Greatest Song Evah 2/7/25

Ship Of Fools

The first World Party album was a big personal favorite of mine in my college days. World Party was a one-man band created by Karl Wallinger after he left The Waterboys. (There are additional credited musicians on the record but almost all of them are Wallinger aliases. Even in subsequent albums the touring band rarely played on the recordings; Wallinger played most of the instruments himself in the studio.) The music sounded little like The Waterboys, instead it is a hodgepodge of all sorts of 1960’s influences. You can practically feel the paisley coming out of the speakers.

Ship Of Fools was World Party’s biggest hit in America, and deservedly so. There are all sorts of wonderful flourishes throughout the record. I particularly love the harmonies in the chorus, and the lyrics contain a strong environmental theme which still remains relevant.

The entire debut album is a strong listen, all the way down to a magnificent Dylan cover. The followup was almost as good, but as the years went on Wallinger decreased his focus on the American market. This song remains one of the zeniths of late 1980’s alternative/college rock.

SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night - The Weird Season

The 4th and final of the new SNL documentaries premiering on Peacock is titled The Weird Season, and it is presented as a sort of Twilight Zone tale. Kevin Nealon narrates in a vaguely Rod Serling-esque manner, and he and all of the interview segments are filmed in black & white. The weird season in question is the 1985/86 year in which prodigal son Lorne Michaels returned to the fold after a five year absence, saving the show from potential cancellation in the process. Unfortunately, the 11th season turned out to be a creative debacle. SNL’s return to form would have to wait a year.

As I had mentioned when I discussed that season several months ago, I watched the first episode of the season, decided it sucked, and did not return until a year later. The 3 episodes that I watched for the newsletter convinced me that I made the right choice. It felt as if the writers were more interested in shock value, rather than, you know, being funny. Those interviewed for the doc are trying to figure out how it could have gone so wrong.

In one sense the failure was puzzling. Lorne not only brought back several members of the original murderers row of writers, but the staff also included funny people such as Robert Smigel, Carol Leifer, and Mark McKinney. One consensus among those appearing in this documentary is that the cast was poorly chosen. There were too many inexperienced cast members, not enough of them had strong backgrounds in sketch comedy, and they never really gelled as an ensemble.

Not that the season was a complete flop. I admire the audacity the show demonstrated by including a running gag in one episode that it was directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola himself showed a self deprecating sense of humor that I did not know he even had. I had completely forgotten about that one, and the clips that were shown served as a reminder that although the show is rigidly formatted, even at that late date they were willing to get a little anarchic.

Lorne and team also deserve credit for the casting of Terry Sweeney. As recently as 1985 it was still a daring move to include someone so out and proud on network television; at the time one was more likely to see a Paul Lynde type - someone clearly gay, but officially closeted. Sweeney opened a lot of doors, and even though many of the roles he played on SNL were broad stereotypes, his presence was still a powerful statement.

The season ended on a faux cliffhanger. The cast, including Damon Wayans who had been fired midseason but brought back for the season finale, was trapped in a backstage fire set by host Billy Martin. Lorne personally rescued Jon Lovitz, but the fate of the rest of the cast was up in the air. As it turned out Nora Dunn and Dennis Miller joined Lovitz in returning for season 12, with the remaining cast fired. (No, they didn’t actually perish in a fire. Perhaps you have heard that Robert Downey Jr.’s career turned out OK even after his SNL flop.) New cast members joined in 1986 and the next Golden Age of SNL would soon commence.

All of those interviewed for this special were honest about the poor quality of the season. Anthony Michael Hall took one for the team and served as the unofficial spokesman for the young members of the cast. I don’t know if I necessarily agree with this thesis, but they all seem to believe that the season served as a reboot. Season 11 showed what worked and what didn’t and that allowed the show to play to its strengths going forward.

This was the last of the Peacock documentaries but there is still one newly produced retrospective special to discuss. On Monday I’ll look at the Questlove produced special that focused on the musical highlights from the first 50 years of SNL.

The Polar Bear Is Back In Town

I have been holding off on talking too much about the Mets offseason because I have been waiting for final resolution on Pete Alonso’s free agency one way or the other. I was beginning to fear that we would still be talking about this well into March, but on Wednesday evening word spread that the Mets and Alonso had finally agreed to terms. This was the most logical result from the get go, and it happened with days to spare before pitchers and catchers report.

Alonso’s free agency journey is a clear example of the battle between head and heart. My heart tells me that he needs to be and deserves to be a career Met. Those parabolic home runs that he hits with implausible launch angles are a thing of beauty. His off kilter personality is just as big of an attraction. Most importantly, from day 1 he completely embraced being a Met and formed a tight bond with the franchise’s passionate fan base. For Pete’s sake (pun intended) it was he who coined the LFGM catchphrase. With one of his typical years he will become the franchise’s all-time home run leader; it would have sucked if he had left before doing so.

My head tells me something different. As majestic as those home runs are, he is still a one dimensional slugger lacking in secondary skills. Worse, players with similar profiles as his rarely age well. And when they do decline, it’s often sudden and drastic. Think of how rapidly these slugger types degenerated to the extent that they were barely playable. For every David Ortiz, there are so many other Boog Powells and Bob Horners and Mo Vaughns, and I could go on and on to more recent examples such as Ryan Howard. The signs of Alonso’s decline were evident this year. His ground ball rate increased, as did his strikeout rate. That’s not a good trend. Most ominously, his slugging percentage fell below .500. There is a huge difference between a Pete Alonso who hits 40 home runs, and one who hits 30. The former is an all-star, the latter is a rich man’s Rhys Hoskins.

In this case the heart wins. A Rhys Hoskins type is still valuable, just not 5 year, 9 figure contract valuable. A two year contract with an opt out is low risk, and Alonso’s presence turns a good lineup into a potentially great one. A top 5 consisting of some combo of Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Mark Vientos is going to score a lot of runs. Now there is less pressure on Francisco Alvarez to make the leap, and if he does, even better.

The signing solidifies this as a successful offseason. It hasn’t been publicized much, but did you know that the Mets also signed Juan Soto? Yes, it’s true. Bringing Sean Manaea back was also a great move, and if either Frankie Montas or Clay Holmes pan out the way that Manaea and Luis Severino did last year, then the team has a deep starting rotation with enough coverage when injuries inevitably strike, albeit one without a top of the line ace. I also think that A.J. Minter was a very nice pickup, doubly so because they pried him away from a division rival.

Are they better at this moment than either the Phillies or Braves? My gut feeling at the moment is that the Phils are still better, but the Mets have likely surpassed the Braves, especially if Spencer Strider and/or Ronald Acuna Jr. are slow to recover from last season’s injuries. For now, optimism reigns, Alonso is back, and LFGM!

Godspeed, Hubie

We all what this weekend’s most significant sporting event is going to be, don’t we? That would be Sunday afternoon’s game between the Bucks & Sixers (2PM EST on ABC) which will serve as the final broadcast for the legendary Hubie Brown. The 91 year old Brown has been a near constant presence in the NBA as either a coach or a broadcaster for more than 50 years, and Disney brought him back to call one final game this season.

Unlike most TV analysts, Brown has largely been free of shtick. Let me correct that, he does have a shtick, and that is his ability to break down a play to the finest minutiae. He is extremely technical and precise in his analysis, and he is deserving of the highest compliment that one can pay to an analyst. The viewer leaves a telecast having learned something about the game. Hubie Brown has earned his retirement, here is hoping that he is rewarded with a good game for his grand finale.

While we’re on the subject of elder statesmen in basketball broadcasting, on Saturday evening Dick Vitale will be behind the mic for ESPN’s telecast of the Duke/Clemson game. Vitale has been absent from the booth for 2 years as he has been battling cancer. Unlike Hubie, Dickie V has long been pure shtick, but his enthusiasm for and love of the sport has been a major part of the college hoops landscape. There has been something missing during his prolonged absence; his return is the broadcasting equivalent of comfort food.

The Oscar Mulligan - 2002

Best Picture - Chicago

Other Nominees - Gangs Of New York, The Hours, The Lord Of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Pianist

This is practically a repeat of my 2001 Oscar reconsideration. The Lord Of the Rings movie is by far my favorite of the 5 nominated movies, but do I really feel comfortable constantly giving my fake Oscars to LOTR films? Let’s decide.

I can quickly eliminate two. The Hours is a prototypical high quality movie. It hits all the necessary bullet points; it has a strong cast, all of whom are at the top of their games, but it’s not a film that has left a strong legacy. The Pianist was an emotional and important story, but I can’t separate my feelings for the movie from the uncomfortable display that took place at that year’s ceremony. Roman Polanski won Best Director and he received a prolonged standing ovation in absentia. Polanski is one of cinema’s great directors, but there is a reason why he wasn’t able to accept his Oscar in person. As repugnant of a human being as he is, I can understand the impulse to separate his work from his crime. Still, to celebrate him with a standing ovation is the very definition of tone deaf.

I’m not a big fan of musicals, so it’s tough for me to objectively judge Chicago. The story is more compelling than the norm for a musical, but I don’t find many of the songs all that memorable. It’s better than most musicals IMHO, and it has certainly left a large cultural footprint, but to me it falls short of Oscar worthiness. As for LOTR, like all of the movies in the trilogy it has strong and weak points. Seeing Gollum in full glory for the first time was amazing; it was a huge advancement in motion capture work. On the other hand, the story dragged at points. If I had to watch Merry and Pippin in the trees one more time…

Which leaves us with Gangs Of New York. I’m a little hesitant to honor yet another Martin Scorsese movie, as deserving as he is of any and all accolades. The movie introduced us to an all-time great villain in Daniel Day-Lewis’s Bill the Butcher, and it was a huge turning point for Leonardo DiCaprio. He had taken a slight step back from the harsh spotlight following the Titanic phenomenon, and this movie was not only a return to high profile projects, but it was his first collaboration with Scorsese. Their connection would be increasingly fruitful in the years to come.

Although there are better Scorsese movies, there might not have been a better Day-Lewis performance. Plus the movie is a wonderful recreation of a specific era and place. With 20/20 hindsight I will say that Gangs Of New York deserved the 2002 Oscar.

Closing Laughs

Thus endeth today’s newsletter. Thanks to you all for spending another week around these parts. Have a great weekend all, and I will see you again on Monday.