Greatest Song Evah 7/19/24

Just Go Away

It’s not often talked about as part of the canon, but IMHO Blondie’s Parallel Lines is easily one of the top ten albums of the 1970’s. Their first big commercial success, it covers a wide range of sounds. In addition to the disco hit which became their breakthrough, it contains elements of new wave, pure punk, and glorious power pop. Just Go Away is the final cut on the record, and it sends it out with a flourish.

Debbie Harry was a versatile vocalist; she could go with a type of icy detachment that makes her sound like a Stepford wife just as easily as she could go with full-throated vocal power. Here she uses an acidic touch to kick a no-good man to the curb. I love to hear a great turn of phrase. There are lots of ways to tell someone they’ve put their foot in their mouth. “Your foot is firmly entrenched where a molar should be” is a real gem. Plus, that chorus is just perfect. The way she sneers “don’t go away mad, just go away” is awesome. Years later Motley Crue had one of their bigger hits with a song expressing the same sentiment. Sorry, Vince Neil, but Debbie Harry did it much better.

If Blondie had a co-MVP, it was Clem Burke. A great drummer adds so much to a band, and when Burke got into a groove he just wailed on those drums. His drumroll at the song’s ending was a perfect capper to both the song & the album as a whole. As much as I love the Ramones & the Talking Heads, and to be clear I think they were both better bands than Blondie was, there is a good reason why Blondie was the first of the CBGB bands to make a mainstream breakthrough. Blondie had that “it” factor. This song is a good demonstration of that.

Your Kennedy Center Honorees

The math makes sense, but this is still somewhat shocking. Debbie Harry recently turned 79. She is firmly in the “give her every lifetime achievement award there is” portion of her life. She hasn’t won a Kennedy Center Honor yet, but the newest group of honorees was named yesterday. In an illustration of how much the culture has changed since the initial ceremony in 1978, one of this year’s awards will go to The Grateful Dead. Try to convince a 1978 audience that rock bands would eventually receive these awards, let alone one so closely connected to the counterculture.

In addition to the Dead, this year’s other honorees are Francis Ford Coppola, Bonnie Raitt, and Arturo Sandoval, along with a special honor to be bestowed to the Apollo Theater. As per tradition, the ceremony will take place in December. No awkward speeches, the recipients sit in the balcony and watch peers pay tribute. It’s always a nice production.

Another important point is that the Kennedy Center only honors living people. So it is with a tinge of sadness that we learned yesterday that the great Bob Newhart, who although he was one of the earliest recipients of the Mark Twain Prize, did not receive a Kennedy Center medallion, has passed away. Today’s newsletter is already running fairly long, and I want enough space to give him his due justice, so I’ll wait until Monday to share my full thoughts. Needless to say he was an inner circle legend of comedy.

Manfred Speaks

To briefly follow up on what was a very “meh” All-Star Game, I had half jokingly suggested that the voted starters should sit out the beginning & come in halfway through so that the game’s best players are in the game for a potential dramatic ninth inning at bat. Nothing against the guys who actually hit in the 9th, but just imagine if it had been Ohtani or Harper instead. Yes, I know neither of their turns in the lineup had come up in the ninth inning, but work with me here. I took a quick look at the box score. NL starters had more plate appearances than the subs, 22-14, but in the AL Bruce Bochy went with the B team an inning earlier, so the difference was only 17-15. That’s too close, fans deserve to see more of the cream of the crop. That ends my shaking fist at a cloud for today.

Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke to the press and offered a handful of interesting nuggets. It appears that an automated strike zone won’t be instituted in the majors until 2026. The league intends to use it on a trial basis in spring training next year, and it will be in the form of a challenge system rather than a full-blown robo ump. There is also this. After years of sticking his head in the sand, Manfred is acknowledging the near universal criticism of the hideous ASG uniforms. He at least appears open to the idea that fans much prefer seeing the players wear their regular uniforms in the game. It remains to be seen what Nike has to say on the matter, but this is a welcome change from Manfred’s default setting, which is to act as tone deaf as humanly possible. Manfred also brought up the possibility of holding discussions with the MLBPA to come up with a logistical way of having major league players compete in the 2028 Olympics, which will be held in Los Angeles. The big drawback of the World Baseball Classic is that it takes place in spring training, when pitchers are still building up their arms. A July tournament makes it feasible that pitchers can air it out like they normally do. The question is if it can be done without being too disruptive to the regular season. If nothing else the players who have enjoyed their participation in the WBC appear receptive to finding a way to make it work.

Induction Weekend

One of my very favorite days on the baseball calendar comes with the annual Hall Of Fame induction in Cooperstown. Just in case you have been living under a rock, this year the Hall will honor Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton, Jim Leyland, and Joe Mauer. It’s not so such the speeches that I look forward to. They tend to follow a template; lots of thanks to parents who encouraged them and to coaches who molded them, as well as lists of the names of some of their favorite teammates. It’s a treat to see them so unfiltered; they often reveal deep emotion as well as aspects of their personality they kept hidden from the public during their playing days.

What I enjoy most about the ceremony is the introduction of the returning Hall of Famers. You can’t beat seeing so much greatness concentrated in such a small village. In a press release the Hall announced that there will be 54 at this year’s ceremony. I intentionally don’t read any further, because I prefer to be surprised to see who is actually there. By my count there are currently 71 living members, not including the 4 newbies. So there is a nice percentage of people coming back, which is an impressive number considering that Cooperstown is an isolated enough locale that it’s not easy for men of a certain age who have difficulty traveling to get to. Of course, the true highlight is watching Rob Manfred read the plaque inscriptions aloud with his unmeasurable levels of charisma.

Break Time

The WNBA All-Star Game is tomorrow night, after which the league will shut down for a month to accommodate the players that will participate in the Olympics. Roughly 60% of the season is in the books, so this is a good point to look at Where Things Stand and see What We Have Learned. First off, there are two important business metrics to look at. The question wasn’t if ratings and attendance would jump this season, the question concerned the retention rate. How many new fans sampling the league for the first time would return to watch a second game, and a third, etc.? The early numbers are very encouraging; a significant number of new viewers like what they see and are coming back for more. Which leads to the second point. The new TV deal is 6 times more lucrative than the present one, and the W still needs to sign contracts with additional partners that will bring in even more revenue. That’s the true acid test. Networks recognize that this is a worthwhile investment.

As for the standings, the New York Liberty enters the break with the best record, followed by the Connecticut Sun. After that, Minnesota, Seattle, and Las Vegas are all within a half-game of each other in spots 3-5. That should be a fascinating race, as the team finishing fifth won’t have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. It’s surprising to see the 2-time defending champion Aces in this position. They got off to a slow start & took a long time to catch fire.

That is not A’ja Wilson’s fault. When the season began a reasonable argument could be made as to who the best player in the game is. Wilson has put that to rest; she has raised her already impressive game to a whole new level. Insert your favorite Michael Jordan Last Dance meme. It sure looks like she took that 1 4th place vote she received in last year’s MVP balloting personal.

As for the much ballyhooed rookie class, both Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have lived up to the hype. As a lot of people predicted Clark has found it more difficult to get open in the pros, so her shooting percentage is slightly down. What some people forget is that she is also a creative passer & an outstanding playmaker. She leads the league in assists and in the final game before the break she set a single game record for assists. I did not say that she set a rookie record, she set the league record.

Reese has made one wonder what it is that scouts missed that caused her to fall towards the bottom of the first round in the draft. She is a force in the paint, second in the league in rebounds. The streak recently ended, but she had broken Candace Parker’s record for most consecutive games with a double double. Once again, note that I did not say rookie record. Anytime you break a record held by Parker you’re doing something right.

Many people try to draw Magic/Bird parallels between Clark & Reese. Those comparisons don’t completely hold. Johnson’s Lakers won a title in his rookie season & Bird’s Celtics in his second. Neither the Fever nor the Sky are that close to being championship caliber yet, and it also helped that Magic & Bird played for the two most iconic franchises in the NBA. You can’t say the same about Indiana and Chicago. What is true is that like Magic & Bird the transfer of their rivalry from college to the pros has sparked a huge wave of interest, which will only grow when Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins turn pro.

The Oscar Mulligan - 1988

Best Picture: Rain Man

Other Nominees: The Accidental Tourist, Dangerous Liaisons, Mississippi Burning, Working Girl

This was a tough one to decide, because the 5 nominees are all movies that are good, but not great. Let me check that. There’s one nominee that I considered great when I first saw it, but I’m not completely comfortable still saying that today. As well made as it is, Mississippi Burning is a prime example of the White Savior trope. I saw it when I had recently graduated from college, so I was the perfect target audience for it. Even at the time I was fully aware of the historical inaccuracies, but it still hit me at a gut level. Years later the flaws are apparent. It does a good job of portraying the evil banality of such vicious racism, but it’s a poor look that practically every black character in the movie is passive, or a victim, or both. I understand why white savior movies continue to be made; there will always be a new generation of militant young people ready to eat this stuff up.

So, which movie deserves the Oscar? There are some troublesome elements to Rain Man as well. Dustin Hoffman inhabited the exact type of role that was mocked in Tropic Thunder. Everyone remembers Raymond’s assorted verbal ticks - “time for Wapner” or the overuse of the word “definitely” - but to me this is the sort of movie in which you admire the technique more than you get drawn into the story. I will say that this is the movie that finally proved Tom Cruise is more than just a cocky smile. The movie would never have worked if he were unable to hold up his half of the story. Raymond couldn’t show character development, only Charlie could. “I learned something about myself” is a classic storytelling cliche, but it’s still one that is very effective when done well.

Working Girl is a strong candidate for the trophy. The big hair and the shoulder pads date it a bit, but the three lead actors all work together very well. At times it veers a little bit too closely towards caricature, but it never crosses that line. That’s a testament to the talent involved. Mike Nichols, Harrison Ford, and Sigourney Weaver are in total pros, and although Melanie Griffith’s stardom did not last very long, this was an ideal showcase for her skills.

I would say that Working Girl is a better movie than Rain Man, but not so much better that it should take the trophy away. There are plenty of non-nominated movies from that year more deserving of the Oscar - Who Framed Roger Rabbit? or A Fish Called Wanda - but since I’m sticking with the films that actually won nominations, Rain Man is still the winner and uninspiring champ.

Closing Laughs

I didn’t watch last night’s speech. Did it finally end? Was it full of the unity & new tone that I’ve heard so much about? Have a great weekend, all. See you on Monday.