Greatest Song Evah 1/12/24

Rock Box

I listen to, and love, a wide variety of music. There have been a handful of times in which I heard a song and basically stopped in my tracks, saying to myself, “WHAT is that?” Rock Box provided one of those instances.

The very earliest years of rap largely escaped my notice. At the time I dismissed Rapper’s Delight as a silly little novelty song, and many of the early high points of the genre fell outside of the mainstream. Simply put, the radio stations that I listened to back then were not playing rap. Even a song as groundbreaking as The Message was not on my radar when it came out. The first rap track that I can remember making a strong impression on me was White Lines. But for the most part, I paid little attention to it.

Until the first time I heard Rock Box; that’s when I truly “got” it. Eddie Martinez’s ferocious guitar lines were what hooked me in, but that was just one part of it. I finally realized how malleable the genre could be when done right, and this track is filled with hooks.

That’s before getting into Run & DMC’s work. Not only did they both have excellent flow, but their two voices melded together so well. In that sense you could well compare their harmonizing to that of any vocal group or duo. What I love about this is that it’s not a simple matter of the two exchanging verses. Throughout the song their back-and-forth takes place within the same verse, or even the same line. That makes it sound unique; it’s not Run battling DMC, it’s the two battling their adversaries together.

Lyrically, this doesn’t break much new ground; it’s fairly standard braggadocio. Even with that limitation, however, it is filled with memorable lines. “I drive a Caddy, you fixin’ a Ford.” “Calvin Klein’s no friend of mine, don’t want nobody’s name on my behind.”

This song was a major breakthrough for both hip-hop in general and for Run-DMC in particular. It was the first rap record to receive regular MTV airplay, and it helped lay the groundwork for the major milestones they would later reach in the wake of their collaboration with Aerosmith - a top 10 Hot 100 single, a platinum album, a major headlining tour, getting their picture on the cover of the Rolling Stone. This song opened my ears & eyes to a form of music that I had previously ignored; I suspect I wasn’t alone in that.

TV Of the 21st Century - The Comeback

This show was truly ahead of its time. Unsuccessful in its initial airing, it gradually developed a cult following until there was enough of a groundswell for support that HBO commissioned a second season 9 long years after the first season aired. And The Comeback proved to be an ideal showcase for Lisa Kudrow’s exceptional talent. No exaggeration here - Kudrow’s portrayal of Valerie Cherish deserves to be in the conversation of the greatest television acting performances of any genre. She was that good here.

The premise of the show was simple. Cherish was the star of one of those TGIF type sitcoms in the 1980’s, but had been coasting on that fame since. She was now ready to make her comeback as one of the stars of a new show. She hired a documentary crew to film all of this for a reality show. Things take a downward turn; the original concept of the new show changes in the development process. She was intended to star as one of a set of roommates, but producers eventually released that she was a generation older than her co-stars. So, now she was recast as the landlady of an apartment shared by 4 young people. Instead of the comeback vehicle she was expecting, she was now a supporting character named Aunt Fanny with an unflattering wardrobe and a dumb catch phrase.

The show worked so well because it effectively focused on two different perspectives. On one hand, Valerie was a selfish character constantly focusing the spotlight on herself, no matter how damaging it may be to others in her orbit. Her long-suffering husband had no interest in being the costar of a reality show, but he had little choice in the matter. The cameras were an omnipresent disruptive force in their lives, down to something as simple as producers interrupting an intimate conversation between the two to let them know that they needed to turn off the radio lest they would be forced to pay licensing fees for the music.

At the same time, she was a victim of Hollywood’s disdain for actresses of a certain age. The new sitcom’s writer/producer, named Paulie G in case there was any doubt that he was a massive tool, didn’t even try to hide how much he despised Valerie. This is where Kudrow was so amazing. In her face you could see how badly the constant degradations were harming her emotionally, but she needed to keep her s*** together for both shows. She had support from her loyal hairdresser, as well as from Malin Akerman as one of her co-stars.

The Comeback was a bit of a ratings bomb in its initial run; people just didn’t seem to get what it was all about. By the time it premiered in 2005, celebreality was already an established thing, but audiences still didn’t quite get what the show was all about, and people seemed to be turned off by some of the unlikable characteristics of Valerie. It ended after that one season, but a cult began to develop. As the years went on it started showing up on all sorts of lists of great lost TV shows and a clamor for a revival began to emerge.

Finally, almost a decade after its initial airing, HBO greenlit season #2. The Comeback was making a comeback! The premise this time was that Valerie was still trying to remain relevant, when she learns that her old antagonist Paulie G, fresh out of rehab, was developing a new semi-autobiographical series featuring a female character that was clearly based on Valerie. At first angry about this she winds up auditioning for the role (to play herself!) and gets the job.

In this case it wasn’t a comedy; it was more of a dark drama & she finds herself tapping into levels of her talent that she never even knew that she had. Old relationships remained, her reliable hairdresser Mickey remained by her side, but yet another run in front of the documentary cameras put a real strain on her marriage. And Paulie G continued to be a thorn in Valerie’s side. Time healed no wounds. He still hated her, and resented the fact that he had to work with her again. He constantly went out of his way to humiliate her on set.

In both of its seasons the show was rip-roaring funny at times, poignant at others, (the Valerie/Mickey relationship was so special) and filled with honest emotions. I reiterate that Lisa Kudrow did the best work of her career here. There has been occasional talk of bringing the team back yet again for a third season, but if it doesn’t happen it’s not a big deal. They gave us two near-perfect seasons of television, and without throwing out any spoilers her story at the end of that second season had a very satisfying conclusion.

Originally aired on: HBO

Currently streaming on: Max

Coaching Corner

Seismic changes came to the coaching industry this week, as 2 legitimate GOAT candidates plus one other accomplished coach who falls just shy of that level either left or were gently pushed out of their jobs. Nick Saban is moving into retirement, while Pete Carroll was reluctantly moved upstairs into a front office role. And reliable Onion punchline Bill Belichick is leaving the Patriots. This kinda blew my mind - Pete Carroll is 72 years old! I suppose it makes sense when you realize how long he’s been around, but even though he’s now gray haired, I still have the image in my head of an ever-youthful dude.

I don’t pay much attention to football anymore, but it will seem so odd to realize that these men will no longer be on the sidelines. Or two of them at least. Belichick has two great motivating factors that lead most to believe that he’s not done with coaching. The record for most coaching victories is within his reach, and you can bet that his relative lack of success without Tom Brady must be eating away at him. But as the number of names that are recognizable to me leaving the game increases, the further the sport recedes in my mind.

In non-firing or resignation news - the Miami Heat have signed Erik Spoelstra to a contract extension that will pay him $120 million over 8 years. There’s a lot about Spoelstra that doesn’t seem possible. Because after all this time he still seems so young a lot of his accomplishments don’t appear to be possible. He has the second longest tenure among current NBA coaches, behind only Gregg Popovich. At the same time, it’s hard to believe that he’s 53. Granted, he’s no longer the baby-faced prodigy he was when he started coaching the Heat. I don’t think he still gets carded at liquor stores. Yet it’s hard to reconcile the image I have of Spoelstra with the fact that he qualifies for an AARP card.

As for that contract, he is clearly not just one of the top coaches in the league today, but is already one of the very best in NBA history. He is obviously one of the reasons why such a thing as Heat Culture exists. That team seems to overachieve practically every year; often with playoff runs that exceed what one would expect from their regular season record.

How Pure Is Pure Enough?

With the 2024 campaign heating up here’s a point worth revisiting. You don’t always have the allies you choose, but you had better use the ones that you have. This idea moves to the forefront with Liz Cheney’s book tour & Chris Christie’s withdrawal from the race. Neither are exactly whom I would call ideological kin of mine, but both have value. (That’s assuming that both continue to fight against the peril of Orange Napoleon. I have faith in Cheney, but I’m still skeptical on Christie. I will give him the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.)

The historical comparison I will make is that Roosevelt and Churchill didn’t tell Stalin, “Joey baby, we don’t want your help. Sit this one out.” No, they understood that defeating the Axis required all hands on deck. Same here, yet I still see some people almost require purity tests. When Cheney & Adam Kinzinger were both still in Congress, I would often see comments about statements either made or legislation either championed with a snarky, “so much for propping up this person as a resistance hero” reply. So what? I don’t care if I disagree with Liz Cheney on virtually every topic. For THIS one, which is an existential battle for the soul of our nation, if she is with me, I will welcome all assistance in defeating Trump & Trumpism.

This mentality started as early as day 1. Shortly before his inauguration, David Frum sent out a tweet stating that Trump is the single worst human being to ever hold the Presidency, and that even included the slave owners. It seemed overly hyperbolic at the time, but rather than respond to the message, people used the tweet as an opportunity to attack Frum for his past sins. As one of the chief architects of the Iraq War, Frum absolutely warrants criticism, but that criticism could have been saved for a better time.

Same deal with the various never-Trumpers in the conservative ecosystem. Sure, the likes of Rick Wilson or former Congressman Joe Walsh helped create the atmosphere that brought us Trump, but this isn’t the time for public self-flagellation. If they can help us put the menace to rest, then climb aboard. All are welcome. When our democracy has been saved, we can go back to more basic ideological disputes. Think big picture; that’s what’s important in this moment.

Bud

It’s a natural part of life that some of one’s earliest memories have the most meaning. The music you listen to when you first start to get into music, your first celebrity crush, etc. Things like that stay with you forever. So does the memories of your baseball team when you fall in love with the game. I was a year too young to fully appreciate the 1969 Miracle Mets, but the vast majority of the players were still with the team when I became a fan. They were My Guys. Bud Harrelson, who died yesterday at 79 following a long struggle with Alzheimer’s, was one of the preeminent My Guys.

Harrelson was an emblematic shortstop from that era; a light hitter whose value all came on the defensive side. Just look at how high up the barrel he choked up on that bat; it wasn’t as pronounced as Felix Millan, but it shows what he was expected to do. Just make contact & put the ball in play. In a 16 year career, Harrelson hit 7 home runs. To be clear, that’s not an average of 7 per year. He totaled 7 home runs.

That’s not why he played every day. He was a wonderful defensive shortstop, winning 1 Gold Glove Award. It was his defense that put him on 2 All-Star teams. It was his defense that warranted down-ballot MVP votes in 3 separate seasons. It was his defense that produced above average WAR numbers more often than not, despite his weak bat. In fact, in those 16 years, he finished with an OPS+ above 100 exactly once, and that was in one of his later seasons when he was a part time player with the Phillies.

Who cares if he didn’t hit very well, he was one of the most beloved players in Mets history. He was one of the emotional leaders of the team, epitomized by the moment for which he is best remembered - his fight with Pete Rose in the 1973 NLCS. Baseball is a game of numbers; virtually every aspect of the game can be quantified. But there is no metric that properly measures the satisfaction of seeing someone punch Pete Rose in the face.

Harrelson spent a total of 13 seasons with the Mets; he was one of the final members of the ‘69 team to leave. It never felt right to see him wear a different uniform, but soon after his retirement as a player he found his way back to where he belonged. In 1985 he took over as third base coach when Bobby Valentine left to become the Texas Rangers manager. As a result he has a unique honor in franchise history. He is the only man to wear the Mets uniform for both of their World Series winning teams. We’ve all seen that clip a million times of his running down the third base line alongside Ray Knight as the latter scored the winning run in Game 6.

Harrelson would go on to replace Davey Johnson as manager in 1990. His tenure was not very successful, and he would lose his job before the end of the ‘91 season. No hard feelings, however. He spent the rest of his life as an honored alum; frequently making personal appearances and participating in countless charitable drives on behalf of the organization. Among the tributes I read yesterday the best came from Howie Rose. He said that no one loved being a Met more than Buddy Harrelson did. And he contributed to local baseball on Long Island, serving as the long time manager/executive for the independent Long Island Ducks.

His final years were difficult. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and all indications were that the disease progressed rapidly. His final public appearance was very moving. In 2019 the Mets honored the 50th anniversary of the ‘69 Miracles. Despite his condition he was able to attend. The way the ceremony was set up was that golf carts containing two players in each vehicle entered the field from the center field fence and would circle the perimeter allowing fans to cheer them on. Harrelson rode in a cart with Art Shamsky and when they reached home plate he leapt out and ran to the podium where the rest of his old teammates were congregating.

I attended that game and from my vantage point it looked to me like the crowd had stimulated him enough that he had somewhat of a sense that something special was happening. It wasn’t until I got home on rewatched it on my DVR that I saw what had really happened. Through their entire cart ride Shamsky had one arm around Harrelson and with the other he was pointing out the surroundings while gently speaking to Harrelson. It was clear that Shamsky helped bring his old friend’s memory back momentarily. Is there a better illustration of the close bond between teammates, especially in the case of teammates who shared such a special season together? The warmth from both the crowd and from Art Shamsky briefly fired up those synapses in Buddy’s brain. If that wound up being one of his final moments of lucidity, that’s a nice memory to go out with.

Time marches on. Bud Harrelson is no longer the greatest shortstop in Mets history. But flags fly forever; only he & Rafael Santana can say that they were starting shortstops on World Series champs from Queens. Harrelson will always have a special place in the hearts of those of us old enough to have seen him play.

Closing Laughs

That closes the book on another week. Thanks for stopping by, and please exit through the gift shop. See you all again on Monday.