Greatest Song Evah 1/24/25
Popular
It’s fascinating to see what happens with a band when their first hit remains their biggest one. Nada Surf’s debut came in those heady days when alternative rock was a dominant force both on radio and on MTV. This song is far and away their (ahem) most popular tune, and deservedly so. It rocks. Is this song’s popularity a mixed blessing? They remain an active band almost 30 years later, continuing to tour and record. They released an album as recently as last year, and their records consistently score well with the critics, even if their new music makes little footprint on the radio. Yet, it’s safe to say that if you ask a random sampling of people to name a song by Nada Surf that is NOT Popular the majority of responses would be either “who is Nada Surf?” or “they had other songs?”
I love the tension between the verses and the chorus. The verses are spoken word, with the lyrics basically taken verbatim from an actual advice book for teenage girls written in the early 60’s. Most of the advice feels archaic. Lead singer Matthew Caws reads these lines perfectly; gradually increasing the intensity of his cadence until it leads beautifully into the heavy guitars which serve as the bed for the chorus.
Ric Ocasek served as the producer on this record, and it is not dissimilar to his other work from this era. This would not feel out of place on a Weezer record. It’s great that Nada Surf have been able to maintain a steady career within their own little niche. So be sure to tell Johnny Football Hero that he played a great game and then enjoy 3:30 of pure bliss.
The Starters
There are few more difficult decisions in sports than there is in attempting to populate the NBA All-Star Game. The league is so deep in talent that whittling it down to only 12 players per conference is daunting. Even eliminating injured stars as well as guys who are merely producing the empty calories of compiling big stats on a bad team still leaves everyone with a greater number of deserving players than available spots.
The starters were announced last night. From the East it’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, and Karl-Anthony Towns. The starters from the West are Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, LeBron James, and Nikola Jokic. Here’s the challenge - try to think of 7 reserves per conference. It shouldn’t take long to come up with nearly a dozen players who have strong cases. Just running down the Western standings: Jalen Williams, Alperen Sengun, Jaren Jackson Jr., Ja Morant, Anthony Davis, De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Anthony Edwards, Devin Booker, Victor Wembanyama. There are gonna be a lot of disappointed people.
The East isn’t as deep, but - Darius Garland, Eric Mobley, Jaylen Brown, Josh Hart, Tyrese Haliburton, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Johnson, Trae Young, Franz Wagner, Tyler Herro, LaMelo Ball. I haven’t even mentioned a handful of perennial all-star contenders who are having strong seasons, but perhaps not quite at the level of their standard season. The league will announce the reserves next Thursday. Hot takes will follow.
Prediction Time
Last week I offered a list of potential candidates for this year’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame ballot. With announcement day approaching, I’ll take the next step and boldly make my ballot prediction. If I’m wrong I’ll deny ever having written this. Here goes nothing:
The B-52’s
Bad Company
Mariah Carey
Coldplay
De La Soul
Emmylou Harris
Billy Idol
Cyndi Lauper
Alanis Morrisette
Oasis
OutKast
Diana Ross
Salt-N-Pepa
Soundgarden
The Specials
Luther Vandross
The White Stripes
That’s 17 names. I had to make a couple of painful cuts, but I believe this has the blend of eras and genres that the Nominating Committee generally seeks. It really helps me appreciate how heavy of a task it is for the committee to construct the real ballot. We’ll soon find out how close I came.
Award Show Season
This is way down the list of the most important ramifications of the ongoing tragedy of the Los Angeles wildfires, but there has been an effect on the award shows. Producers of the shows have been trying to determine the most appropriate way to stage the ceremonies this year, which has thrown the usual planning up in the air. The Grammy Awards are only 9 days away, yet they only just announced this week that Trevor Noah will host the show. As of now no performers or presenters have been announced either.
The natural response from people who hate award shows is that they should all be cancelled this year out of sensitivity to those who have lost everything. I understand that line of thought, but it’s misplaced. The awards shows are more than just an exercise in self congratulation - maybe it would help perception if they were thought of as an Employee Of the Year ceremony which just happens to be televised - they are an important cog in the local economy. The shows themselves employ dozens of crew members; similarly staging the shows involves hospitality staff, drivers, stylists, etc. There are a significant number of working class people in the Los Angeles area who earn a significant chunk of their annual income in this two month long period that runs from the Golden Globes through to the Oscars. Also, it’s more than the Grammys & Oscars. It’s also the multitude of guild awards that are also scheduled to take place in next few weeks. Simply put, these people need the work and it would be devastating for them if the shows do not take place.
Some of the lesser shows are rescheduling, but as of now the Grammys & Oscars are both a go for their originally scheduled dates. The Oscars had delayed the nomination announcement, but the shortlists were finally announced yesterday. As always it came with its share of surprises and snubs. I can’t help myself; one of the first things I look for is to see if there is a new potential EGOT, and this year it is Cynthia Erivo. In the acting categories there will be at least 3 first time winners. Adrian Brody is the only one of the 20 acting nominees who already has a trophy. And there are examples of how momentum can fade during award season. A few months ago word on the street was that Angelina Jolie was almost a shoo-in to win Best Actress; she didn’t even receive a nomination. And September 5 was once regarded as the Best Picture front runner; its sole nomination was for Original Screenplay.
Emilia Perez tallied the most nominations; that doesn’t necessarily mean it is the Best Picture favorite, but it is an indication that it has strong support. The buzz is that the two biggest favorites at the moment are Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldana in the 2 Best Supporting categories. The nomination that pleased me most? As a fan of Better Things, I was very happy to see Mikey Madison get a Best Actress nod.
SNL Preview
Among this year’s Best Actor nominees is Timothee Chalamet, who, conveniently enough, will be doing double duties as host and musical guest on this weekend’s SNL. This is going to be his third time hosting; I can’t honestly say that his previous stints have been particularly memorable, but neither have they been fiascos, and it would be negligent for the show to not take advantage of his considerable star power if he is willing and available to host. Unlike last week he is not going to dominate the evening with an elongated monologue, so chances are good that there is a strong enough backlog of sketches for this to be an above average episode.
TV Of the 21st Century - Watchmen
I know it’s trendy to trash Zack Snyder’s film version of the classic graphic novel, but I will defend it. The source material is complex, and I believe he did a reasonably good job of adapting the story. Jackie Earle Haley and Jeffrey Dean Morgan were perfectly cast, and the legendary “you’re all trapped in here with me” scene did not disappoint. Still, when I initially heard that HBO was producing a new version created by Damon Lindelof - who obviously used Watchmen as a major inspiration for Lost - I was giddy with anticipation. With additional hours to play with, he could do it justice.
Instead of a remake, however, the miniseries turned out to be an entirely new story set in the same universe. Kicking off with a recreation of the 1921 Tulsa massacre, it used many of the same storytelling techniques that the original did. It used real historical events as a backdrop for a story involving costumed superheroes, or more specifically, an alternative history in which masked heroes were illegal. Set more than 30 years after the events of the original, it seamlessly incorporated several of the original recipe characters.
The cast was outstanding. Regina King starred as a police officer who was the granddaughter of the original masked hero from decades ago (Louis Gossett Jr.) In a nod to the superhero roots, in this dystopia cops needed to work while donning masks to hide their identities, insuring their safety as well as the safety of their families. I liked the way the show gradually confirmed the mystery of the identities of some of the characters. It wasn’t a huge revelation that Jeremy Irons was portraying Adrian Veidt, the question was more about where he was and what was this odd life he was leading? And is it possible that King’s husband (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is actually Dr. Manhattan? Jean Smart’s role as Laurie Blake is another highlight of the spectacular second act of her career. And of course this show introduced the world to Lube Man.
This miniseries honored the original quite well. Like the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons graphic novel, it gave each of the main characters a special spotlight. It also ended on a wonderful ambiguity. Lindelof has been very adamant that he considers this to be a one and done deal. Assuming he sticks to that, without giving away any spoilers the end served as both a satisfying conclusion as well as a natural starting point for a hypothetical second season just in case anyone else is willing to pick up the baton.
There is still a small part of me that would love to see if someone could take a second crack at adapting Watchmen into a miniseries that could fully cover the story with the squid and everything, but this project was a more than worthy addition to the Watchmen Universe.
Originally aired on: HBO
Currently streaming on: Max
The Reader Survey
Just a quick reminder/request concerning the reader survey that I sent out last weekend. In order to improve the newsletter I’m trying to get a sense of which regular features you enjoy reading the most. In addition, I am also sticking my finger into the wind over whether or not to open up payments for the newsletter. Please be assured that I have no intention of placing Tending the Herd behind a paywall; IF I open up payments it would be on a strictly volunteer basis and would essentially serve as a tip jar. So please share your thoughts.
Closing Laughs
Time to lower the curtain for this day and for this week. Thanks again for tuning in, and have an excellent weekend everyone. See you again on Monday.
