Greatest Song Evah 5/12/23

Redemption Song

This song is a bit of an anomaly in Bob Marley’s catalog, as he largely eschews his signature reggae beats for a more stripped down acoustic arrangement. That fits this song perfectly, as the lyrics, which were partially adapted from a Marcus Garvey speech, sound like they could have come from the songbook of a 1970s singer-songwriter once you set aside the patois. It’s introspective and intimate and would likely not be anywhere near as powerful with a full band.

The wistful tone in his singing feels more poignant with the knowledge that when he wrote and recorded this track he was already suffering from the cancer that would take his life all too young. It’s tough to say which of his many classic recordings is his most essential, but it’s worth noting that his career-spanning box set was titled Songs Of Freedom. That’s all he ever have.

Link Wray

I noticed for the first time this year that the Hall of Fame’s Early Influence category has been renamed Musical Influence. That makes sense, as in recent years there have been fewer honorees that emerged from the Mississippi Delta during the Depression. Going forward we are more likely to see the honor bestowed on someone a bit more contemporary who originated or perfected a musical style, so the renaming of the category is a more accurate description.

Such is the case with Link Wray. He only had a couple of minor hits in the late 50s but those hits, in particular his signature track “Rumble,” were hugely influential. His use of feedback and distortion was revolutionary, particularly when one takes into account the relatively primitive recording technology of the time only allowed for a limited amount of innovation. Additionally, he was generally credited with inventing the power chord. He essentially laid the groundwork for many of the harder rock sounds that would emerge more than a decade later.

He spent much of the last decades of his life as a steady working and touring musician. To use a cliche, he was likely the favorite guitarist of your favorite guitarist, and more than worthy of the posthumous celebration.

That covers the last of this year’s inductees. The ceremony doesn’t take place until November. That long lead time helps musicians clear their schedules; it gives them time to schedule tour dates around the ceremony if they so choose. As the date nears there will be lots of talk concerning performers and presenters, but for the most part the next few months should be relatively quiet.

Huggie Bear

West Virginia men’s hoops coach & Naismith Hall Of Famer Bob Huggins really stepped in it this week as he used a homophobic slur twice during an appearance on a podcast. The odd part is that if you listen to the clip (I won’t link it) what he said made little sense. He was trying to take a dig at Xavier, his major rival from back in the days when he coached at Cincinnati, but even if you eliminate the slur it sounded like a bunch of gibberish. The host was of course goading him into saying something that would be attention-grabbing and he took the bait.

To his credit he didn’t try to worm his way out of it or use the tired “if I offended someone” disclaimer. He knew he messed up. The university took immediate steps; reducing his annual salary by $1 million, amending contract terms so that it’s now a rolling one year deal rather than a long term one, and making clear that he is on a one strike and you’re out probation.

This sure seems to be a case of a guy sticking around a bit too long. These days he has cultivated the image of a lovably gruff old uncle, but this incident is reminding people of what he was like in the Cincinnati days. Then he was known just as much for an often inappropriately ferocious temper as well as absolutely abysmal graduation rates just as much as he was known for his considerable on court success. Over the years he had successfully memory holed all of that, but now all those memories are coming back. Based on the fact that West Virginia has largely been good but not great the past few years this may have been an opportunity for the parties to quietly separate. Instead, it feels almost like a Bob Knight Last Days At Indiana situation as everyone is sitting on pins and needles awaiting on the incident that may lead to an ugly departure.

A Farewell To MTV News

Word came out that as part of a wave of layoffs at Paramount, the MTV News division is being shuttered. I’m not intending to be snarky when I say that I had no idea that MTV News still existed. Back in the days when MTV was much more culturally prominent than it is now, their news crew built up its own special little niche within the organization. It’s a stretch to call it highbrow but at its best it elevated the network above its usual levels of vapidity.

For years the signature face and voice of MTV News was Kurt Loder. He brought his characteristic smirk to both the hourly two minute news breaks as well as the long-running Week In Rock program. He gave off an “I’m above this all” vibe but that attitude served a purpose. He seemed to be the adult in the room and the fact that he was somewhat older than the rest of MTV’s on air personalities gave him a level of gravitas not otherwise seen over the course of the day. At times the news shows consisted of a lot of Entertainment Tonight level puffery, but they could get serious and substantive when needed and they often did a great job of focusing on issues of importance to their core demographic. In those cases they could be informative and substantive. They covered HIV awareness very well, and Rock The Vote was a crucial public service campaign.

The necessity of a news division diminished as MTV strayed further from its roots, and I can’t remember the last time I tuned into the channel, so I have no idea how they have been incorporating news into their usual programming. Yet it’s still a little sad to see it fade away; another signpost from my younger days assigned to history’s dustbin. So, raise a toast to not only the glory days of Loder but that whole crew of Tabitha Soren, John Stewart, Alison Stewart, Gideon Yago, Serena Altschul, and so many more.

Donnie & Georgie

It’s been quite a week for the self-proclaimed party of law & order as the first of what may be many verdicts came down against the former guy, forcing him to pay $5 million in the E. Jean Carroll defamation suit. The next day, George Santos was hit with a 13 count indictment. Santos has few friends so he didn’t have a parade of fellow reps sticking up for him, but the vast majority of GOP pols predictably defended Trump. To be fair, they are in a difficult position. As horrifying as it is to acknowledge, Trump is the head of the party and there are consequences for failure to bend the knee. When you have a coalition containing people with jello-filled spines, it’s no surprise that few show the courage to hold a twice-impeached coup leader who has bragged about sexual assault accountable for his misdeeds.

Which brings us to shameful display on CNN. Putting a serial liar on live TV for an hour in front of an audience filled with sycophants benefited no one and was a true example of journalistic malpractice. Knowing he would lie so frequently and so rapidly that it would make fact checking impossible is one thing, although there’s no excuse for not pushing back on some of his most brazen lies. I can’t believe he’s still claiming that there’s an epidemic of executions of newborns and since he spreads his greatest fibs so often I can’t believe that Kaitlin Collins didn’t have a list of receipts handy for immediate rebuttal. Filling the studio audience with textbook examples of the term “deplorable” is something else altogether. Hearing so many cheers as Trump continued to insult Carroll was depressing. These attitudes existed pre-Trump. What his success did was allow people to freely express absolutely dickish behavior without any shame or consequences.

But hey, CNN got the eyeballs (although preliminary ratings show a significant drop from similar town halls held previously) so I suppose it was all worth it.

No, We’ll Build The Stadium Here Instead

Here’s a shock - that agreement to build a new ballpark from the Oakland A’s in Las Vegas already looks shaky. They are looking at a different site for a proposed stadium, so I presume all parties had their fingers crossed when they reached the earlier agreement. The lesson as always is that nothing is a done deal until the first shovel hits dirt. There’s little reason to believe that Plan B, which will supposedly be built on the current site of The Tropicana, will come to fruition either. I’ll believe it when I see it. This is still no comfort to the ever dwindling number of Oakland fans; it’s still a dead franchise walking. This story gets more embarrassing each day and the owners are gonna start to get very desperate. Don’t be surprised if the next time you go home you find a flier on your door from Oakland ownership offering to purchase the property.

We Made It To The Weekend

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms out there. Have a great day, and see you all next week.