Greatest Song Evah - 2/24/23

Come On Eileen

At least in the States, Dexy’s Midnight Runners were one of the premiere examples of the term “one hit wonder.” In the UK they were consistent hit makers both before and after their sole American hit, but over here they epitomized flash in the pan success. Not only did this one make it all the way to #1, but they only placed a song on the Hot 100 one other time, and even in that case they only managed to scrape the very bottom of the chart.

The early MTV era blessed with us with so many tracks that would not have been nearly as successful at any other point in history. Pop radio and pop charts were fairly rudderless at the dawn of the 80s. The disco backlash wiped practically all dance-related music away, so there was a massive void that needed to be filled. The decade began with the charts dominated by lots of adult contemporary ballads and lite country music capitalizing on the Urban Cowboy craze. And then came MTV.

Suddenly young fans were introduced to all of these British acts that looked and sounded like nothing with which they were familiar. Dexy’s stood out even further from that pack. Instead of synths here came a song based on fiddles and banjos. Instead of over the top hair and fashion here were a bunch of people dressed in dirty overalls looking like they hadn’t bathed in years. And the song in question was wonderful. Multiple tempo changes, with a bridge that gradually builds into a soaring chorus.

The single greatest one-hit wonder? Your mileage may vary, but to me it’s a strong candidate for that designation. Too-Rye-Ay everybody!

Possible Side Category Inductee - The Revolution

There have been a handful of musical performances that were more than just great, they moved into game changing territory. They left audiences with the sense that Nothing Will Be The Same After This. The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. James Brown on The T.A.M.I. Show. Jimi Hendrix at Monterey. Michael Jackson on the Motown 25 special. And Prince & the Revolution’s performance of Let’s Go Crazy that opened the film Purple Rain.

Prince was a big of a unicorn as there ever was, combining studio wizardry with multi-instrumental skill. Because of that there’s always a question of how much his backing musicians contributed to his recordings as opposed to just Prince acting as a one-man band, but there is no doubt that The Revolution was an absolutely ferocious live act. Just look at the Sign O’ the Times concert film for proof. I would love to see them honored with an induction in the Musical Excellence category.

The Purple Rain era core of Wendy Melvoin, Lisa Coleman, Brown Mark, Bobby Z, and Doctor Fink were tight and versatile, easily able to accompany Prince as he turned on a dime from funk to rock to R&B to pop to psychedelia to gospel to jazz and everything else in between. It’s also worth noting that they were a visually striking band consisting of members with multiple genders, races, ethnicities, and sexual orientations all combining with their assorted brightly colored stage costumes to create a wonderful mosaic.

The Revolution were only credited with Prince on 3 of his albums, but they were his band for years before they were branded as such, and they were central to his sound at the peak of his massive popularity. Make this one happen, Hall people.

SNL Preview

Woody Harrelson first hosted the show way back in 1989. I don’t know for sure if that has been the longest stretch between the initial hosting gig and formal entrance into the five-timers club, but I can’t think of who else it could be. He was in the midst of his Cheers stardom for that first appearance when people still made the natural connection between Woody Harrelson the actor and Woody Boyd the character, believing that IRL he was that naive yokel. The years have proven that he’s much more substantive than the character with which he shares a first name.

He likely enjoys returning to Studio 8H for the same reason that Tom Hanks does. “I may be a Serious Actor, but I still want to honor my comedic roots.” I’m optimistic that the show will regain its footing this weekend. A two week break + an experienced host is usually a good combo.

Load Management

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver added his two cents to the ongoing load management debate in the league, saying that it’s often medically necessary and that attendance numbers indicate that fans are not as angry about it as most critics believe. It sounds like a bunch of corporate speak, but it’s worth looking into why this has grown so prevalent along with its close cousin, increasingly liberal uses of injury lists.

First off, I get the fan anger. Despite what Silver says about attendance, there’s no way that fans are satisfied with the status quo. NBA ticket’s ain’t cheap. If you can only afford to attend one game per season of course you’d be PO’d if the opposing team’s star player is sitting out. This opposing point may seem counterintuitive, but hear me out. This pertains to all sports, not just the NBA. The overall skill level increases with each year. The great players are greater, and even the lesser players are much better than their equivalents from earlier eras. In order to compete players need to constantly push themselves beyond limits that the human body can really bear. Yes, they are young, healthy, and wealthy, with access to the very best training and nutrition. But they are still human beings and the body can only give so much.

This isn’t a new argument, by the way. One can question why LeBron James needs to sit out here and there, pointing out that Michael Jordan would routinely play all 82 regular season games. But did Jordan ever average MORE than 48 minutes per game, as Wilt Chamberlain did once? No disrespect to either Jordan or Chamberlain, but LeBron faces opponents that as a group are stronger and faster than what his predecessors faced, and doing so takes a much larger physical toll on him & his peers. Or looking at baseball, one can question why starting pitchers rarely complete games or why they skip starts on occasion when the Seaver/Carlton/Palmer generation would routinely pitch 250+ innings per year while completing the majority of their starts. But those guys also had the benefit of 5-man rotations. In addition they often faced opposing lineups that were awfully weak once they made it past the middle of the order; so many middle infielders that could barely punch out singles. One could question why they weren’t making 40 starts a season the way Warren Spahn would.

It’s all very similar to the endless debate of playing hurt v. playing injured. Every athlete is going to have assorted aches and pains that he or she needs to fight through. That’s playing hurt. Playing injured means that one needs to weigh the costs and benefits. By playing, do I risk aggravating it so that instead of missing days I will instead have to miss weeks or months? Or does this injury limit me enough so that the team is better off having my backup play instead? With load management the internal debate is whether a player is too gassed to be of any benefit to the team so that might be best for all concerned to take a night off.

I’m not sure if there’s any real solution to the issue other than the one that’s a non starter. Player exhaustion wouldn’t be as much of a problem if leagues across all sports would simply shorten their seasons. That will never happen, no one wants the corresponding revenue loss. Athletes will continue to get stronger and faster; I don’t see this situation going away any time soon.

What Magical Times In Which We Live

There is one important connection that everyone reading this shares, no matter who you are. All of us are fortunate enough to be alive in what future historians will dub The Cocaine Bear Era.

Time will tell if it truly becomes a cult classic or if it will suffer the same fate as Snakes On a Plane. In other words, will it be like SOAP, with lots of prerelease memes followed by yawns and shrugs once it actually opens, or will it become a so bad it’s good phenomenon? For what it’s worth, I enjoyed Snakes On a Plane. I would characterize it as a fun bad movie. That’s the same sort of hope I have for Cocaine Bear. It’s unlikely to win a Peabody, but I’ve seen stranger things happen.

The Coda

Thanks as always for reading. Word of mouth would really help me cultivate an audience, so please spread the word if you can. And feedback is always welcome. Have a great weekend all!