Like a roach after a nuke explosion, he's still there

Mike:
You know it's simply amazing that with newspapahs bleeding revenue and the nationwide spigot of layoffs turned to 11 that our favorite Curly Haired Boyfriend manages to stay gainfully employed.

 

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Doug:
Ah, yes, the ol "Pieces of his mind" column. How unprecedented!

 

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Al:
No, wait, now, guy, it's not just any "pieces of mind" column but a "icked-up pieces while still mourning John Updike, the greatest writer of them all and the man who wrote 'Picked-Up Pieces' . . ." column.

 

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Mike:
Now that is to opening lines what Julio Lugo is to leadoff hitting.

 

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Al:
The only reason I still read Shaughnessy is for the schedenfraude of knowing he can no longah sprinkle every piece he writes with Curse of the Bambino allusions.

 

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Doug:
Yeah, but that doesn't mean other platitudes are off limits. Leave it do Dan-O to reach out for the lame-o "the 50th anniversary of the day the music died" meme.

 

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Mike:
Is that "music died" thing the absolute worst cliche in all of popular culture or what?

 

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Doug:
Seriously. I mean music didn't die but flourished since that plane went down 50 years ago.

 

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Al:
Yeah, it's not like without Holly, Valens, and the Big Bopper that there was no Elvis, no Wall-of-Sound, no Beatles nor Stones nor Led Zep …

 

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Mike:
Or no Big Star, no Ramones, no Dolls, no Television, no Bowie, Iggy …

 

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Doug:
No Clash, no Pistols, no Joy Division, no Sioxsie, no Nirvana, no Weezah …

 

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Al:
No Marley, no Tosh, no Lee Perry

 

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Doug:
Yeah, or no hit makahs like the Donna Summah, the Bee Gees, Michael Jackson, Madonna …

 

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Mike:
No Run-DMC, no Public Enemy, no N.W.A., no Jay-Z ₊

 

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Doug:
It's like this — Saying "the music died" with Buddy Holly is like saying the video gaming industry died when Atari discontinued Pong.

 

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Comments

[Bob]

//Sioxsie//

Nice reference, H.B. Sioxsie and the Banshees, The Creatures...saw her and the Banshees several times during my college days in Los Angeles.

Speaking of which, no X reference?

[Kaz]

From the mouth of babes: "The very same people that love the music the most have slit its throat and they’re surprised it’s dying. ‘How come my new band can’t get a shot?’ ‘Because you killed it, bitch.’ “Every day college kids who probably love music more than anybody are the same people slashing the record industry’s throat by file sharing and downloading. It’s the saddest thing for new bands. Doesn’t affect me or Kiss. We can continue to play stadiums and do very well, and we release DVDs. “But there isn’t a chance for a new band to become the next Beatles or Kiss because there isn’t the infrastructure to do it."

So, evidently music died about 10 years ago. Teenagers freely downloading Britney Spears and uploading their garage band shit tracks did it. Thank you, Gene Simmons.

[h.b.]

Yes, "X" is certainly worthy of mention. I had to leave off a lot of notables and personal faves in the list as I was trying to encompass a wide swatch of music types.

[louclinton]

One could fairly make the argument that the plane did BH
BB and RV a favor.

see e.g. Johnny Winter
Time Is A Bitch

[Natalie]

So sad. No country music: Cash, Yoakam, Patsy Cline...

Great strip, though. I loathe Dan Shaughnassy. He has been phoning it in for the better part of the last ten years...

[Rob in CT]

Holy Christ, lc! That's some scary shit there.

(Sure glad I haven't changed any in the last thirty years...)

And where's the shout out to Jimi?

[Jeff in NC]

Follow on rant to Kaz's piece...

File sharing/slashing the record industry's throat - bullshit. The only bands who NEED the industry's production machine are the one's whose music doesn't stand on its own. Many, many excellent bands and musicians are flourishing w/o all the "industry" BS. They have enagaged the new technology, come to terms with it, and learned how to make it their own. Production and distribution capabilites are enormous for the small guy w/ today's technology. It all starts however, with having something of quality to produce and distribute that doesn't need a dance video to sell it.

American Pie - what a song... a more recent album/CD title says it best - Automatic for the People. That's what that song is - simple lyrics over a simple melody that make people think they are cool when they know what the song is about. No reason to ever listen to a new song again. Ugh.

Dan-O = Automatic for the People.

[sonomasox]

and no Hall & Oates??!! The horror. They looked as washed up as CHB on the Daily Show a few weeks back.

Great choices, HB - love the run thru musical history layered on top of CHB ridicule: stopped reading him in '02 - just found myself pulling my hair out.

Continued positive thoughts sent your way, HB.

[Harwich Rich]

Speaking of Hall and Oates,we haven't seen them in the strip lately.

[louclinton]

Hall and Oates, May 2008. Please see above

[Larry Here]

Wall of Sound reference! Not Fade Away.

[Harwich Rich]

Robin Hood and Little John,lc?

[sonomasox]

I think H&O looked even worse a couple weeks ago...

Not that I'm going to age any more gracefully but Little Steve looked a bit haggard at the SB too

[h.b.]

So it looks like tomorrow is the Day of Reckoning here at the day job.

I may have a lot of time soon for all the ad ons some of you have been asking for like Facebook group links etc.

[Soulie]

No local flavor on the music list H.B.? For shame! No Aerosmith, no J. Giles Band. No Letters to Clear, no Evan Dando, no Buffalo Tom.

The thing I miss the most about Boston is the Paradise Rock Club on Comm Ave. What a great place to see a show.

[h.b.]

The list changed in my head a lot between conception and implementation.

Did have Hendrix at one point and Pixies and Talking Heads for local flavor etc etc.

Hell I even had Celine Fucking Dion at one point, but, alas, some that didn't make the cut you're prob grateful for!

Hah.

[Larry E]

HB:

Were you looking at your wrist admiring your new watch when you wrote "a wide swatch of music types. I think you meant swath:-)

I don't like CHB either but at least he was spot on and agreed with your stip of a couple days ago when he said it was no big deal about Phelps taking bong hits and that the person who should really be slammed is the low-life that took the picture with his cell phone camera.

[Scott]

Stealing music off the internet for free put my family out of the business of selling CD's, records etc. Fuck you.

[h.b.]

FWIW: I'm embarrassed to admit that I've spent over $6000 at iTunes since it opened back in 2001.

Before that I maybe spent $100/yr on music.

[Kaz]

Not to be offensive, Scott, but "prove it" comes to mind. As h.b. alludes to, many people buy digitally now (including myself). Many people deal shop online through retailers like Amazon instead of buying in the record stores. Still others download and don't purchase. Then again, most of the downloaded music out there is the mass-produced pop schlock that is probably only worth what those people are paying for it anyways.

[louclinton]

off the point, but if you are ever going to give Lost another try, tonight is the night. The episode is entitled "The Little Prince" and was written by the legendary Brian K. Vaughn.

You're welcome.

lc

[h.b.]

l.c.,

I fell of the Lost bandwagon for a bunch of reasons last year and ended up missing the final 4 episodes.

However, I started watching this season despite that gap and I'm enjoying the show perhaps more than ever.

[louclinton]

what hb said

[NolaSox]

lc, I thought someone had photoshopped Colonel Gaddafi onto Oates at first glance.

[SAC]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7pmwqDLxU0" _blank">Wall of Sound forever!

Good luck tomorrow HB...if it doesn't work out right...give 'em a few bars of Johnny Paycheck.

[Tman]

h.b.,

That post was fahkin beautiful.

Would someone get Mariotti and Shaughnessy an island which we can vote them off of already?

Miss American Pie indeed.

[Larry Here]

@SAC - Duh. I saw Wall of Sound, and thought of The Dead's giant PA from the mid 70s. But of course, in the chronology HB was laying out, he was for sure referring to Phil Spector's productions. I stand sheepishly a decade late.

[soxdownunder]

Elvis Costello never happened either.

Fucken Everton (Natalie will understand).

[chris]

@SDU - fuckin right Everton. go on, Blues!

[louclinton]

in re: Lost

BK Vaughn rules

[PCA]

Or, what about this Wall of Sound? :

http://www.ratsound.com/cblog/uploads/grateful_dead_wall2.jpg