Greatest Song Evah 10/18/24
We Want The Airwaves
The basic Ramones formula is well known. A hard-driving guitar rocker in 4/4 time that’s equally inspired by classic garage rock and AM radio pop. It’s in and out in just over two minutes until it’s time for Dee Dee to count off “1, 2, 3, 4!” and go directly to the next song. That foundation worked well for almost 20 years, but the Ramones did in fact expand on that. Look at this song; it’s more than 3:30 long. That’s practically an epic by Ramones standards. And is that an instrumental break that I hear?
From their 1981 album Pleasant Dreams, lyrically this follows one of their standard themes. Rock music has been getting lame, it needs a kick in the nuts which only a band such as the Ramones can adequately provide. It’s a bit ironic that this song is just as much of a metal song as it is a punk one, as in 1981 radio stations were not touching hard rock with a ten foot pole either. They woulda coulda shoulda seized the airwaves with better timing. If this had come out 4 years later it would have perfectly fit in with the sounds that were dominating MTV & radio play, but the commercial success that the Ramones deserved was constantly just out of reach.
In conclusion, oh yeah, all right, let’s rock, tonight!
Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
Right now there are just Too. Many. Sports. I’ve had many a multi screen setup for these past few weeks, but sometimes I do need to focus on one event. On Wednesday evening I devoted the bulk of my attention to the Mets/Dodgers game at the expense of the Liberty/Lynx one. Once it was clear that the Mets game was out of hand I finally turned over to the W. So, I didn’t catch much of the big Liberty comeback, but I did see the last 4 minutes, most importantly Sabrina Ionescu’s game winning logo 3. Now, the Liberty are only 1 victory away from their first ever championship. They can wrap it up tonight. But what an exciting finals this has been. All 3 games have been soooooo close; even Game 2, which the Liberty won by double digits. It was a 2 point game late in the 4th. Really, either team could have easily swept the series by now.
I’ll have more to say next week, but suffice it to say 2024 has been a triumph for the WNBA. Sadly, the increased visibility has also brought with it attention from the worst corners of society. The players have been targeted online by awful trolling; it’s much more than the standard heckling that keyboard warriors throw at professional athletes. WNBA hoopsters have had to put up with horrible levels of misogyny, racism, and homophobia. Through no fault of her own Caitlin Clark has found herself in the middle of a lot of this. As a white, straight woman from the Midwest there is a certain segment of the population that props her up as a representative of “Real America.”
One of the more regrettable repercussions of that came after Connecticut’s DiJonai Carrington fouled Clark in a playoff game and she was hit with unimaginable levels of racist commentary. That’s just one example. Time and time again throughout the late stages of the season and in the playoffs players have used postgame press conferences as a platform to share such bile. And a couple of days ago Breanna Stewart revealed that she had to contact law enforcement after threatening emails had been sent to her wife.
In an unforced error league commissioner Cathy Engelbert responded to a question about the issue by talking about how rivalries are good for the game; comments that were so tone deaf that I’m sure she regretted them the moment they came out of her mouth. This understandably angered the players association; they certainly want more concrete evidence that leadership has their back. Given a second chance Engelbert walked it back and the league intends to be more proactive in fighting online harassment.
It’s great that the league’s popularity is soaring so high. That popularity should not result in insecure men demonstrating no sense of basic decency. Why are people the way they are? There is a terrible tendency in our current culture for s***ty people to act as s***ty as they can without suffering any consequences. If there is any blowback they just yell “Cancel Culture!” and walk away unscathed. It’s all so depressing.
Notes
This is no surprise - we all saw the footage - but Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg will not be ready for the beginning of the 2025 season following the extensive damage that Hurricane Milton did to the facility’s roof. This raises the question as to where the Tampa Bay Rays will play their home games while repairs are going on. None of the options are ideal. There are several spring training and/or minor league sites relatively close to the Tampa/St. Pete area, but by definition those locales are not major league caliber. What makes the most sense - the Disney complex in Orlando? Traveling further south and sharing Loan Depot Park with the Marlins? Going to a large southeastern city that has hopes of becoming an expansion city such as Charlotte or Nashville? One option that has been jokingly brought up is Oakland; they do have a stadium with 81 free dates next year. It’s logistically impossible, however. Next year’s schedule has been drawn up and there’s no way the league can force a team to go on a road trip that suddenly places an Oakland trip in the middle of an east coast swing.
After what has arguably been the most embarrassing season in major league history, Britt Ghiroli reports that Jerry Reinsdorf just might be in the process of selling the White Sox. As someone who knows too well what it’s like to root for a baseball team run by an owner who runs the club that poorly, I’m rooting for the best outcome for you ChiSox fans. This blew my mind - the White Sox won the World Series in 2005. That has been the only season during Reinsdorf’s 40 year+ reign in which they won a single playoff series. Wow. And then there was this nugget which Joe Posnanski shared this week. This year the Sox had a record of 0-79 when trailing after 6 innings. They did not have a single comeback win. I mean, my math could be off, but I believe the Mets had 79 comeback victories in September alone. That stat is even more mind blowing than the fact that Yoan Moncada was second on the team in offensive WAR this season. He played in 12 games.
SNL & Hall of Fame Previews
Going as far back as season 1, SNL has largely limited the schedule to 3 live episodes in a row followed by at least one week off. That’s because putting the weekly show together is an exhausting process; everyone needs those weeks off to reduce the chances of burnout. The rare exceptions come during Presidential election years. That’s why we have a 4th consecutive new episode this week, with Michael Keaton hosting for the 4th time. Keaton has long been one of my all-time favorites; he made an impression in a string of failed TV shows well before his star-making role in Night Shift. Anyone else remember Report To Murphy? Or Working Stiffs? Just me? He tends to lean more towards drama than comedy in his acting roles these days, but as the Beetlejuice sequel proved he still gets good use out of his comedy muscles and he has always made for a strong SNL host. The musical guest is Billie Eilish, who is on pace to one day match Paul Simon’s number of appearances. Give her time.
The entertainment highlight of the weekend will be taking place in Cleveland with the 39th (!) Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony, streaming live on Disney+ and available on demand immediately afterwards. Now, I know that not everyone shares the same level of enthusiasm for the Hall that I do. Some loathe the very concept, and say FOAD to all involved. Others look at it with a shrug and move on to other topics. All are valid.
But… regardless of one’s feelings towards the Hall it’s undeniable that the ceremony itself is a special evening. There are wonderful moments to be found, whether you intend to watch the whole thing or find ABC’s edited version that will air on New Years Day suffice. This is partially because there is such a wide range of feelings shared among those being honored. Some look at it as the culmination of, and validation for, an entire career. Some think “goody, another trophy” and go through the motions. Some have those same loathsome feelings I mentioned in the previous paragraph and only attend under duress to make their fans happy. Some take the opportunity to hold a warm reunion with estranged former band mates. Some are unwilling or unable to let bygones be and stir up the hard feelings that caused a band to break up in the first place. And some go full Sex Pistols and metaphorically piss all over the event. Once again, all are valid.
A couple of additional names have been added to the ceremony since I last checked in. Zendaya will perform with Cher, and Teyana Taylor will present Dionne Warwick. There will be some big names performing in honor of A Tribe Called Quest. In addition to the previously announced Busta Rhymes, it will include De La Soul, Queen Latifah, Common, and The Roots. We also got our first bit of drama. There will be a skeleton crew representing Foreigner; both Mick Jones and Dennis Elliott pulled out at the last minute. Finally, after some early indications that he might attempt to perform, it now appears that Ozzy Osbourne will not sing. That’s understandable; his health issues are why he has stopped touring.
Here are the main unanswered questions: How will the ceremony acknowledge Big Mama Thornton/Alexis Korner/John Mayall/Norman Whitfield? I have not seen the Hall announce any performers or presenters for those acts, so it’s possible their inductions will be limited to film clips. Will the In Memoriam segment also single out one or two deceased performers for a song in their honor following the montage? Who will open & close the ceremony? It makes logical sense to kick off the evening with a performance of Celebration, so I suspect Kool & the Gang will be the first act inducted. For the closing, ideally you would want someone who could either end the show with a song that gets the entire audience singing, or one who would lend themselves to a jam-packed all-star performance. Cher seems the likeliest, but I’m only half joking when I say that show producers are worried that if they make Cher wait too long after a couple of hours she’ll just say “f*** this” and go home. Therefore, I think the Ozzy segment will close the evening.
If you’re asking me if I intend to watch the ceremony in its entirety then you don’t know me very well. Of course I’m in it for the duration. I’ll have a full recap of the event in Monday’s newsletter. In the meantime I’ll leave you with this thought. Artists are eligible for induction 25 years after their first release. Next year is 2025. We could see as soon as next year the first Hall of Famer whose career takes place entirely in the 21st century. I don’t see anyone on the list of newly eligible artists who is likely to make it in as a first year eligible, but it’s still another example of Too Much Perspective. Where does the time go?
The Oscar Mulligan - 1995
Best Picture - Braveheart
Other Nominees - Apollo 13, Babe, Il Postino, Sense and Sensibility
Filmmakers have a tough task when it comes to movies about historical events and figures. A real life event does not follow the natural flow of a movie’s 3-act storytelling format. To fit the pace of a movie sometimes the order of events needs to be changed, or it’s necessary to create composite characters. There’s nothing wrong with doing this as long as it doesn’t affect the fundamental truth of the story. Let’s face it, most people don’t read history books; many are likely to believe that what is on screen is the gospel truth.
I say because as great of a movie as Braveheart is - and that is despite the whole Mel Gibsonness of the project - boy oh boy is it brimming with historical inaccuracy. I think most viewers are sophisticated enough to understand that the movie’s depiction of Edward I dying mere moments before William Wallace’s execution was unlikely. It’s dramatic to have Wallace outlive his enemy, but IRL Edward survived Wallace by several years. Other fact fudges in the movie were much more egregious. There is zero historical evidence that the concept of jus primae noctis existed, which the movie would have you believe is what instigated Wallace’s rebellion in the first place. While it’s certainly true that Edward II was gay, there is no indication that he was the spineless, limp-wristed stereotype that was outdated well before 1995. And Isabella did not travel to England for the first time until after Wallace’s death. Besides, she was only 13 years old when Wallace was killed, so even if they had somehow met, it’s safe to say that she did not carry his child.
But, it was a rousing adventure and it contains a lot of elements one would wish to see in an Oscar winning film. It has stood the test of time and one can’t help but shout “Freedom!” whilst using a Scottish burr. In the same year, however, there was another true life adventure just as thrilling, considerably more historically accurate, and the deserving winner of the Oscar. (I’ll also pause to acknowledge Babe, a wonderful movie - its sequel was better.)
“Houston, we have a problem.” “We sure as hell aren’t gonna lose one on my watch!” “Failure is not an option!” Having 3 great quotes in a movie is an ideal starting point. Apollo 13 is eminently rewatchable, has a boatload (a rocket load?) of great actors doing some of their best work, and was filled with tension even though we all knew how the movie was going to end.
The movie really made you feel for the characters, beyond the fact that the 3 astronauts on the mission were in such grave danger. Imagine what it must have been like to be Jim Lovell. He was part of the Apollo 8 crew, the first manned lunar orbit. Here, he came so agonizingly close to the moon once again. I thought that Tom Hanks was better here than he was in either of the movies for which he actually won an Oscar. The role was less showy, but that’s precisely what made him such a standout. He was precisely the type of mission commander who did his job and trusted everyone else to do their job, which allowed them all to shine. To me, however, one character and one actor stood out above all others.
Ed Harris has long been one of my favorite actors. (Is he the best current actor not to have won an Oscar? Perhaps.) He was perfectly cast as flight director Gene Kranz. The role could have easily been a cliche, but the air of authority he had prevented that from being so.
As a bonus, the success of this movie was the catalyst a couple of years later for the HBO miniseries From the Earth To the Moon, which was only one of the very best series that HBO ever made. And in a final note about the 1995 Oscars - if producing and directing awards for Mel Gibson wasn’t enough for you, this was also the year that Kevin Spacey won his first Oscar. He did deserve it - this was for The Usual Suspects - but lord, was this The Year Of The Toxic Man, or what?
Closing Laughs
And that’s that. Have a most excellent weekend everyone. See you all again on Monday.
