Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. XLVI--Todd Rundgren: Hello It's Me

All right--raise your hands if you've ever heard of Todd Rundgren...anyone?  Anyone?

Believe it or not, Rundgren has had quite the career--noted as an engineer and producer for acts as diverse as The Band, XTC, Patti Smith, Hall and Oates, Meatloaf, Badfinger, and the New York Dolls (among others); he began making music in 1966 and is still going today, releasing over twenty-five albums, including Something/Anything?  (whence came "Hello It's Me") which appears at #173 on Rolling Stone's list of the five hundred greatest albums of all time; more than forty years after their respective releases "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw the Light" are still staples on AOR stations: and his influence on power pop and progressive rock is immeasurable (some consider Rundgren's "Couldn't I Just Tell You" to be the first and/or greatest power pop song ever).

"Hello It's Me," which reached #5 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100  was originally recorded in a much sparser version with Rundgren's first band, Nazz in 1968.  Rundgren re-recorded the song for Something/Anything? and our world is a better place for it.  The song opens with a jaunty piano (somewhat reminiscent of Carole King) and Rundgren's heartfelt vocals and as it progresses it incorporates a lively organ, a plethora of horns (sax, trumpet, and one you don't hear too often in pop songs, a trombone), and some gospel tinged backing vocals.  Toss in some wise beyond their years lyrics about the nuances of a relationship and you have a pop song for the ages.  Listening to it as a whole, it's not hard to see why Rundgren's reputation as a producer is well deserved.

Aside:  If you're going to listen to one old fart album this year, make it Something/Anything?  Hell, it would be worth the time and effort just in reading the libretto (penned by Rundgren himself).

Just sos you knows, it's a great song to listen to if you "...ever need a reason to smile."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee

Smile on your brother (or not)

It's hard to figure out what the republicans endgame is in their reactions to the student protests at the University of Missouri--Donald Trump called the students' actions disgusting, Ben Carson said it was political correctness run amok, and Chris Christie claimed it was all President Obama's fault (though one supposes republicans could find a link to blame Obama for the Black Death regardless of the fact that it happened 700 years before his birth).  Um...don't republicans pretty much have the racist vote already sewn up?

Good to see, though, here in 2015, that republicans are still fighting the battles of the 1960s  (those goshdarned hippies!)--furthering their soon to be relegation to the dustbins of our history.

Peace,
emaycee

Truer words...

In a recent interview with The Atlantic, Bill Gates (aka, the richest man in the world) said, "...the private sector is in general inept."

In other words, there is nothing that the government can do that Corporate America can't do a lot worse--and make our lives hellish while they're doing it.

Peace,
emaycee

Fight for $Survival

A lot of brave folks walked off their jobs again today in their fight for a $15 minimum wage.  While there's still a ways to go, the workers at least have Democrats talking about it and republicans falling all over themselves to explain why it's okay for McDonald's CEO to live high on the hog while his workers can't buy basic necessities (rent, food) even when working 40 hours a week (and good luck to republicans with that one).

But it's not just a fight for minimum wage workers--it's eventually going to be a fight for all of us:

• Since 1973 our productivity is up but the median wage, in terms of buying power, has fallen $3000 a year.  We're getting a lot more done but we're getting paid less for it...and somebody's getting that money.
• Between 2000 and 2015, the percentage of corporate income devoted to workers' wages has declined by almost 7%--which means we all have lost $535 billion in wages over the past fifteen years.  Again, somebody's getting that money.
• Corporate profits since the Great Recession are up 22%, but there are still 5% less jobs than when it started.  Can I get a witness?  Somebody is getting that money.

Eventually we're all going to have to stand up to the degradation of our wages or else in the end "somebody" is going to get their desired endgame and the rest of us will all end up looking a whole hell of a lot like the poor bastards in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle.

Peace,
emaycee

Three's a (good) crowd

The most striking takeaway from last Friday's Democratic Presidential Forum with Rachel Maddow was that of the three remaining candidates--Hillary Clinton, Martin O'Malley, and Bernie Sanders--she interviewed, all three came across as legitimately able to be our next President.

And after watching the circus that has been the republican campaign thus far, that's three more than they have out of their fifteen remaining candidates.

Peace,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. XLV--Bright Eyes: Lua

While I realize that great music can come from any old place, I have to admit that when I think of such places, Omaha, Nebraska isn't exactly high on the list.  It's possible, sure, but....

Fortunately, geography isn't a litmus test for great music--and as such, this week's featured song comes straight from America's breadbasket, right there in the great state of Nebraska, specifically, the city of Omaha, and one Conor Oberst, the (very) young man behind Bright Eyes.

I don't really remember what I was doing when I was thirteen (though it probably had something to do with baseball and the sinking feeling that I wasn't ever going to be any good at that whole girls thing), but I most certainly wasn't releasing my debut album.  Conor Oberst was.  And he has been at it ever since, in may different incarnations (Desaparecidos, Monsters of Folk, Mystic Valley Band), and at the age of thirty-five has had as full of a career as many acts pack into several decades.  He also has the distinction of being one of the few acts to have singles holding the #1 ("Lua") and #2 ("Take It Easy (Love Nothing)" on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales Chart.

Released on the most excellent I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning album, "Lua" ("Lua" is the Portuguese word for moon--most sensible definition I found) is basically Conor Oberst and his acoustic guitar (the guitar remains perfect lightly strummed background noise throughout).  The song belies the youthful age (24) of its songwriter--there's a maturity, especially in its resignation, that one doesn't usually see in someone so young.  There is no happy ending in "Lua"--both characters have fucked up lives and their lives are still going to be fucked up tomorrow.  There's also an honesty in both its portrayal and its truths (the line "you can count on me to split"  is a perfect example) that makes it work despite its rather depressing subjects.

The other strength of the song comes in Oberst's vocals, which are figuratively reminiscent of Kris Kristofferson's in "Help Me Make It Through the Night" (with a much similar subject).  His voice is full of sorrow but not defeat (yet), and he expresses it with some really amazing pregnant pauses and quirky inflections.  Vocally, Oberst is like an actor putting it all out there in a climactic scene--he's baring it all, and whether he succeeds or fails, he's going to do it magnificently.

Needless to say, Oberst succeeds magnificently.

Truer words and all that:  "'Cause what is simple in the moonlight by the morning never is...."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee

Signifying nothing

There has been much talk today about what Matt Bevin's surprise win in the Kentucky Governor's race yesterday means for Democrats in 2016.  And I'm here to tell you what it means:  absolutely nothing.

Like most Democrats, I find our inability to turn out voters in odd years and our lack of success in down ballot elections to be deeply disconcerting (though unlike many in the traditional media, I admit that we are hamstrung by some brutal gerrymandering).  But yesterday's results in Kentucky do not mean that Democratic turnout in 2016 will be depressed (after our turnouts in 2008 and 2012 as well as having a very formidable candidate in either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders 2016 is going to be another good year for the good guys).  Basically, Jack Conway ran the same race against Bevins that Alison Lundergan Grimes ran against Mitch McConnell in 2014:  he disowned Obama and ran as a DINO.  And predictably, he got his ass kicked, just like Lundergan Grimes did.

And just what kind of bozo do you have to be to believe that the results in a republican stronghold in the south are going to give pause to voters in blue and purple states?  Because I'm pretty certain that voters in California and Ohio are not going to think, "You know, racism and homophobia work for me!" and vote republican in 2016.

If anything, I think it helps Democrats.  For one, it is a bit of a wake up call to take nothing for granted.  More importantly, though, I think it gives republicans a false sense of confidence heading into 2016 (witness Bevins telling Kentuckians after his victory that Kentucky had a chance to drive the national narrative in 2016--with all due respect to Kentuckians, an insignificant state like Kentucky will never have the chance to drive the national narrative).  Democrats are still the overwhelming favorites to retain the White House, have a better than 50/50 chance to take back the Senate, and though it won't be enough, will also help us to improve down ballot.

In the end, it's all much ado about nothing.

Peace,
emaycee