Greatest Song Evah 9/13/24

“Heroes”

“Heroes” was the title track of the second album in David Bowie’s Berlin trilogy, and the lyrics fittingly tell the story of two lovers from opposite sectors of the divided city. The synth/guitar interplay in this song is utterly hypnotic, and if this makes sense the whole vibe feels very Berlin. There is an enigmatic quality to the song as well; the simple act of fighting to remain a couple despite the barriers is what makes them heroes just for one day. “I can remember standing by the wall. And the guns shot above our heads, and we kissed as though nothing can fall.” (That’s part of the reason why Bowie placed the title in quotation marks.) At the same time it’s clear that the relationship is doomed.

Bowie’s record company made a puzzling decision when they released the single edit of the track. The single version began with the song’s third verse, which removed the setup of the narrative. The truncated version is a waste of time, go with the full length album version whenever you can.

That instrumental intro is immediately iconic, there’s a good reason why it has been used so frequently in ads and as a way to set the tone for a movie scene. I’m thinking in particular of its use in The Perks Of Being a Wallflower. It added so much to the film and it elevated the song as well. That needle drop acts as a perfect reminder of how special the song is; it’s exactly what one would want from a song placement.

Reviewing Olympic Sports

Canoe Slalom - Or whitewater canoeing. This sport takes place on a man-made course, so there are no jagged rocks threatening anyone’s health and safety. This is one of the more physically demanding sports in the Olympics. Not only are the paddlers fighting the current, but there are also a handful of gates for which they must steer the boat upstream. Canoe/kayak is generally not a high priority sport for NBC, but it’s one that I enjoy watching, so I make sure to budget my time for it.

Regular slalom consists of each paddler taking their turn on the course, whoever gets the fastest time wins with penalty seconds added if they touch a gate or miss one entirely. This year canoe cross was added to the Olympics, and it was an outstanding addition. In this case, 4 boats maneuver the course at the same time and race to see who crosses the finish line first. The added twist is that there is a portion of the course in which they are required to roll the boat. This has an additional strategic element. There are gates on each side of the course; each racer needs to choose one. If you’re trailing, do you choose a different lane, or do you go with the same lane the leader is using, and attempt to bump him or her out of the way to take the lead? In general I love races, the bumping that comes with canoe cross increases the entertainment element immensely.

Canoe Sprint - Or flat water canoeing. As I have frequently said, I love to watch a race, and canoe/kayak has the added appeal of a great visual backdrop. These events are held in lakes, and on a pretty day it just looks spectacular. Olympic races are short -ranging from 200-1000m - so there is pressure to get off to a great start. It’s imperative not to fall too far behind; there may not be enough room to make up a deficit.

If you have ever paddled, you know the difference between a canoe and a kayak, but just in case. In a kayak the paddler sits and uses a double sided paddle. I particularly enjoy a race with a 4-person boat. Watching the 4 sets of paddles work in perfect unison is a wonderful sight. In a canoe a single sided paddle is used and the paddler is positioned on one knee. This one is extremely strenuous. Intuitively it makes sense to switch sides with each stroke, that’s how most recreational canoeists steer. In a race switching wastes too much time, so in single seat boats the competitor only paddles on one side of the boat and uses their lower body strength to keep the boat straight. (Obviously in a doubles canoe each paddles on a different side of the boat.) A world class level canoeist is one of the strongest athletes you can imagine, requiring both superior upper body strength to quickly propel the boat forward as well as the equally high amount of lower body strength that I described above. Respect.

A Few Quick Obits

James Darren died last week; he did a great job of frequently adjusting his career trajectory to keep himself in the public spotlight for years. His initial burst of fame game from portraying Moondoggie in the Gidget films, and he had a string of hit singles as one of the teen idol singers who filled the void in the pre-Beatles era. My introduction to him came when he was a frequent presence as a celebrity panelist on 1970’s game shows. By this time he was a successful night club crooner, which would serve him well.

He starred in the 1960’s science fiction TV series The Time Tunnel, and later had notable appearances in two other shows. He joined the cast of T.J. Hooker, which I affectionately call possibly the stupidest cop series ever made; knowing its competition that is saying a lot. Nothing topped his recurring role on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It has a justifiable reputation as the Serious Star Trek show with Heavy Themes. He added a lighter touch to the proceedings. He portrayed a computer program on the station’s holodeck, that of a tuxedoed, Sinatra-esque night club crooner. For some reason the characters would go to him for advice. It sounds bizarre, but somehow it worked. Darren was 88.

Sergio Mendes died at the age of 83. As the bandleader of Brasil ‘66, he was one of the prominent figures in popularizing bossa nova music for American audiences with a series of cover versions of pop classics. I will always have a semi-negative association to Mendes due to something that is not his fault. He had another surge of popularity in the US in 1983 with the adult contemporary ballad Never Gonna Let You Go. At the time there were 2 big album rock stations in New York, WPLJ & WNEW. In 1983 PLJ switched formats to top 40, but they initially denied it, simply saying they were making slight changes to the playlist. The station kept the same DJ’s and promotional taglines. I almost did a spit take one day when I heard a DJ growl “New York’s best rock!” while leading into a Sergio Mendes ballad. FWIW before too long the station made the complete transition to top 40 and all of the rock tracks were purged from the playlist.

Speaking of ballads, Oscar-winning lyricist Will Jennings died at the age of 80. He won those trophies for writing the lyrics to Up Where We Belong and My Heart Will Go On. He was more than just a writer of sweeping theme songs from movies. Among his other works he was Steve Winwood’s chief collaborator for his solo hits, as well as co-writing Tears In Heaven, and um, a few Barry Manilow singles. A lot of what we heard on the radio for years had his fingerprints on it.

The Streaming Orphans - It’s Garry Shandling’s Show

This is the theme to Garry’s show

The theme to Garry’s show

Garry called me up and asked if I would write his theme song

Garry Shandling will go down in history for co-creating & starring in The Larry Sanders Show, but don’t forget his earlier, equally brilliant series. It’s Garry Shandling’s Show was his collaboration with legendary SNL writer Alan Zweibel in which he starred as a barely fictionalized version of himself. Just like Garry Shandling the real life person, Garry Shandling the character was a successful comedian living in Sherman Oaks. Both a satire of and a loving tribute to sitcom conventions, he didn’t just break down the fourth wall. He obliterated it & then stomped on the pieces.

I’m almost halfway finished

How do you like it so far?

How do you like the theme to Garry’s show?

The fourth wall break was obviously inspired by the old Burns & Allen Show, but Shandling expanded upon that concept. George Burns would speak to the viewing audience, commenting on the action. Shandling did that as well, but he let more than us viewers in on the fun. He addressed the studio audience as well, the conceit was that the audience were actually in his living room. In addition, all of the characters were completely aware that they were characters in a TV show.

This is the theme to Garry’s show

The opening theme to Garry’s show

This is the music that you hear as you watch the credits

He intentionally mined stock character types and stock sitcom plots, all with the best of intentions. He came from that world after all. If you’re a close watcher of opening credits you’ll see Shandling’s name as the writer of old sitcom episodes. The other main regulars were his nerdy best friend Pete with a pre-teen son Grant. He also had a close platonic female friend Nancy. In one of those plots borrowed from other sitcoms in one episode Nancy had an unexplained bout of amnesia; that lapse of memory caused everyone to wonder what it would have been like were they an actual couple. Before anything physical happened, her amnesia was miraculously cured as quickly as it came. Any show also needs a great antagonist, and here it came in the form of Condo Association President Leonard Smith. There was also a wonderful backbench of recurring characters such as the network president. And Bruno Kirby as Garry’s agent. And Tom Petty as himself.

We’re almost to the part

Of where I start to whistle

Then we’ll watch It’s Garry Shandling’s Show

Now we’re almost to the part where I mention yet again that while this show is not on a streaming service, many of the episodes are on YouTube. I can’t vouch for the quality of any uploads, so let the buyer beware. This show ran for 4 seasons on Showtime, plus in what was an unusual arrangement at the time, reruns ran on Fox in the earliest days of the network when they needed programming to complete their schedule.

On a side note, around the time when I started watching Johnny Carson, both Garry Shandling and Jerry Seinfeld were frequent guests. In a Bill Pullman/Bill Paxton situation, or maybe a Dylan McDermott/Dermot Mulroney one, I constantly mistook them for each other. It’s almost as if they were toying with me in their respective sitcoms. There was a strong resemblance between the actresses who portrayed their mothers.

Whistling

This was the theme to Garry Shandling’s Show

Closing Laughs

It’s Friday the 13th, which always make me ask why counselors would continue to go to Camp Crystal Lake each year. Did no one notice the pattern? Talk about Darwinism in action. With that, have a great weekend everyone. See you on Monday.