Greatest Song Evah 12/1/23

Ziggy Stardust

Man, that riff. It’s so iconic, and it immediately kicks the song into high gear. This week’s selection serves as the centerpiece of David Bowie’s classic The Rise & Fall Of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders From Mars album. It’s actually track #9 on the collection, but it encapsulates all of the themes that had preceded it. Of course, the song is so damn good that it’s an outstanding listen on its own without the context of the rest of the album, but when you listen to the work in full it almost feels like an aural novel. It builds up to this moment, and that’s where that opening riff is so effective; it practically explodes out of the speakers.

Bowie was well known for creating and then discarding multiple characters/personas throughout his career, but it’s likely that when most people picture Bowie the first image that comes to mind is from his Ziggy Stardust era. He was so effective in conveying the character that it was tough to determine where Bowie ended and Ziggy began. In addition, earlier this year I had mentioned that Mick Ronson would be a good Hall of Fame candidate in the musical excellence category, and this is a prime example why. His musical contributions were crucial to Bowie’s sound in this phase of his career.

Finally, who else could possibly come up with a line like “well hung & snow white tan?” It certainly creates a mental image.

The Countdown Continues

Newcomer #11 - Brandon Phillips. He’s exactly the type of solid player whom you love to see make a cameo appearance on a Hall of Fame ballot. Four Gold Glove awards, 3 All-Star games, above average power for a middle infielder, just over 2000 career hits. He’s practically the Platonic Ideal of a Remember Some Guys type. The bulk of his career was spent in Cincinnati, and he was a key component of those Reds teams that were perennial contenders in the 2010s. He’s not deserving of anything more than a courtesy vote or two, but I’m sure he will always have a special place in the hearts of baseball fans in Cincinnati.

Holdover #11 - Francisco Rodriguez. Rodriguez currently holds the single season saves record with 62 in the 2008 season. That record figures to last for quite a long time; a unique set of circumstances helped make that achievement possible. The Angels played a disproportionate number of close games that season. To his credit, he came through time after time but truthfully it wasn’t a particularly special season. The lofty saves total was a product of opportunity.

Not to take anything away from him. He is one of only 9 pitchers with more than 400 career saves, and it’s unlikely that the Angels would have won their sole World Series title in 2002 without his contributions. But as impressive as his career was, he didn’t reach elite level frequently enough to merit induction. I would compare his career to that of John Franco. Both pitchers were durable and pitched well enough, long enough to put together impressive career totals. But both did that by consistently posting seasons in which they would be, say, the 5th or 6th best closer in the game rather than 1st or 2nd. That’s good, it’s just not Hall Of Fame good.

Open Up Them Checkbooks, Fellas

Baseball’s annual winter meetings kick off this weekend in Nashville. After a quiet month in the Hot Stove season, expect activity to accelerate considerably. Big names such as Aaron Nola and Sonny Gray are already off the board, but now things are going to get serious. As often happens, one key figure is holding things up. Once he signs, the dominoes should quickly tumble. This year it’s Shohei Ohtani.

The waiting game on Ohtani affects more than just the teams that are all in on him. Every club who thinks they have a shot essentially have two business plans in hand - one if they sign him, and one if they don’t, with differing budgets to match. So it’s difficult for a team to work too hard on their Plan B options while Ohtani’s future is still up in the air. That also means a team that knows they have no shot at Ohtani still needs to wait to see who will be available, and at what cost, following Ohtani’s eventual decision.

The other man of interest this week is Juan Soto. Who has the boatload of prospects it will take to acquire him? Since he will be a free agent after the upcoming season, how big of a risk is it to basically purge your farm system for what could potentially be only a one year rental? Ohtani is one thing. All it will take to get him is money. Granted, an astronomical amount of money, but a trade for Soto will entail a detailed cost/benefit analysis. Fortune will truly favor the bold in this case.

And the activity kicks off with the Contemporary Era Committee meeting on Sunday to vote on the 8 men on this year’s ballot. As a reminder, if I had a vote my 3 selections would be Davey Johnson, Jim Leyland, and Bill White. The announcement of who, if anyone, gains the necessary 75% of the vote will be made early Sunday evening. Will I need to grit my teeth and say nice things about Joe West?

In-Season Tournament Fever - Catch It?

The quarterfinal games in the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament take place next week. Going in to the tournament, its success was largely contingent on how deeply the players will buy into it. It seems as if the reception has been fairly positive, although there is one noticeable drawback to the format that I’ll get to in a moment. It’s also been very striking to hear the almost unanimous enthusiasm expressed by the league’s broadcast partners. I’m not naive, I’m pretty sure that the NBA sent out a memo strongly encouraging broadcast crews to heavily promote the event. It’s still a breath of fresh air to hear positive vibes towards the sport coming from a broadcast booth. After a month of having to listen to John Smoltz, I had almost forgotten that an announcer is allowed to actually enjoy the event that they’re broadcasting.

I’m also interested to see what type of ripple effect the tournament will have the rest of the season. The matchups are Boston/Indiana & Milwaukee/New York in the East, and New Orleans/Sacramento & LA Lakers/Phoenix in the West. The Pacers are a rising team, but no one really expects them to compete with the big guns come playoff time. But it’s possible that a successful run in the knockout stage could give the young core of that team the big game experience they need to accelerate the process.

Going forward I think the league needs to make one change. Point differential is too heavy of a factor in the tiebreaking process, which creates an incentive to run up the score. We’ve already seen a few examples of players or coaches getting angry over having been shown up. That’s easier said than done, with only 4 games in group play there are not many feasible ways to break ties. Mike Vorkunov had a great idea in The Athletic; for a few years the CBA would award points to whichever team scored the most points in each quarter to determine the standings. The winner of a game earns 3 points, and 1 additional point would go to the team with the highest score in each quarter. That might work in this tournament.

Hell Has A New Occupant

I suppose I could write a few words about Henry Kissinger, but what could I possibly add to what Anthony Bourdain said years ago?

It’s bad form to speak ill of the dead, so I’ll say no more. If I were to say something about Kissinger I would say that he was such a monstrous war criminal that he put Dick Cheney to shame. But I won’t go there. I could also point out that the evil that men do lives after them. I will say that I have a laugh seeing the “f*** your feelings” crowd all in a tizzy about the glee some are showing over the death of that ghoul. I didn’t realize that the same crowd that found the attack on Paul Pelosi so hilarious can also get so easily offended.

Shane MacGowan

When I woke up Thursday morning to the news that Shane MacGowan had died, one of my first thoughts was one that many others likely had as well. I couldn’t believe the guy actually made it to 65. He lived a rough life, but he also gave us so much wonderful music.

The Pogues weren’t the first band to mix traditional Irish instrumentation with rock & roll, but I can’t think of any that did it better. And MacGowan was the man who made it work. A working class man with a severe drinking problem, the ups and downs of his addiction made him an heir to writers and poets from an earlier era. That is an apt comparison, the characters in his best songs could have easily fit into a great novel, the best example of which is what is his most fondly remembered song, the song you hear a lot this time of year. His permanently disheveled look, complete with some of the worst dental features of modern times, was a crucial part of his image. And that voice. Any of us can think of multiple examples of singers who embody the theory that there is a big difference between a classic singing voice and a great rock & roll voice. MacGowan epitomized that. You could sense every late night spend in every dingy bar in every note that he sang.

Also, at least one of his songs has become a modern standard. It’s long been my contention that Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses is the single greatest rock & roll Christmas song, but when I make that argument people who disagree with me usually say that the correct answer is Fairytale Of New York. I don’t completely agree, but it is a magnificent piece of work. As MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl trade lines, they perfectly portray a pair of damaged people. The song is evocative and heartwarming in its own special way.

If I may borrow a classic Irish toast, (please forgive me for the cultural appropriation and forgive me if I use it incorrectly) with the hospitality staff at Hell distracted by their new VIP arrival, here’s hoping that MacGowan made it to Heaven before the devil knew he was dead. And here’s hoping that MacGowan and MacColl are singing some new duets up there.

Spotify Wrapped Season

A couple of years ago I cancelled my Spotify subscription and went with Apple Music. This came in the wake of the likes of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulling their music as a protest against Joe Rogan. My departure was only tangentially connected to Rogan; the reason to subscribe to a music streaming service is to have access to a near unlimited number of songs. If a service doesn’t contain the catalog of two artists that rank highly in my rotation, why not patronize a service that contains their music? So, Apple it is, and it was especially convenient because I could easily marry my large iTunes library with the Apple Music account.

I’m largely satisfied with that decision, but I do admit that I have some minor pangs of regret this time of year when everyone starts sharing their annual Spotify Wrapped results. Apple offers a similar year end listening summary, but it’s not quite as detailed. (For the record, the Stones were my #1 artist this year. I can be such a cliche at times.) So, I will have to go through the holiday season without the knowledge of which city best matches my musical tastes.

SNL Preview

When the folks at SNL wrote the Five-Timers Club sketch back when Tom Hanks hosted for the 5th time back in 1990 they could not have imagined that the concept would have the legs that it did. This weekend Emma Stone will become the latest the earn her smoking jacket. She’s in the midst of a promotional run for both her current Showtime series The Curse as well as her upcoming movie Poor Things which is generating Oscar buzz. These are 2 unusual projects; this could be a good occasion for her to fully dive into Sarah Sherman levels of weirdness.

A Couple Of Quick Follow Ups

Jezebel has been saved. Paste Magazine purchased Jezebel from G/O Media and it will be revived shortly. No word yet as to who will run it, or how much of the old staff will be retained, but at least there’s that bit of good news. Now if only someone could purchase AV Club and repair that mess…

The AI bots appeared to have permeated Sports Illustrated even further than we had thought. Yesterday the magazine announced this year’s Sports Person Of the Year - Deion Sanders?!?!?!? I recognize that he made a lot of news early in the season, but Colorado finished with a 4-8 record. I’m not going out on a limb when I say that there must be at least a couple dozen more worthy candidates who were not only as newsworthy as Coach Prime has been but also achieving the necessary on-field success to merit the award. The honor is nowhere near as prestigious as it was when the magazine itself was a bigger deal, but it still means something. That choice was quite the head scratcher.

Closing Laughs

Wow, it’s December To Remember already. Where does the time go? Thanks as always for reading, and have a peaceful and restful weekend.