My all-time favorite song from Sweet. Yes, the clothes and makeup are f–king ridiculous. But the 1970s glitter rock era produced a lot of great music. If the visuals bother you, just listen to the music. This is crunchy hard rock with pop hooks, not that far removed from the Sex Pistols which came two years later. It’s music you can bang your head and sing along to.
Unquestionably, this is one of the most f–ked up songs ever recorded. It’s a “cover” of the Trashmen’s legendary trash-rock classic “Surfin’ Bird,” only Wade Curtiss substitutes lyrics about a cat. I have no idea what Curtiss was on when he recorded this. But trust me, it’s something I want to avoid like the ebola virus.
One of the best actors of our generation. Very very sad news.
Picking my favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman scene from a film is difficult since the man positively rocked the screen in every movie he was in. Hoffman specialized in playing characters who were untrustworthy, weak, pathetic, or duplicitous. While he won the Oscar for “Capote” and was brilliant in “The Master, his role as the hospice nurse in “Magnolia” is perhaps his most heroic and the one that I feel is his most underrated. In a film full of characters who are experiencing life at its worst, his efforts to fulfill the dying wish of Jason Robards’s character to reunite with his estranged son are a wonder to behold.
Honorable mention: Hoffman’s portrayal of Lester Bangs in “Almost Famous”. It’s too bad he never got the chance to play him in a feature-length Bangs biopic.
At one point during the mid-1980s, Roland Joffe was considered one of the world’s best film directors. His first two films: “The Killing Fields” (1984) and “The Mission” were nominated for multiple Academy Awards, with a “work-in-progress” version of “The Mission” winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986.
Nowadays, Ennio Morricone’s stellar soundtrack for “The Mission” is better remembered than the film itself. Mainly because Joffe’s post “Mission” film career has not lived up to the promise of his first two films. I have mixed feelings about “The Mission,” but this scene never ceases to bring me to tears.
Robert DeNiro’s character is a South American slave-trader who kills his brother in a duel after he catches him in bed with his fiance. While DeNiro’s character is acquitted of legal wrong-doing, his guilt overwhelms him. A priest, played by Jeremy Irons, challenges him to undertake a suitable penance. The penance is to carry a heavy bundle, including his armor and sword, across many miles into the territory where he captured slaves. The people who he used to enslave recognize him, are ready to kill him, but under the guidance of Irons’ priest, cut him loose. DeNiro’s character’s acknowledgement of the grace of a people who were ready to slit his throat is heartbreaking.
You may recognize a young Liam Neeson in the background … approximately 20 years before he became our generation’s version of Charles Bronson.
From the tribute compilation “Wig in a Box: Songs From & Inspired By Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” comes Jonathan Richman’s cover of “The Origin of Love” from “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” I like Richman’s more upbeat arrangement here, but his earnest vocals indicate an appreciation for the power and beauty of the lyrics.
One of the highlights from the legendary double-LP hardcore punk compilation put out by Jello Biafra’s Alternative Tentacles label in 1982. Yes, this song embodies several cliches about punk … especially U.S. hardcore punk circa 1982 … but I would argue that’s what makes it so charming. The earnestness may make you giggle … or roll your eyes … but I don’t doubt the band’s sincerity, which makes this fascinating 30+ years on.
James Brown is the undisputed Godfather of Soul. However, Brown’s quieter ballads tend to get lost in the thunder of his hard-edged R&B and funk. This is a shame, because Brown has an incredible voice and his ballads are among the best ever recorded. “Try Me” is a beautiful song and conveys so much in just 2 minutes and 30 seconds. An amazing performance that was James Brown’s first hit single (it allegedly saved Brown from being dropped by his label).
F–k yeah! Japan’s garage punk femme fatales make absolute mincemeat out of Bob & Earl’s classic R&B song from 1963. The Rolling Stones may have scored the highest chart placement with their version from 1986, but the 5.6.7.8’s eat the Stones for breakfast on this one.
Trivia note: you may recognize the 5.6.7.8’s as the all-female Japanese rock band performing near the end of Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill Vol. 1” before Uma Thurman kills about 500 or so Yakuza members with her sword.
Here is Jerry Lee Lewis declaring his role as a carnivore very loud and clear. Doubt me? As Jerry Lee declares: “I been down to Macon, Georgia … I ate the fuzz off a Georgia peach … Plucked me a chicken in Memphis … Mama, I still got feathers in my teeth.” Ladies, you’ve been warned. I’m not sure if this was the inspiration for Tesco Vee’s notorious punk rock band The Meatmen, but I’d love to think so.
Here is some classic footage of the Velvet Underground jamming out circa 1966, courtesy of Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey. Considering that very little footage exists of this seminal band … and the fact that both Warhol and Morrissey thought enough to film this … makes this essential viewing. Put your shades on and groove, baby!
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