshire, and a year from now there will be only one.  Whoever that candidate may be, it is vital, as Mayor Buttigieg has implied above, that he or she run focusing on our agenda and not on theirs. 

Ours is the only one that matters--running a republican lite campaign (or on promises of some kind of bipartisan bullshit) is a sure way to depress Democratic turnout and, even worse, not give Independent voters a reason to vote for us. And it's also one sure way to give Donald Trump another four years to destroy everything America is and will be.

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

The audacity of dopes

What fucking alternative reality do you live in, Senator Rubio?

Florida Senator Marco Rubio took to Twitter this week to defend Mitch McConnell, who's a bit upset that his new nickname, Moscow Mitch, is sticking to him like stink to shit.  Considering Donald Trump's collusion and McConnell's refusal to let the Senate vote on any election security bills, Rubio actually had the fucking gall to tell Americans not to fall into Vladimir Putin's trap because Putin's tactics served neither party and were just trying to divide us.

Hey, Marco--three words for you, buddy:  go fuck yourself.

Moscow Mitch it is!

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee