Marianne Faithfull’s splendid cover of Dylan’s classic song … from a 1971 album called “Rich Kid Blues” that was not released until 1984. Faithfull is easily in my top 5 favorite singers of all-time.
Oh my freaking God!!!!! An early version of the classic Rolling Stones song “Loving Cup” … from 1969. This is allegedly from tapes from Mick Taylor’s first session from the band. While I prefer the final version that appeared on “Exile on Main Street” in 1972, this much bluesier version is still pretty jaw-dropping. Seriously, there was no better band in rock history than the Rolling Stones from 1966 through 1972.
Ever since I introduced the late 1990s TV show “Freaks & Geeks” to my son a few weeks ago, he has binge-watched the entire one-season show (18 hours) at least 5-6 times on Netflix. It’s been nice reconnecting with the best show ever to be broadcast on TV about teenagers, if not one of the best series in TV history.
This particular scene is one of my favorites. It’s one where the geekiest of the geeks, latchkey child Bill Haverchuck, comes home after school to watch TV by himself. He catches an early TV appearance by comedian Garry Shandling and experiences a moment of unbridled joy laughing at Shandling and just hanging by himself. I know that many people paint the life of a latchkey kid as unbearably tragic. But speaking as a latchkey kid myself, sorry Dr. Laura, I had a f–king blast! And no, it’s not because I used the alone time to drink alcohol, do drugs, use my bedroom as a f–kpad, or look at porn. I realize this is anathema to common ideas of parenting these days, but sometimes kids just need one-two hours a day to do absolutely nothing but veg. Yes, socializing, exercising, doing school activities, etc. are important, but vegging is seriously underrated and kids these days don’t do enough of it.
Anyway, I love the way that The Who’s “I’m One” … one of the best, but least-heralded tracks from their great album “Quadrophenia” is used in this scene. One of the best uses of popular music for dramatic purposes ever.
First of all, you need to understand how much I loathe “Come Sail Away” by Styx. If it were a federal hate crime to discriminate against a song, I’d be doing hard time in federal prison for committing crimes against this one.
But … this song works soooooo damn well in this wonderful scene from the first episode of “Freaks and Geeks,” the greatest show in television history about teenagers … and if truth be told … kicks the a– of any of the “best” feature films ever made about teenagers.
This is a scene from the Homecoming dance, where freshman Sam Weir shows up at the dance because his crush, cheerleader Cindy Sanders, promised him a dance. She fulfills her promise and the dance between these two always lifts my mood. Some moments are so incredibly sweet that if you dislike them, there is something seriously wrong with you. As awkward as Sam is here, he has bigger balls than I did at the age of 14.
From the recent Can anthology “The Lost Tapes,” here’s a gem from the late 1960s that would not have been out of place on the classic “Monster Movie” album. As with all Can songs, I have no idea what meaning the lyrics have, but the punk/jazz/psychedelic groove wins out.
This scene is the arguably the emotional climax of the BBC series “Rev.” If you haven’t seen it, you probably should watch the entire series on Hulu Plus (if you’re in America). It’s a funny, but also dramatic and complex show about a well-meaning, but seriously flawed Anglican priest played by Tom Hollander. This scene comes near the end of its final season when the priest is at his lowest point, personally and professionally.
I’m not particularly religious, but this scene sums up what I understand God means for many people. I realize women already think Liam Neeson IS God, but if God were to take human form, we as humanity could do a lot worse than Neeson’s characterization here. There’s a good reason why Steven Spielberg picked Neeson to play Oskar Schindler in “Schindler’s List” over his alleged first choice, Alan Thicke. No, I can’t quite figure out why Spielberg wanted Thicke for that role either.
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