Greatest Song Evah 2/10/23

Talk Of the Town

The first time you hear THAT VOICE it’s so striking that the only reaction is to think that she’s special, so special. (That’s such a hacky joke. Note to self: delete before hitting “publish.”) Chrissie Hynde is such a perfect blend of tough and sultry. The vibe she projects is “I want you, I need you, and if you f*** with me you’ll be dead before you hit the ground.” This Pretenders song epitomizes her persona as well as any other one in their discography.

Following the release of one the most perfect debut albums of its era, Talk Of the Town originally appeared on the Times Square soundtrack. The blend of Hynde’s voice and James Honeyman-Scott’s guitar here was exquisite. Sadly, ‘twas not to last. Honeyman-Scott tragically overdosed at 25, followed by original Pretenders bassist Pete Farndon less than a year later. Hynde held the band together; loads of musicians came in & out over the subsequent years. They remained great, because how could they not be with Chrissie Hynde as leader, but there were never able to quite duplicate the sound of the original quartet.

Potential Side Category Inductee - The Original 5

They might not exactly be a cutting edge choice, but the original quintet of MTV VJs - Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, JJ Jackson, and Martha Quinn - were the faces that helped introduce many of the major artists of the decade to American audiences. I could see the argument for giving them the Ahmet Ertegun Award. (And in light of the multiple posthumous allegations that have been thrown against Ertegun, it‘s high time to reassess the appropriateness of naming an award in his honor.)

It might be a reach to honor them in this way, as the fact that they were the public faces of the network also meant that they often faced the brunt of criticism aimed at the network, whether it was about the intrinsic vapidity of the channel’s tone or if it was about the reluctance to air videos from African-American artists pre-Thriller. For me personally, I grew up in Queens, New York. The outer boroughs were not wired for cable until the end of the 80s which means I didn’t have much access to MTV during its ascendancy, which coincided with the time I was in their target demographic. I started watching the network regularly as the second wave of VJs were on air. So when I would think “why aren’t they playing ___ instead of the crap that they are?” or “this guy is insipid!” that ire would be directed towards Adam Curry or Kevin Seal rather than the original recipe crew.

If selection committees think it would make more sense to honor MTV executives such as John Sykes or Judy McGrath instead, that’s fine too. But ultimately MTV’s role as a cultural force, both positive and negative, can’t be ignored and Hall membership should reflect that.

Besides, it’s never a bad idea to remember David Bowie calling MTV out for their lily white programming choices.

The Last Thing I’ll Say About Kyrie

I really don’t want to comment any more than I already have about the man who was once described as a Contrarian Without A Cause, but he dropped some doozies at his introductory press conference in Dallas. He stated his reasoning for requesting a trade was that he felt disrespected by the Nets organization. Well, respect is a two way street. It’s disrespectful to place your own stubbornness ahead of the needs of the team. Being unavailable due to injury is one thing; physical issues are often unavoidable. Having to miss time on multiple occasions due to personal choices you have made is something else entirely. That is something you have control over, and time and time again he let his teammates down.

And let us not forget that he deleted his apology for sharing an antisemitic film from his Instagram feed, which leads one to believe that the apology may not have been all that sincere.

But the following contradictory statement clearly demonstrates the way his mind works.

“I left them in fourth place — I did what I was supposed to do,” Irving said. “I took care of my teammates, was incredibly, incredibly selfless. And in my approach to leading, I just want to do all the right things for myself, not to appease anybody.”

He can’t claim to be selfless and then immediately say that he’s looking out for himself. During his time in Brooklyn he so frequently reminded me of the classic Raylan Givens observation that if you run into an a***hole in the morning you ran into an a***hole. But if you run into a**holes all day, you’re the a***hole. Not once did he ever look in the mirror and think that maybe he’s the problem. Instead, it’s that no one else shares his wisdom; why won’t they let me be me?

This is another testament to LeBron James’ greatness. Cleveland was his only stop in which Kyrie did not scorch the earth, as he was a major contributor to their championship squad. You have to believe that LeBron’s leadership skills helped keep Irving’s worst instincts in check. I’ve joked in the past about the eventual 30 For 30 that will be produced about this era of Nets basketball. Now that Kevin Durant has been traded, I’ll bet that filmmakers are already working on their proposals.

Kevin, Did You Really Want This Job?

As far as I’m concerned, State Of the Union addresses should have been discontinued once Eliot Engel left Congress, as his showing up in the House chamber hours early so that he could grab an aisle seat was a tradition unlike any other. Nowadays the chief interest in the speech is waiting to see who would be the year’s designated survivor. (For the record, this time it was soon to be outgoing Labor Secretary Marty Walsh.)

The superfluousness of the address is due to its predictability. POTUS recites his accomplishments from the past year and his proposals for the next, periodically interrupted by standing ovations from one side and stony silence from the other. I will admit that this year was a bit more memorable than what we’ve gotten used to. Joe Biden was quite feisty at times, engaging with the opposition and most memorably luring the howler monkeys of the GOP into his trap as he apparently got them to agree that Social Security and Medicare would be off the table.

Once again you can’t help but wonder why Kevin McCarthy wanted the job of speaker. He sat through the speech with the demeanor of a bored 8 year old child desperately wanting church to end so that he can go out and play with his friends. And when he wasn’t doing that he had to spend time shushing the rowdy hecklers from the sophomoric wing of his caucus as if he were the saddest substitute teacher in existence. You could also see the wheels turning following each line from Biden as he had to decide whether or not to stand and applaud, knowing that if he would respond positively at the wrong time his masters would force him to once again put the gimp costume on. Watching him seriously tests my capacity for schadenfreude. I almost felt sorry for the guy at times, but then I had to remind myself that he’s Kevin McCarthy, so the hell with him. He made his bed, you know the rest.

Burt Bacharach

Burt Bacharach was best known for his substantial number of orchestral pop classics, many with Dionne Warwick, but there were scores of artists who had hits with at least one of his compositions. As the musical half of the Bacharach/Hal David songwriting duo, they were among the earliest recipients of the Gershwin Prize. Classic melodic songwriting is just that; although he’s largely identified with lush middle of the road pop, those melodies are amenable to any genre as can be seen below.

With a catalogue that large, his influence spanned generations. Picture trying to convince someone in 1978 that in the future Bacharach and Elvis Costello would collaborate. I’m not sure which fan base would find that more shocking. The guy lived to the age of 94, and stayed active in the business almost to the end. Notably, he only fell the Tony shy of EGOT status. Plus, he was once married to Angie Dickinson! Much respect.

Wrap It Up

I’ve been running this newsletter for around a month or so, & I’d love to hear your feedback. What do you enjoy, what do you want to see more of or less of? Feedback is always welcome, and by all means, feel free to recommend this little corner of the internet to anyone you may believe would be interested. Have a great weekend everybody.