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