Awesome! Someone finally posted this beyond smokin’, show-stopping cover of “Bo Diddley’s a Gunslinger” by Warren Zevon from his classic 1980 live album “Stand in the Fire,” recorded during some legendary concerts at the Roxy in Los Angeles that same year. Way heavier than most music that calls itself heavy metal. Some very sick electric guitar. This album was dedicated to fellow survivor Martin Scorsese. What are you waiting for? Play extremely f–king loud!!!!!
I realize discussing this song is like discussing “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan. It’s a song that so epitomizes the artist, yet has become so commonplace that there’s nothing more that can be said about it that hasn’t already been said better.
All I will add is that no matter how many times it turns up on compilations, films, and classic “alternative” mixes, I still can’t turn this song off. It’s a song that completely epitomizes the Smiths, yet is so much better than most of their catalog.
From the 1990 album “Goo,” this is Sonic Youth’s non-ironic tribute to Karen Carpenter. I can’t say for sure whether this was inspired by Todd Haynes’ legendary underground short “Superstar,” but the spirit is the same. Both “Superstar” and “Tunic” may seem snarky considering that the artists involved came from the underground, but the sentiment is anything but. Which is why the song still packs a punch nearly 25 years later.
I can’t find the incredible Elvis Costello original on You Tube, so this totally kick-ass cover by the Bangles will have to do instead. However, please note this is no consolation prize by any stretch of the imagination.
Hands down, my favorite Python bit of all time, this is the Python’s infamous take on Little Red Riding Hood from their concert film “Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl.” The “wolf” … and the wolf’s “handler” … are comic genius … like Ed Wood on shrooms.
Back in the 1970s, prior to the success of TV shows like “Saturday Night Live,” there were movies that featured various comedy sketches instead of a feature-length plot. These movies tended to have a lot of raunchy, satirical, countercultural humor and were extremely popular as cult and midnight movies. The most popular of which were “The Groove Tube” (1974) and “Kentucky Fried Movie” (1977).
In the mid-1980s, “Kentucky Fried Movie” director John Landis tried to replicate one of those classic sketch comedy films with “Amazon Women on the Moon.” The concept was that you were watching a really low-rent UHF station late at night and saw a wide variety of cheesy programming. Like “The Groove Tube” and “Kentucky Fried Movie” (as well as a typical episode of “Saturday Night Live”), many of the sketches were hit or miss in “Amazon Women on the Moon.”
However, “Son of the Invisible Man” (starring Ed Begley, Jr.) was always my favorite sketch. The concept is beyond stupid, but hilarious. I won’t reveal what happens in this 3-minute clip, but I laugh harder each time I see it. Due to some brief (but non-offensive) nudity, it’s not safe for work. But I promise you, this is really really funny stuff.
A really beautiful, Neil Young-style cover of the Replacements’ classic “Bastards of Young,” recorded live at Atlanta’s Criminal Records in 2008 by former D Generation lead singer Jesse Malin. The studio version can be found on the stellar 2007 album “Glitter in the Gutter.”
One of the best … and saddest … true-crime films ever made, “The Onion Field” is a docudrama about a real-life case in 1963 where two plainclothes police officers Karl Hettinger and Ian Campbell (played by John Savage and Ted Danson) were taken hostage by two petty criminals Greg Powell and Jimmy Smith (played by James Woods and Franklyn Seales). When Powell pulls a gun on Campbell, Hettinger reluctantly gives up his gun. Powell, misunderstanding California’s “Little Lindbergh law,” believed that the mere kidnapping of a police officer was punishable by death, so he shot and killed Campbell. In truth, kidnapping under the Little Lindberg Law was only a capital crime if the subject is harmed. Hettinger manages to escape. But the real nightmare is ahead …
Hettinger is scorned by his fellow officers for being “cowardly” and his experience is used in a training film on what not to do when stopping and approaching a vehicle. The overwhelming guilt causes Hettinger enormous emotional pain, at one point being forced to resign due to a shoplifting incident while working a security detail in a department store. At his lowest moment, Hettinger strikes his infant child when the child won’t stop crying, easily one of the most shocking and depressing scenes in any major motion picture.
Powell, on the other hand, became a master manipulator of the legal system. Initially sentenced to death, Powell was able to push forward multiple appeals, eventually getting a second trial and getting his sentence commuted to life.
“The Onion Field” contains some excellent performances, especially by Wood and Savage. Wood’s performance is so good, I would almost say it’s his best, if it weren’t for his performance in 1986’s “Salvador.” However, Savage’s performance is truly heartbreaking. Not only a career best, Savage not only should have been nominated for an Oscar, but walked away with it as well. It’s unforgettable.
Based on Joseph Wambaugh’s superior non-fiction book of the same name, “The Onion Field” is one of those awesomely complex films of the 1970s that’s rarely discussed these days. Director Harold Becker takes his time getting to the actual crime, but the details we get on all of the protagonists’ lives are extremely rich. His depiction of Powell and Smith’s pathetic criminal life prior to the kidnapping is one of the best depictions of low-level petty crime ever filmed. It’s high time “The Onion Field” gets rediscovered and celebrated. While the DVD is out of print, if you have Amazon Prime, it’s currently available for free viewing.
The attached scene is the depiction of the actual shooting. While it’s tastefully directed and edited, it’s still a pretty upsetting scene to watch.
I remember seeing this really cheesy ad for a 4-record set of 1960s songs (starring Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees) when I was about 4 or 5 years old and asking for the album for either my birthday or Christmas. I remember playing it constantly and it was my first introduction to so-called pop music back in the day.
Unfortunately, the person who uploaded this vintage commercial decided to have some words in red font annoyingly travel across the screen while you’re watching the clip.
My first introduction to the music of James Brown came from this 1978 TV commercial for a Brown “best-of” album. While I remember being impressed with how “hard” this music sounded, I think what I most remember about this ad was the cartoon scene of two female butts in short shorts doing the bump while Brown shrieked “Hot Pants!!!!” over and over again. There are some other interesting “special effects” in this spot as well. This is 1970s advertising cheese at its finest.
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