Greatest Song Evah 6/14/24

Maps

There are occasions in which the song that a band is best known for is not representative of what they generally sound like. Case in point: this track from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They were one of the premiere bands from the downtown New York/Brooklyn scene that really rejuvenated guitar based rock around the turn of the century. At their best the Yeah Yeah Yeahs had the perfect amount of grit and grime, yet they struck gold with a deeply emotional power ballad.

Karen O is one of the most dynamic front persons from any era. From all indications in real life she is a fairly reserved introvert, but you would never know that from watching her perform. The music clearly seeps into her very soul; she prowls the stage like some sort of uncaged beast. Like any major talent, she knows how to dial that back when the material calls for it. Such as with this song.

It’s only a slight exaggeration to say that there is a total of around 10 words in the lyrics to Maps. It may be minimalist, but it is certainly powerful. No matter how many times she repeats the phrase “they don’t love you like I love you” Karen O completely sells the deep ache in those words each and every time. That’s even more evident in the video for the song; it contains the most effective use of tears this side of Sinead O’Connor.

A couple of years ago the Yeah Yeah Yeahs released their first new album in almost a decade, and they are still damn good and Karen O sounds as great as ever. A lot of their contemporaries have faded away but they are still plugging away. Part of me would have loved to have seen them become bigger stars, but ‘twas not to be.

The Logo

It is impossible to overstate Jerry West’s impact on the NBA. He was more than just an inner-circle great player; he was just as successful as a front office executive, instrumental in building both the Showtime & the Kobe/Shaq era Laker dynasties. As a consultant he had an equally crucial role in laying the foundation for the recent Warriors dynasty. He lobbied hard for the team to draft Klay Thompson and later on refused to sign off on a proposed Thompson/Kevin Love trade. That’s not to mention the fact that the NBA logo is a silhouette of West dribbling. (For years no one in the league ever publicly confirmed that the logo is in fact West. Adam Silver finally acknowledged that this week while paying tribute to him.)

Jerry West is a player whom I just missed seeing; he had already retired by the time I started closely following the NBA. I was certainly aware of his reputation as an all-time great, however. His accomplishments leap off the page - a 14 time All-Star, an NBA championship in 1972, #3 on the career scoring list at the time of his retirement. That 1972 title came late in his career, and it symbolizes the Sisyphean element of his career arc. Year after year the Lakers were unable to defeat the Celtics in the finals. In fact, West won the Finals MVP award in 1969, despite the fact that LA fell to Boston in that series. That remains the only instance in which the award went to a player on the losing team. (In a bit of symmetry, he also won the Final Four MOP award in 1959, even though his West Virginia team lost to California in the final.) Hell, his most famous NBA shot also came in a losing cause. In Game 3 of the 1970 finals, he hit a 60 foot shot at the buzzer to force overtime against the Knicks. Alas, the Knicks won that game in OT, as well as the series in 7 games.

He was always very open when it came to his mental health issues, more specifically his bouts with depression. He very famously would rarely be seen in the stands during the playoff runs for the teams that he built. It was too difficult for him to watch the games. It’s unfortunate that one of the final memories a lot of people will have of him is his depiction in the Winning Time TV series. All indications are that he had a temper, but nowhere near as ferocious as the show would lead one to believe.

When the Naismith Hall Of Fame announced this year’s inductees last March, West was one of the honorees in the Contributor category for his front office work. He had previously been inducted as a player in his first year of eligibility, and was later honored as part of the legendary 1960 Olympic team. This makes him the only man to have been inducted into the Naismith Hall 3 separate times. Whether you believe it’s appropriate to induct a person multiple times or not, it’s safe to say that if anyone merits that distinction, it’s Jerry West. He cut back his schedule in recent years as his health has declined, but before that he has been one of the central figures in the NBA for my entire life, and I ain’t no spring chicken. Jerry West was 86. As some have observed, he passed away days before the Celtics are about to break their tie with the Lakers and will once again become the NBA franchise with the most championships.

I should also note that Howard Fineman passed away this week at the age of 75. A long time columnist, reporter, editor, and pundit, he was a constant presence on cable news. I always enjoyed his work. He was an exceptionally smart guy, and his encyclopedic knowledge about a vast range of topics allowed him to place things in their proper historical perspective. Cable news is a wasteland largely because there are too many shouting heads rather than talking heads. We could use more voices like Fineman.

And Their Survey Says…

Earlier this week The Athletic published its annual MLB player poll in which more than 100 players answered questions pertaining to an assortment of topics about the game. It’s an unscientific survey, but some of the results are fascinating - best player, most overrated, which franchise would you most want to play for, etc. It’s behind a paywall, so it’s unethical to reveal too much of the content, but I’ll briefly touch on a couple of questions that really grabbed by interest. Those surveyed were given a chance to push back on the “get off of my lawn” crew & were asked “What is the most irritating criticism of the game coming from former players?”

Better still was this question - Have analytics helped your career, hurt your career, or made no difference to your career? Some would have you believe that all which is unholy about the game can be simplified as the fault of one word - analytics. The answers to the above question will therefore surprise you. Helped polled at 78%; seems like players don’t hate pertinent information after all.

50 Years Ago - Blazing Saddles

It’s practically impossible these days to have a rational conversation about Blazing Saddles. It’s one of the funniest movies ever made, but it is also a major flashpoint in the culture wars. How many times have you heard some form of the phrase “you couldn’t make this movie today. Those wussy snowflakes would never allow it?” True, you could not make Blazing Saddles today. How many young people even know who Hedy Lamarr was? They would never get the jokes about the name of Harvey Korman’s character.

Blazing Saddles was one of two all time classic comedies that Mel Brooks released in 1974. You could say that he had a pretty good year. I’m Team Young Frankenstein all the way, but that takes nothing away from Blazing Saddles. It’s just as quotable, and most of it still holds up. If I wanted to split hairs, I would say there are a few gags that, yes, would not be made today. As funny as it is to see a tribal chief speaking with a Yiddish accent, I would imagine that today Mel Brooks would choose to hire an actual indigenous actor to play that role rather than do it himself. Some of the jokes in the closing sequence on the Hollywood soundstage have a bit too much of the light homophobia that was common at the time. On a side note, this probably sounds heretical, but IMHO the campfire sequence dragged on way too long.

For all of the ways that cultural warriors have appropriated this film for their own purposes, the fact remains that all of the racial jokes in the movie are used to make a point. The jokes about race are largely made by the characters that are the stupidest or the most villainous ones. Sheriff Bart is fully aware of that fact and is savvy enough to exploit the stupidity of the citizens of Rock Ridge.

Blazing Saddles seems to be so perfectly cast that it’s noteworthy that it could have looked vastly different. Richard Pryor was one of the co-writers of the screenplay, and there was early talk of his portraying Bart. That idea fell by the wayside once it became clear that the studio would not be able to insure him. That’s how Cleavon Little got the role, and he was perfect. It seems tough to believe, but Mel Brooks really wanted John Wayne to portray the Waco Kid; Wayne turned it down. Veteran actor Gig Young was eventually cast, but on the first day of shooting he was a bit too much in character. He was too drunk to work and needed to be replaced. Luckily Gene Wilder was available to step in & the rest is history. He brought his inherent sweetness to the character; there would have been a MUCH different tone to the proceedings had Young remained. (Gig Young was a classic troubled soul; take a look at the circumstances surrounding his death. Really tragic stuff.)

It was more than just the 2 leads. Harvey Korman was perfectly sleazy as Hedley Lamarr. Mel Brooks made for an ideal corrupt Governor. And the great Madeline Kahn was rarely better than she was as the Marlene Dietrichesque Lili Von Shtupp. Even the supporting players were outstanding - everyone from Slim Pickens to John Hillerman to an all-star lineup of That Guys.

None of the supporting characters stood out quite like Mongo. It was not the first film role for NFL star Alex Karras; he had previously played himself in the movie adaptation of Paper Lion, but this was his meatiest role yet and he nailed it. There was lots of barely articulate grunting, but his reading of the line “Mongo only pawn in game of life” could not have been done any better.

Any comedy is going to be a product of its time, and Blazing Saddles is no exception. That’s part of why it’s such a hot potato. The mark of a truly great comedy is if it transcends its time. That is absolutely the case with Blazing Saddles. There are plenty of classic film comedies that we can look at nowadays and wonder what it was that people found funny about it. No concern about that with Blazing Saddles. It’s just as funny 50 years later, people will still find it funny 50 years from now, and when aliens sift through the remnants of our civilization, if they are fortunate enough to find a copy of this movie they will find it funny.

That’s Them In The Spotlight

Finally, a cool moment happened last night. The induction ceremony for this year’s class in the Songwriters Hall Of Fame took place and REM was one of the inductees. In a bit of a surprise, the 4 members performed Losing My Religion following their acceptance speech, the first time that the full band - including drummer Bill Berry who had left the group in 1997 - had publicly performed together since 2008.

Closing Laughs

Reminder to my fellow New Yorkers - early voting in primary elections begins tomorrow. Be sure to make your voices heard. Have a great weekend everybody, and I will see you all again on Monday.