An extra-stuffed playlist this week, heavy on tracks from albums I have previously shared songs from. Also, a heads up that there may be no playlist next week. I will be traveling for a couple days and may leave the playlist machine at home. Then again, maybe I’ll whip something together before we depart. It will be a surprise for us all!
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“Now And Then” - The Beatles Let’s get the biggest song in the world (for the moment) out of the way first.
Chart Week: October 30, 1982 Song: “I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World)” - Donald Fagen Chart Position: #36, 4th week on the chart, debut week in the Top 40. Peaked at #26 for three weeks in November and December.
Pop music tends to be pretty limited thematically. Amongst the bazillion or so songs about love, lust, and heartbreak, occasionally one will emerge from left field about a topic that makes no sense as the basis for a radio hit.
I’m clearly not wasting enough time watching TV or stuff on my computer as this month’s list is again rather lean. Don’t worry, with colder weather arriving and the holiday TV season beginning, I expect to get this back where it should be soon.
Movies, Shows, etc Halloween Baking Championship It’s holiday baking show season, bitches! The kids don’t watch anymore, but S does. And I’ve cut Halloween Wars from the rotation so start with just this.
What a weekend, filled with swings of mood and weather.
KANSAS FOOTBALL!!!!!!! Kansas 38, Oklahoma 33. LET’S GOOOOOO!!!!! One of the biggest wins in program history. That alone would make Saturday’s win over the #6 Sooners memorable. It just had so much of…everything, I guess, that no KU fan who watched it will ever forget it. This feels like a game that could easily turn into a 5000 word account.
I didn’t blast much new-ish music this week, so today’s playlist will skew in a slightly different direction than normal.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“Collect” - Torres It’s been a couple years since we had new Torres music. That album landed not one but two tracks on my Favorite Songs of the Year list, so the pressure is high for 2024. This is a super-promising first peak at her next album.
“be okay” - Yumi Zouma Some heavy Nineties overtones in this, from the crunchy guitars to the processed background screaming.
Tales from the Torrid Zone - Alexander Frater I mentioned in my last entry that I was taking on a rather long book that seemed like it might be a chore to get through. With that in mind, I decided that since it is divided into three parts, I would take a break after each section and squeeze in another book. This was my choice for break number one.
Time for a few thoughts about the exciting world of professional sports.
MLB Playoffs I have continued to watch the playoffs most nights. Maybe not as closely as I did a few years back, but I’ve had them on which is a big step for me. Since I’ve been checked out on baseball for the past two seasons, that has turned me into one of those viewers who is amazed by seeing players for the first time in October and probably infuriates people who give the game attention all season.
It was a pretty good fall break/long weekend around our house. It included another trip to Cincinnati, a new family toy, and a variety of news on the high school sports front. Let’s dive into the details.
CHS Fall Break C and L were off Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for their fall break. L had basketball practice all three days and the weather was crappy, so we didn’t do much.
Man, the weeks are really adding up. One more playlist before we slip into the final two months of the calendar year. It always seems like it will take forever to get here in January and February, then it is suddenly late October and both holiday music and my Favorite Songs of the Year playlist are right around the corner.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“Come on Heartache” - The Menzingers Not quite “Country or Not”, but an interesting twangy twist added to the standard Menzingers sound on this track.
It’s weird how random things can trigger memories and send you down a path that brings a surprise ending.
Last week I was watching TV and saw a commercial for the new Goosebumps series, which features actor Justin Long. I chuckled, thinking back to the time I first encountered Long on the small screen, as Warren P. Cheswick on the NBC show Ed, the “dramedy” about the bowling alley lawyer. Well, the lawyer who owned a bowling alley.
Another very good weekend that was focused on travel, football, and friends.
For the second time in three weeks I left Indianapolis to attend a Big 12 football game. This trip was to Cincinnati to watch M’s Bearcats take on Iowa State. Making the trip even better, I would be hanging with my buddy, Super Clone Fan #1 Sean, and we would get to spend some time before the game with our old pal O-Dog.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“Stuck” - Soft Science There’s been an influx of modern shoegaze in my playlists lately, and I am not complaining about it.
“Your Day” - Pastel A buddy of mine who is super into all things Manchester described this as sounding like Liam Gallagher and Johnny Marr made a record together. I’m down with that.
“Up and Comer” - Sprints Insert GIF of Beavis and Butthead banging their heads and screaming “YES!
Obviously I’m reaching a bit with my subject line. For it to work you have to imagine it is one of the geniuses at the NCAA asking the question when they realize that after six years of investigation and invective and irritation the biggest outcome of their inquiry into the Kansas basketball program is that the second half of the Jayhawks’ 2018 season, when Silvio de Sousa played, gets wiped from the record books.
Chart Week: September 29, 1984 Song: “On the Dark Side” - John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band Chart Position: #24, 19th week on the chart (charted twice, see below). Peaked at #7 for two weeks in October/November.
The history of pop music is filled with opportunists. If an artist or musical style makes a big splash, you can be sure that soundalikes (or lookalikes) will soon follow.
At first glance that seems to be the case with “On the Dark Side.
I just started a book that is probably going to take me a few weeks to get through. Seems like a good moment to clear out the queue so I don’t forget about these two.
We Cast a Shadow - Maurice Carlos Ruffin Writers have been using the “how far would you go to protect your child” trope for ages. Many of us can relate to it in a strongly emotional way, so it often works.
Going to flip things up a bit, as our family had a rough week that’s worth getting caught up on first.
Squad News Monday M got diagnosed with mono. She’s been sick for weeks and it took a turn last weekend, so she went and got checked. She told us she could see the test turn positive from across the room. So she REALLY has mono, I guess. She had a terrible couple of days but after starting on some steroids, improved pretty rapidly.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“Spring” - Briston Maroney “Autumn” - The Gaslight Anthem That’s right, we’re getting crazy with the seasons this week! Here two new songs representing the opposing equinoxes. Oddly enough, I find both songs to sound very fall-like, if in different ways.
“Waiting for a Cloud” - Golden Apples And then we get this song, which was released about three months too late, as it seems perfect for summertime.
“Another Fire” - Voxtrot Always weird when a band takes a long-ass hiatus then returns making good music.
NFL Four weeks into the NFL season and I’m not sure what to make of things. Is there a single team that deserves unquestioned trust? The Chiefs lost at home to Detroit opening night, righted themselves over the next two weeks, then apparently looked kind of crappy against the Jets last Sunday before escaping with a win.
The Bills played lethargic football against the undermanned Jets in week one, but have been kind of awesome since.
A pretty slow month for some reason. I guess tennis took up time at the beginning of the month, then I never really got into a groove? I was also listening to football on Fridays and watching a lot on Saturdays and Sundays, with the occasional Thursday and Monday game thrown in. Still kind of weird I watched zero movies.
Movies, Shows, etc US Open Watched more of the women than the men, but still tuned in most nights over the tournament’s run.
With a notable exception, I enjoyed a very good weekend down in Austin, Texas.
There were a couple motivations for going. One of my best buddies from college, E-bro, has lived there for something like 15 years. Another KU buddy, Billy Sweets, lives in Dallas. The three of us text pretty much every day, so much so that our wives and kids refer to the other two not as friends or buddies or pals, but as “your girlfriends.
I’m off to the airport around 5:45 AM Friday for my weekend trip to Austin and I’ve got a busy day ahead of me as I prep, so I’ll post this 20-something hours early to avoid either forgetting to send it or messing up the scheduling options in Wordpress.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“Alley Light” - Squirrel Flower Ella Williams' songs are often slow burners that crest and break near the end. I like how this one is carried by that crunchy guitar riff from start to finish.
I’m not sure why but I’ve struggled to put together blurbs for my most recent books. I’ll bash away for a paragraph or two then realize I’m not really sharing anything interesting other than a basic summation of the plot and give up. After three false starts I’m officially throwing in the towel and offering the briefest of notes about these books and hope that by my next post I’ve shaken this mini-writer’s block.
I’ve been informed that our internet will disappear sometime this morning as Xfinity “works to improve the quality of the network” in our area. I think that’s code for finding a way to charge us more. Of course, they’ve said this like three times in the past week and it always ends up getting delayed. However, I saw their trucks scuttling around the neighborhood this morning so it might be legit today.
HS Football Cathedral went down to Lexington, KY to play last year’s Kentucky 5A state champs. The Irish got an early lead, weathered their normal letdown, built the lead again, then held on for a nine-point win. Probably their best, most complete win of the season, from what I could judge by listening. They travel to Cincinnati next week. The big news of the week was that the season finale against Center Grove has been moved to Butler’s stadium.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“September” - Earth, Wind & Fire OK, we’re a day off. But I can’t miss my annual chance to throw this into a playlist.
“Deep End (Paul’s in Pieces) - The National The National dropped a surprise album Monday, serving as a companion to First Two Pages of Frankenstein, released earlier this year. There are two really good songs on it. This is obviously one of them. You think I would waste your time with a bad track?
Chart Week: September 19, 1981 Song: “General Hospi-tale” - The Afternoon Delights Chart Position: #35, 9th week on the chart. Peaked at #33 for two weeks.
I’ve been reading through the RFTS archives and was surprised that I’ve never written properly about a novelty song, stuff like “Pac-Man Fever” or “The Curly Shuffle,” for example. I probably should have held off until one of those popped up on an old AT40, but this record was so strange that it required my first novelty song post.
Curb fans will enjoy this real-life origin story.
One evening, as they drank into the night, it dawned on them. ‘I looked at his face and I said, “There’s something about you, man, that spooks me.” Just saying that spooks everyone!’ It clicked. ‘“You’re Richard Lewis!” “You’re Larry David!”… I was yelling at him, he was yelling at me.’ ‘I disliked him intensely’: Richard Lewis on first meeting Larry David A great Q&A with Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC.
HS Football Two games again this weekend. Friday night Cathedral played at the public school down the street. Both girls had some friends over before the game and we walked to the stadium. First play of the night CHS snapped the ball over the quarterback’s head, he chased but could not cover, and North Central took over in Irish territory. Not a promising start.
North Central was winless and it showed, as they went nowhere and gave the ball back to CHS, who methodically ran up a 49–0 lead before halftime.
The music vault is overstuffed again, so we’re back to extra large playlists.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“Little Fires” - The Gaslight Anthem Now we’re talking! This is the return to the classic TGA sound we’ve been waiting for.
“Coming Home” - Echo Ladies “Resolution/Revolution” - The Linda Lindas “Nightmare Nights” - Church Girls Three straight songs featuring female vocalists who kick ass. I heard them in this order this morning, driving home from dropping L at basketball at 5:45.
I have some assorted items that have been sitting around for a week or two that aren’t big enough for their own post. So you get back-to-back Notes entries.
Kid Hoops L is in her third week of basketball workouts at CHS. The first two weeks were before school on Wednesdays and Fridays. She’s been getting up before 5:00 on those days. My alarm is set for 5:19 but I generally hear her banging around and wake up well before that.