What have I done to deserve your scorn and contempt?
Have I not worshipped you appropriately?
Have I not bowed down at the foot of Sam Cooke? Read the Gospel of Marvin? Sung (albeit badly) the Psalms of Pickett?
I once more make my pilgrimage to your Mecca on 125th Street to tour your hallowed theatre only to be once more denied entry.
I know you work in mysterious ways but to reschedule a tour when I only have one chance to see you is just cruel.
So I trudge back to mid-town, head slumped like Charlie Brown and get ready to hop on a plane home, having once more failed to see the inside of the grand Apollo.
The bad news is that my shampoo exploded in my suitcase during the flight. The good news is my luggage has taken on a nice sheen and is relatively dandruff free.
Bill was my Deputy Principal for 3 years, my Boss for 8 years and remains to this day a good friend and a musical confidant.
On the eve of my trip overseas we meet for coffee where he thrusts into my hands a bunch of mix CDs he has been curating for a while.
I have no doubt that the majority of the music on these discs (all soul of course) will be new to my ears. Yet I am fairly sure I will find some tunes that will set me off searching for more.
Not that much different to stepping on a plane to explore the other side of the world.
So we are a week away from our trip overseas and I have been wondering what the best way to keep everyone up to date.
Last time I left the island I used this place but that was in the early smart phone days so I never had the full force of an app to help post articles. With any luck, the use of the Blogger app will make things very easy.
As a counter punch to my previous post, if the Counting Crows never release another album, I will be happy in the knowledge that this is the final song in their catalogue.
Openings are a special thing. A great opening will stick with you forever, especially when the end product is not quite the masterpiece that its beginnings suggest.
Though it lasted just a season, the opening scene from Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip re-affirmed my love for Aaron Sorkin's writing, even if he didn't hit it out of the park every episode. It was as if Sorkin set the bar so high for himself it was impossible to better. Though the Christmas Episode was something special.
The dry wit of Garrison Keillor is not for everyone but he nails the opening line of Pontoon his novel about the fictional town of Lake Wobegon:
"Evelyn was an insomniac so when they say she died in her sleep, you have to question that."
The rest of the book is fine without being brilliant. If anything, the above line proves that Keillor's tales of Lake Wobegon are better heard than read via his radio show A Prairie Home Companion. If you are after something funny and light for 15 minutes a week then I suggest you subscribe to the 'News From Lake Wobegon' podcast.
As far as opening salvos go, my favourite belongs on the first album I ever fell in love with. To the casual observer, August & Everything After will forever be remembered for bringing radio staple 'Mr Jones' to the world. To those of us who stuck with Counting Crows, the opening track 'Round Here' is year zero.
Adam Duritz has often been labelled a mopey, petulant rock star and whilst someone like Morrissey wears it like a badge of honour, Duritz wears it like a millstone. But everyone gets a free pass on their debut and this song about growing up allows Duritz to let it all out emotionally.
Here I present to you a cathartic live version from only a few years ago.
