I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts

I Still Call It The Triborough

In other words, I have no intention of calling the soon to be former bird app “X.” And tweets are now xeets? Yeah, I’m not gonna say that. There’s only 1 X. Exene Cervenka, John Doe, Billy Zoom, and DJ Bonebrake have permanent dibs on that letter. When you look at the number of ways that Elon Musk has damaged Twitter, the rebrand doesn’t even rank in the top 10. This one merely illustrates what a massive idiot that guy is.

As much as we all love to complain about it, it’s one of the most recognizable and most valuable brands. It’s even made major changes to our language. Terms such as “retweet,” which were unheard of a generation ago, are now part of the vernacular. Dissolving that brand and replacing it with a generic letter as your business’s name and logo just sounds like simple Business 101. Outstanding work there, Elon.

In addition, the change was handled so ineptly. He hired a crane to remove the bird logo from company HQ in San Francisco. The problem? They neglected to get approval from the city so the work had to be stopped. Whoops. Also, Microsoft holds copyright on “X.” Double whoops. And this is the guy who wants to handle our banking? I wouldn’t trust him to be my latex salesman.

And yet I remain in the platform, so the joke’s on me. It reminds me of the Weekend Update joke that Colin Jost made after a man was dragged off of a United Airlines flight, Jost said that he will NEVER use United again, unless it’s flying to his destination. Unless and until one of the multitude of Twitter replacements takes off, we’re basically stuck there. So, once again, if any of my readers has a spare Bluesky invite code…

Swimming In The Wake

The discourse following Dolly Parton’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame mostly focused on one fundamental question. Country music may be one of the fundamental elements of rock & roll, but do pure country artists belong in the Hall? That was only partially answered by Willie Nelson’s election this year. Dolly & Willie are two iconic, beloved national treasures. Although neither could be considered a rock & roll artist, they each have somewhat of a rock & roll vibe, and that goes well beyond Willie’s supernatural weed consumption and Dolly’s stealth badassery.

Next year’s election will give us a better idea about the future of country acts entering in the artists category rather than in the side categories. If one or more country acts are placed on the ballot, then we’ll know that the nominating committee is interested in further exploring that realm. If not, then it’s likely that the Hall wished to honor the two legends and will move in different directions going forward.

But if Dolly & Willie did in fact open the door, who will be next? Most potential candidates will fall in that same category of not exactly being rock but somehow seeming like they would fit in. Someone such as Merle Haggard, for example. A pure country artist who lived as hard as any classic rock act you would care to name. Or how about Loretta Lynn? Once again, her Jack White produced album notwithstanding, there’s little in her long career that could be categorized as rock & roll, but she was a prolific songwriter who often wrote about socially relevant topics.

There are also two other major names who were musical kin to Willie Nelson that could merit consideration. I can’t think of anyone with a closer musical connection to Nelson than his fellow country outlaw Waylon Jennings. And if Waylon is a candidate, why not their Highwaymen compatriot Kris Kristofferson? I would probably say, however, that Kristofferson’s songwriting success makes him a better candidate for the Musical Excellence prize.

My choice for who should be the first in line to follow Willie is a name I have mentioned previously. Emmylou Harris had her greatest commercial success as a country star, but later in her career she also established strong footprints in the rock & roll realm better than any of her contemporaries. She has been one of the leading pioneers in what was eventually categorized as Americana music. You can also always judge someone by the company they keep. With the exception of Ronnie Hawkins, Harris is the only performer at The Last Waltz who hasn’t yet been inducted. I believe next year should be her time, and while they’re at it this may also be a good opportunity to reexamine Gram Parsons’ candidacy.

Mick Turns 80 ?!?!?!?!

Mick Jagger was born on this day in 1943. Let me do the math, carry the 6, that makes him 80. Yikes. To live at that age, he must be tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough, tough!

Jagger is not the first classic rocker of his generation to turn 80, but this one feels a little different, and not just because of his old quote in which he said he’d rather be dead than still singing Satisfaction at 35. Jagger has always had that never gonna grow up vibe, so it doesn’t seem possible that he’s now an octogenarian.

I’m old enough to remember when people were freaking at as Mick & his contemporaries started to reach 40. That generation of rockers really changed the perception of what it meant to be an aging musician. The first wave of pioneering 50s rockers had largely defaulted to the nostalgia circuit by the time they hit that age. The next wave continued to thrive both creatively and commercially as they aged. As it became clear that the 60s rockers weren’t going anywhere, their general response was that the blues musicians who had inspired them continued to perform well into their senior years, so why shouldn’t they do the same? Things like that sounded reasonable at the time, but I still don’t think many people would have envisioned that so many of these bands would still be road warriors at this point and would still reliably sell out shows.

So, good for you, Mick. The man had a serious cardiac scare a few years ago, but quickly recovered and still appears to be in good shape. Despite Charlie Watts’ passing, it would be no shock whatsoever if Mick & Keith continue to tour until the very end. And don’t worry, later this year Springsteen will only turn 74. There’s still a few years until he hits 80 and freaks us all out.

Make A Choice, Please

Allow me to temporarily channel my inner cranky old man and complain about the increasing propensity for Hall of Fame baseball players to choose to go with blank caps on their plaques. I’m not ignorant, I understand why so many have gone in this direction. With more frequent player movement, chances are higher nowadays that a newly elected player will have made his mark on multiple franchises. He would want to avoid insulting any of his past fanbases, so if there is no team logo on a plaque it’s difficult for anyone to get too offended.

Several years back the Hall took the final choice away from the players, but they do closely consult the electee so that their wishes can be taken into account. This year was a perfect example. Fred McGriff could have legitimately had either a Toronto or Atlanta cap on his plaque. Or he could have gone with an even more obvious choice.

That one is a tough call. I feel he was a bit better in Toronto, yet he won a championship in Atlanta. If it were up to me - and let’s be honest, it should be - it would be Toronto, but I can see the argument for either and maybe it does make sense to go capless. Less defensible was Greg Maddux’s decision to go with the blank cap. His rationale was that he came up in Chicago, won his first Cy Young Award there, and pitched almost as long in Chicago as he did in Atlanta. I respect his decision, but I can’t agree with it. He was great in Chicago; he was historically great in Atlanta.

There may need to be another difficult decision next year with Adrian Beltre’s near certain election. Logically he should have a Texas cap, but some may make an argument for Seattle that’s persuasive enough that he and the Hall could also decide that it’s an impossible choice to make.

This isn’t an issue that I would get too worked up over. It’s more the fact that the plaques look so much nicer when there is a team logo on the cap. I hope that future inductees recognize this. After all, as a Mets fan I wasn’t insulted over the fact that Gary Carter’s plaque has an Expos hat.

Good Night And Good Luck

As always, many thanks for reading. Isn’t it so tempting to press the “subscribe” and “share” buttons? Well then, go right on ahead. See you on Friday.