Greatest Song Evah 7/14/23

Substitute

Sometimes one great song can beget another. Pete Townshend had mentioned at times how much he loves the song Tracks Of My Tears, particularly the way Smokey Robinson pronounces the word “substitute.” Townshend felt that the word just sounds so wonderful in a musical context and wished to build a whole new song around that word. Voila! This is the result.

This can be said about most songs by The Who, but Substitute is such an outstanding showcase for their rhythm section. The Who as a general rule of thumb heavily emphasized the bass lines, and John Entwistle’s work is particularly strong here. The bottom is so prominent that it’s practically a lard instrument. And Keith Moon always provided the strongest evidence of how crucial a great drummer is to a band’s sound. He utilizes every piece of his drum kit to absolute perfection; just listen to that cymbal work.

This is one of those songs for which I literally love every element. In addition to what I already mentioned, that opening guitar riff makes for a perfect intro, and the harmonies are impeccable. At this juncture Roger Daltry had not yet fully developed the powerful pipes that were a signature element of their post-Tommy sound, but he fully sells the vulnerability that is conveyed in the lyrics. And few songwriters in rock history have been able to turn a phrase as skillfully as Townshend has. In the mid 60s The Who knocked out classic single after classic single. I don’t think they ever topped this one.

On Pronouns

I find it so tedious when I see someone trying to score cheap points by screaming my pronouns are fill-in-the-blank. That doesn’t show what a tough guy you are, it shows how uneducated you are. Fine, Mr. Genius, your pronouns are kiss my ass. There’s only 1 actual pronoun in your declaration, try again. It’s also precious to see this type of mockery coming from, to use one example, a United States Senator whose birth name is Rafael Cruz, yet chooses to go by his middle name throughout his adult life.

It’s essentially the same idea. How many times in his younger years did people insist on calling him Rafael, only for him to correct them, saying that he wishes to be called Ted? Pronoun identification is a similar concept. Yes, it takes some getting used to if someone whom you’ve long known identifies as a different gender. But that’s on you to make the adjustment. Every one of us has a preference over whether we wish to be addressed by our formal first name or by a nickname. It’s common courtesy to follow an individual’s wishes. Same thing with pronouns.

Emmy Nominations

In the category of Irrational Confidence, the people behind the Emmy Awards believe they’ll actually be able to hold the ceremony on its scheduled date. But with the writers’ strike showing no sign of ending anytime soon, and SAG/AFTRA now on strike as well, it’s a longshot. But the Academy needs to go through motions just in case, so this year’s nominations were announced on Wednesday.

The Emmys are the toughest to call off the Big 4 award shows. As you all have noticed, there is A LOT of TV; it’s simply not possible to honor every show and performance that is award worthy. So I don’t waste much time or emotion complaining about omissions. I will make two exceptions; one present and one past. It’s ridiculous that Rhea Seehorn STILL has yet to win an Emmy for Better Call Saul. Thankfully she received a nomination for the show’s final season; which may have been her best work yet. The Academy has one last chance to make things right. Don’t blow it. And if I had access to a flux capacitor I would go back in time and personally hand screeners of The Wire to every voter. The show never won an Emmy, and only received 2 total nominations over its 5 season run. Complete nonsense.

The Emmys aren’t as bad as they used to be back in the days when certain shows or actors would seemingly get grandfathered and win year after year regardless of whether or not it was deserved. I’m not sure if this is better or not, but in recent years there has been a tendency for the voters to fall in love with a show and shower it with every conceivable award in a specific year. If and when the ceremony is held, be prepared for a Succession sweep.

One final note - we have a potential EGOT this year. Elton John received a nomination for his concert special on Disney+. If he were to win, not only would he become an EGOT but he would also be the only one that is also in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. I’d be tempted to call that a REGOT, but it sounds too much like something Scooby-Doo would say. ERGOT? Too similar to ergo. EGORT? Too close to egret?

The Climate

No matter where you live, chances are very strong that if you’re reading this you’ve had to have dealt with some very intense weather. Whether it’s been historic rainfall, massive wildfires, prolonged heatwaves, intense tornado activity, or something else, it’s hard to find an area that is not dealing with the ramifications of climate change. Keep in mind that hurricane season has barely started, it can get a lot worse as the summer rolls on. Just to use one example, this is a recent extended forecast from Phoenix. Save all the standard jokes about a dry heat, this is not livable.

What makes it worse is that so much of it could have been mitigated. Warnings have been sounded for years, but those warnings have been drowned out by the fossil fuel industry despite the overwhelming scientific consensus. And make no mistake, that consensus has always existed. Apologists always claimed that there is legitimate debate to be had because there isn’t unanimity, but unanimity on any issue is an impossible goal. I like to use what I call the Trident Scale. If a topic has a higher percentage of agreement than the percentage of dentists who recommend sugarless gum, then it’s safe to say that the issue has been settled.

And who are the 20% of dentists that are pro-sugar anyway? They’re the ones who see a goldmine when a patient walks in with sugar-ruined teeth. Likewise, many of the minuscule number of climate scientists who don’t agree that climate change is real and manmade are likely in the pockets of big oil.

One of the longstanding arguments has been that it’s too expensive to convert the existing energy infrastructure to renewables. I don’t buy that, the costs to deal with the climate effects are staggering. There are affiliated costs as well. One of the attractions that made mass migration to Sunbelt stated possible has been the promise of low taxes. But there’s more than just taxes. Insurance rates in Florida are exploding. And take another look at those Phoenix temperatures again. It’s conceivable that large swaths of the Sunbelt can be legitimately uninhabitable within our lifetimes. If that’s the case property values will plummet. There’s no resale value in a house where no one can live.

There are a small handful of issues for which I have no patience for opposing viewpoints. Climate is one of them. The evidence has always been there and it has been overwhelming. Mother Nature is calling in her markers. It bears repeating; it’s only mid-July. There’s still plenty of summer ahead of us. It’s certainly possible that what we’ve seen so far is only the tip of the iceberg - no pun intended.

Checking In On The Ratings

I don’t want to end today’s newsletter on such a downer, so I’ll turn to a topic that’s sure to churn up excitement- TV ratings.

To be sure, there’s no reason for Ordinary Joes like you and me to care too much about ratings, but they do affect corporate decisions. Pivoting back towards movies and the unmitigated disaster that was The Flash, it’s more than a simple box office disaster. Studio heads need to determine how much of the failure was due to lingering distaste over Ezra Miller’s behavior versus how much of it was due to superhero fatigue. If it’s more the latter, then it will cause changes to the types of movies that get greenlit.

Which brings us to ratings for televised sports. The ratings for the All-Star Game weekend are simultaneously discouraging and encouraging. The numbers for the game itself continue to drop, which is pretty standard for any non-football programming. And yet there was a slight rise in the numbers for younger demographics. It’s only one year, so more data will be required before it can be called a trend, but the biggest issue baseball has been facing is its aging fanbase. If it can attract a younger audience, then there is still potential for growth. Is the pitch click and the accompanying faster game pace helping? It’s something to keep an eye on.

More encouraging are the strong numbers for the WNBA, especially when combined with the huge ratings growth seen in the women’s NCAA tournament. For years the rationale for not featuring the league much on SportsCenter has been that it’s not their responsibility to create interest, it’s to reflect the interest that already exists. But lo and behold, ESPN & the league’s other broadcast partners made the amazing discovery that if you broadcast the games on a consistent schedule then the audience will come. College softball and college volleyball also have shown strong ratings increases. The audience is obviously there for women’s sports. It will be interesting to see what the numbers for the women’s World Cup that starts next week will look like. The time difference could hurt east coast audiences because the tournament takes place in Australia and New Zealand, but that also means that games will start at around 7:30PM in the Pacific time zone, which could optimize audience size.

Auf Wiedersehen

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading, have a great weekend, and I’ll see you all again on Monday. Please stay cool.