Greatest Song Evah 11/1/24
Teacher Teacher
The sole album recorded under Rockpile’s name was one of the great one-shots in rock history, but in truth it wasn’t actually a one-shot. The quartet of Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Billy Bremner, and Terry Williams served as the studio band for the solo albums that both Lowe and Edmunds recorded, so by the time they produced Seconds Of Pleasure as Rockpile they had been a tight ensemble for some time.
The album could almost be considered a synthesis of two separate Lowe & Edmunds albums. There were slight differences between the two artists; both were heavily influenced by early rock & roll, but Edmunds was more of a purist, whereas Lowe was more comfortable incorporating modern new wavish elements into the sound. I’ve always been more of a Lowe fan, and Rockpile’s biggest American hit is one reason why.
The song tells the universal story of a teenager infatuated with his teacher. Lowe is a very talented bass player, and the tune has a rich bottom to it which interplays perfectly with the guitar lines. That guitar break following the second verse absolutely rocks. There is a slight echo to the production, which gives it a timeless feel. The drums have a great drive as well, this circles back to what I said previously. This band was so tight; they had the vibe of a group in which each member could easily anticipate exactly what the others were about to do.
Seconds Of Pleasure was one of my favorite albums of the early 1980’s; track after track was a complete banger, and it came with a bonus EP of Everly Brothers covers. This is one of the better examples you will ever find of clean, basic, pure rock & roll.
Your 2024 World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers
The Will Smith World Series streak is alive & well and the Dodgers have won the Rob Manfred Piece Of Metal, defeating the Yankees 4 games to 1 in a gentleman’s sweep. It’s one of the oddities of sports that the Yankees - and Aaron Boone in particular - are subject to so much criticism for falling just short. There were 28 teams sitting at home watching the World Series in envy, yet the nation’s collective fingers are pointing towards the Bronx and highlighting every single flaw. To be fair, it’s not entirely unwarranted. This was a top heavy roster. But they made it this far. Boone and Brian Cashman must be doing something right.
In the end, the Dodgers are clearly the better team - and of course Dave Roberts has heard his share of criticism over the years as well. He managed the bullpen masterfully in this series. The traditionalist side of me hates that the Dodgers had to go with bullpen games, especially those that Roberts clearly punted. But it’s a reflection of a newer consensus. For all of the accurate talk about the third time through the order penalty for starting pitchers, it’s only recently that teams are realizing there is just as much of a penalty to have a relief pitcher face the same hitter too many times in one series. In the 2 bullpen games in the NLCS Roberts wouldn’t touch any of his high leverage relievers with a 10 foot pole, and as a result the Mets won both of those games. He saved his weapons for the “winnable” games and the pennant was the result. The same thing happened in the World Series. Once Anthony Volpe hit that grand slam in Game 4, Roberts essentially folded up his tent and made Brett Honeywell his sacrificial lamb. Jack Flaherty’s struggles in Game 5 put a fly in that ointment, but the Dodgers’ top relievers were all available and ready to go just in case the game would pull a 180.
And what a turn it took. That fifth inning will go down as one of the all-time blow-up jobs in World Series history. The inning began with Gerrit Cole working on a no-hitter before things fell apart. Amazingly enough it was mistakes by two of the top dogs which opened the floodgates - Aaron Judge whiffing on an easy fly ball and Cole’s failure to cover first base following a complete brain lock. You just can’t give a good team extra outs, & the Dodgers capitalized on the opportunity. The inning ended with the score tied, but how many people felt the eventual outcome was in doubt? The sloppy play continued - there was a catcher’s interference call & a rare balk call after Luke Weaver disengaged 3 times in one at bat. The rest was history and the Dodgers rule the baseball world. In retrospect, Ice Cube > Fat Joe.
The Cooperstown Progress Report
With the 2024 season officially complete, Baseball Hall Of Fame Season is about to get underway. The 8 finalists for this year’s Eras Committee ballot will be named shortly, followed by the release of the 2025 BBWAA ballot. While we’re waiting for that why not check in on where the active players stand in their quests for Cooperstown.
Were already locked in even before the season started: Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Paul Goldschmidt, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Mike Trout, Justin Verlander. It’s tough to argue with the credentials of any of these men; maybe some will disagree with me on Goldschmidt, but I am confident in saying all 7 of these are easy choices.
Running in place: Nolan Arenado, Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom, Kenley Jansen, Craig Kimbrel. It’s probably time to be officially worried about Arenado. 2023 could have simply been chalked off as a poor year, but a second down season means that there is a pattern developing. There’s every reason to believe he is firmly in his decline phase. Has he done enough? I don’t believe so. Cole’s season was shortened by injury; 2025 will be a crucial year for his candidacy to see if he gets back on track. deGrom might be a reach either way; as great as he has been at times there is just not enough volume. As for the relievers, I set a high bar for closers. If I had to choose between the two, I’d rank Jansen higher but to me they both fall short. I could envision Jansen still finding one great season in him which could put him over the top. Kimbrel has likely thrown his last major league pitch. His credentials are what they are. It’s doubtful that he would get my hypothetical vote.
Sealed The Deal: Jose Altuve, Bryce Harper (probably,) Chris Sale. I honestly haven’t the slightest idea how voters are going to treat Astros players. Altuve’s teammates were pretty unanimous in stating that he was not part of the sign-stealing scandal, in fact he was vocally opposed. And yet, his actions after the home run against Aroldis Chapman looked awfully suspicious. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. I’m probably a little slower than most to put Harper in; one more great season would clinch it for me. I’m just a bit troubled by the year-by-year fluctuation he has with his production. Sale’s biggest hurdle is going to be that years-long chasm during which he suffered multiple injuries, but I prefer to look at 6 consecutive finishes in the top 5 of the Cy Young vote along with the near certain award he will receive this year.
Sealed the Deal Except: Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto. All 3 have done everything they need to do to earn a spot with the exception of having played at least 10 seasons. Judge will hit 10 years next Opening Day, Ohtani & Soto are each 3 years away. All of them will have earned a plaque the moment they officially qualify.
Almost There: Francisco Lindor, Manny Machado, Jose Ramirez. If you wish to claim that Ramirez has in fact sealed the deal I will not argue with that point. Machado might be a little tricky; he is showing signs that his decline phase has gradually begun, but he’s still a damn good player and is young enough that he’s got a strong chance to put up some impressive career totals. Lindor is a magnificent all-around player who before this year has somehow been underrated even though he plays in the biggest media market.
Me Being Contrarian: Salvador Perez, Giancarlo Stanton. The general consensus is that Perez is in; he’s a respected team leader, one of the top hitting catchers, and a past World Series MVP. My issue is that despite his Gold Gloves, the defensive metrics grade him out as significantly below average. The chief argument for Stanton is that if he reaches 500 home runs, how can you leave him out? He’s 34 years old, with a litany of lower body injuries that causes him to miss a lot of time each year. Is it really a sure thing that he gets those last 71 homers he needs to hit the milestone? I find it unlikely.
A Legend Steps Aside
He is not leaving broadcasting entirely, but Bob Costas will no longer be doing baseball play-by-play. He gave a strong hit that this was coming; before signing off on the final game that he called in the division series he praised his booth partner Ron Darling, saying that he has had the pleasure of working with many analysts over the years and Darling ranks with the best of them. The way he phrased that suggested that he wasn’t merely saying goodbye for the season, but for good. He likely did not make the official announcement at the moment because he didn’t want to steal attention away from the postseason.
I’ll have a lot more to say next week, but for now I’ll tip my hat to the man. I’ll admit that he’s lost a bit off of his fastball, and lord knows the internet mob has taken plenty of shots at him, but he is one of the true giants of broadcast history, and I am not limiting that to sports.
SNL Preview
After a week off, SNL returns with its pre-election episode and John Mulaney set to host for his 6th time. You know what you’re going to get in both instances. The cold open figures to be election-related and epic in length; count on the usual array of ringers with at least one surprise cameo. Then, as one of the premiere standup comics of the day, Mulaney’s monologue will similarly run longer than the standard amount of time set aside for that segment of the show. Add in Update & the 2 songs from musical guest Chappell Roan and that’s already more than half of the show. A Mulaney episode also usually comes with the latest edition of his big musical numbers; that is likely to contain the sole appearance of multiple cast members this week. Mulaney editions have been some of the best episodes of each season, so it should be a good one.
TV Of the 21st Century - Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley was very similar to Veep in that it was at heart a very broad and often hilarious comedy, upon closer reflection it wasn’t really all that far off from reality. Focusing on an engineer and his team as they attempt to develop and sell a new algorithm, it takes aim at the tech bro and venture capitalist cultures.
Part of the fun was trying to figure out which real life figures inspired the characters in the show. No one person completely parallels an actual one, but you can see elements of the likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk, among others. The show starred Thomas Middleditch as Richard Hendricks, who had the perfect mix of socially awkward nerdishness and arrogance. Speaking of which, Gilfoyle was yet another one of Martin Starr’s signature characters who combined misanthropy with the confidence that he was the smartest person in any room - and he made sure that you knew it. He and Kumail Nanjiani’s Dinesh were an amazing comedic duo. Dinesh could be a doormat and an a**hole at the same time.
The standout was Zach Woods as Jared. He brought the same sad sack tone that he used on The Office. Whenever he would tell stories of his upbringing growing up in a foster home it was pure comic gold. A close second was Chris Diamantopolous as uber tech billionaire Russ Hanneman, a creature of pure id who immediately sized up Jared and said, “this guy f***s.”
The VC world and assorted corporate shenanigans was just as big a part of the show as the tech part of it was. A important element was lost when Christopher Evan Welch, the actor who portrayed Peter Gregory, unexpectedly died following season 1. His eccentricity stood out; to the show’s credit Suzanne Cryer’s Laurie Bream adeptly filled that void, and her character was equally odd. And Matt Ross’s Gavin Belson was an ideal antagonist. His hubris constantly knocked him down a few pegs, his wealth meant that he would never stay down for too long.
One unfortunate behind the scenes story of the show was that although it satirized a field that was a hotbed of toxic masculinity, it was a tad too true to life in that there were allegations of bad behavior on the set. One actress who briefly portrayed a programmer claimed that she left the show because of that toxicity. After 4 seasons T.J. Miller either left the show on his own accord or was shown the door depending on whose story you chose to believe, with plenty of stories about his alleged horrific behavior in its wake.
That has unfortunately marred the show to some extent, which is sad to hear. The show was frequently LOL funny, as delightfully profane as Veep was. There were a lot of talented people on screen - I haven’t even mentioned that inner circle That Guy Stephen Tobolowsky was on the show for a couple of seasons. And the season 1 finale, an episode which centered on a huge NSFW plot point, was one of the crown jewels of HBO’s entire history.
Originally aired on: HBO
Currently streaming on: Max
Closing Laughs
You know who’s got a sick sense of humor? Whoever it was that made the decision to end Daylight Savings Time the first Sunday in November. That means that election season lasts an additional hour. As much as I like getting that extra hour, I do not approve this message. Have a great weekend everyone & I’ll see you again on Monday.
