I Wouldn’t Lie To You Baby
Chaka Khan, Musically Excellent
All told, Chaka Khan had been nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame 7 times - 4 times as a member of Rufus, and 3 times as a solo artist. There has clearly been significant support for her candidacy, but not quite enough to send her over the top. Because of that it was only a matter of time until she would earn an induction in the Musical Excellence category. Finally get her off the main ballot, award her the trophy she deserves, and clear up a spot on the ballot for some new names to be considered.
Although it should have happened years ago, on a personal level it seems appropriate that she will enter the same year as Don Cornelius. Watching Soul Train helped me to understand what a Big Deal she is. She first emerged as the lead singer for Rufus and immediately stood out from the pack with her funky voice, distinctive fashion sense, and inviting smiles. She was a very charismatic performer. Their major crossover hit was the classic Tell Me Something Good, but beyond that they were major R&B players for a long period, and over time Sweet Thing has gone on to become a modern standard.
She eventually started to establish a solo career, and her first solo smash I’m Every Woman is an all-time banger. Unfortunately she suffered some collateral damage from the anti-disco backlash. She remained a major star in the R&B field, but in the early 80s pop radio steered away from black artists so she fell a bit out of the mainstream spotlight. But when she returned, she did so in a big way. I Feel For You is another classic - written by Prince, featuring a rap hook from Melle Mel as well as Stevie Wonder’s harmonica work/Fingertips callback, it was a true all-star collaboration and a timeless classic.
In recent years she has settled into comfortable R&B Legend Emeritus status. The honor is long overdue. I have yet to see any public comments she has made following the induction announcement, so hopefully she will embrace the induction and perform at the ceremony. If she does, there will many younger singers who would cherish the opportunity to appear on stage with her.
Jordan Neely
There are conflicting tales about what actually went down in the moments leading up to Jordan Neely’s death but regardless of the facts he should still be alive. Was he acting in a threatening manner? I wasn’t there so I don’t know, but I’ve ridden the subway long enough to develop a sense as to who is an annoyance and who may be something worse. But even if he was a menace, that does not warrant a man’s death. Placing him in a chokehold until he falls unconscious and subsequently dies? Uncalled for.
The constant rhetoric from My Dips**t Mayor does not help. He’s constantly talking about how dangerous the subways are and he has a disturbing tendency to amplify stigma concerning the mentally ill. That helps perpetuate a mentality that leads a wannabe vigilante to overreact. And it’s sickening to see so many people take joy in the incident. Neely was clearly a terribly troubled man. Homelessness is not a crime. Mental illness is not a crime. He needed serious help; not to be a murder victim.
Strange Women Lying In Ponds Distributing Swords
I try my best not to be That Guy, but there are certain circumstances in which it’s unavoidable. Every time I saw either a photo or a film clip from the coronation in the back of my mind I heard the voice of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog saying “Alright, now you’re just asking me to poop on you.” And it was perfect that the coronation took place on Kentucky Derby day. Between the two events we fulfilled our annual quota of Absurdly Silly Hats.
Anyhoo, congrats to Charlie Mountbatten-Windsor for winning the ultimate participation trophy. In the year of our lord 2023 actual adult humans appeared in public looking like this. No, it wasn’t Halloween. We are a silly species indeed.
Do We Have Clearance Clarence?
It’s basically impossible make a timely comment about Clarence Thomas. In the time I’m taking to type this sentence there’s a good chance that 2 new stories will come out that demonstrate his lack of ethics. I don’t have anything pertinent to add; so much comes back to the fact that he never should have made it to the Supreme Court to begin with. And that has nothing to do with the Anita Hill allegations. At the time of his confirmation he was an undistinguished jurist with a thin record who was only cynically nominated in the first place, by George H.W. Bush who once vetoed a civil rights bill because he falsely claimed it called for quotas, to replace the retiring Thurmond Marshall. OK, replace the black guy with an under qualified black guy.
Scholars of judicial history can better judge this than I can, but it seems to me that the political weaponization of the Supreme Court gets worse and worse. One would think that a spot on the highest court in the land should be the culmination of a long career in the law, having argued and/or sat judgement on a wide range of cases. Instead, a long resume is practically a drawback. It’s more valuable to install a relatively young Justice who could serve for three or four decades, lasting until it’s literally deathbed time no matter how physically or mentally diminished one may be.
This is where it’s time to hold the Senate accountable. Dick Durbin bugs the hell out of me. Rather than call for hearings on Thomas he keeps on saying that it’s up to John Roberts to get his house in order. If it’s not so obvious to him by now that this is an inadequate response then I’m not sure what purpose he serves. The damage that has been done to the Court’s legitimacy is severe; it is long past time for term limits on the Supreme Court. I understand the concept of lifetime appointments. Justices should theoretically be immune from outside political pressure. The average lifespan in the 18th century was much lower than it is now; I can’t imagine that the founding fathers would have conceived Justices serving well into their eighties.
Farewell To The Dark Knight
Centuries from now as aliens visit our planet and examine the remnants of our collapsed civilization one of them will eventually log onto Baseball Reference and take a glance at Matt Harvey’s page. Without context his career will seem underwhelming; a sub .500 record, career ERA above 4, career ERA+ below 100. What that alien visitor will fail to understand is that for a brief moment Harvey was as exciting a pitcher as there was in the game and that his starts were special events. Harvey’s career arc perfectly illustrates how brutal the act of pitching can be.
He came up at the perfect time as the Mets were just starting to emerge from one of their regularly scheduled down cycles. Blessed with superb stuff and a “you will not defeat me” attitude, his starts were branded as Harvey Day, Sports Illustrated dubbed him the Dark Knight, and there was always the sense that something special was imminent. His run of success culminated with the starting nod at the 2013 All-Star game. Sure, there were early signs of danger ahead. There were whispers that he was enjoying celebrity a bit too much, and he gave a vibe that he’d rather be a Yankee, but the future seemed unlimited.
Unfortunately the parade of injuries began and never stopped. That magical 2013 season was cut short due to Tommy John surgery. He returned in 2015 and quickly looked like his old dominant self, but even that was short lived. As the Mets made an unexpected run through the postseason he was rapidly approaching the maximum innings total that doctors recommend post TJ surgery, but the team needed him and how many shots does a team get at the title? After lots of public sniping between agent and team, Harvey finally said damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead and pushed himself all the way to the World Series. In Game 5 he hurled 8 shutout innings, giving The Mets a 2-0 lead. He talked his way into starting the 9th, and as he emerged from the dugout the roars from the CitiField crowd were deafening.
And that was his final positive moment as a Met. He faced two batters; they both reached base and suddenly the Royals’ comeback was on; eventually winning the game in extra innings and taking the trophy home. The following season he was a shell of his former self, eventually requiring surgery to correct Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Did that heavy workload the previous season cause his physical collapse? Impossible to know for sure, but it surely didn’t help. He had an ugly end to his tenure as a Met, and he bounced around multiple teams in a futile attempt to find success. The low point was a 60 game drug suspension following testimony that he had supplied Percocet to his Angels teammate Tyler Skaggs. (Important to note that he was not accused of giving Skaggs the drugs that killed him. Harvey’s connection to the tragedy was peripheral.)
He didn’t pitch in the majors at all in 2022. He represented Team Italy at this year’s World Baseball Classic, and although he didn’t exactly dominate he at least pitched well enough that it was a possibility that a team might want to take a flyer on him. Nothing happened, and he officially announced his retirement last week. Yes, there was too much unfortunate off the field stuff, but I will always remember how special he was for a brief period. He was truly a prime example of what could have been. We’ll always have this wonderful bit he filmed at the time of the 2013 ASG.
True Blue
Two years ago was the 40th anniversary of Fernandomania, and there were many remembrances of how much attendance increased on days that Fernando Valenzuela started. Baseball Prospectus conducted a study and confirmed that there was a Fernando associated attendance boom. They expanded the analysis and compared the data to similar young pitchers who made a national splash. There was a lot of complicated math involved, but they determined that the year of Fernando inspired the second largest attendance increase that could be attributed to a specific pitcher. The biggest one took place in Vida Blue’s magical 1971 season.
At this moment it seems odd to discuss Oakland A’s attendance figures in a positive light, but it’s true. In 1971 a Vida Blue start was a must-see as he set the league on fire, winning the Cy Young and MVP awards. As a young fan the first All-Star Game that I have clear memories of is that 1971 matchup between Vida Blue and Dock Ellis. I was only 5, so I didn’t understand the significance of two African American pitchers facing each other in the Midsummer Classic, but I do vividly recall the anticipation. On a side note, both starting pitchers went 3 innings in the All-Star Game. Times have changed.
Blue never quite duplicated the success from that year, but he still went on to have a significant career. Along with Catfish Hunter, he was co-ace of the dynastic Oakland team, and following his departure from Oakland he had some big seasons on the other side of the bay with San Francisco. He may have fallen a bit shy of Hall of Fame status, but he will be fondly remembered much longer than some pitchers that do have plaques. Vida Blue passed away yesterday at the age of 73, mere weeks after the franchise celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1973 championship squad. It’s sad that he’s gone, but it’s good to know that he was able to appreciate the accolades one last time. RIP to a great one.
You Can Call Him Ray
Every generation has its own celebrities whose success may seem inexplicable to anyone who wasn’t pop culturally conscious at the time. For those of us who were around in the 1970s Bill Saluga was one of those guys. Even if you’re of a certain age the name may draw a blank. But as soon as I say “you doesn’t have to call me Johnson” then you’ll know exactly who it is that I’m talking about. Saluga just passed away at the age of 85.
Bill Saluga emerged as part of the Ace Trucking Company comedy troupe, the same group that produced Fred Willard. His most memorable character was Raymond James Johnson Jr., whose routine consisted of that whole “you can call me Ray” shtick. That was basically it, but he was somehow able to turn that one joke character into a bit of extended fame, frequently appearing on many of the various variety shows that were prevalent on TV in that era. I’ll admit that 11 year old me found that bit to be hilarious; I used to do my own impersonation of the Johnson character. Much respect to the man for being able to pull every bit of mileage out of that routine as was humanly possible. You poor millennials have no idea what you were missing out on.
That’s That
Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. Who knows what crazy adventures we’ll see in the coming week? Thanks for reading and see you all again on Wednesday.