Chart Week: June 4, 1983
Song: “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” - Michael Jackson
Chart Position: #22, 2nd week on the chart. Peaked at #5 for two weeks in July.
High Fidelity was one of my favorite movies of the early 2000s. I loved the record store culture it celebrated. Hanging around with fellow music geeks, arguing about insanely obscure bits of trivia, opening each other’s minds to new sounds, and mocking people who did not listen to the right kind of music (according to us) seemed like a great way to earn a living.
A busy weekend back in the Motherland.
KC Trip Lots of fun on my first Kansas City visit in two years, first solo one in five. As always, it was too brief but I packed plenty in. I flew in Friday morning and got to experience the new KCI for the first time. Soooo much better than the old airport. I enjoyed how the old terminals are still standing, so if you were ever in them you have a reminder of how weird they were.
Posting this a little early as I have a busy Friday morning.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“Sabotage” - Beastie Boys Thirty years and one week ago the Beasties released Ill Communication. I’ve always been a Paul’s Boutique guy, but there are plenty of people who think IC was their best album. And, of course, this song was the basis for one of the greatest videos ever made.
“No Surrender” - Bruce Springsteen I know I just shared the video for “Dancing in the Dark” two weeks ago, but we needed an official acknowledgement of the 40th anniversary of the release of Born in the USA.
With 100 Reaching for the Stars entries under my belt, it is time to break down where we’ve been, AT40 style.
It should be no shock that there have been more entries from 1984 than any other year, a healthy 18 posts from the greatest year in pop music history. I was mildly surprised that 1982 was second with 16. Not sure if that’s a function of more 1982 countdowns being rebroadcast than other years, or more 1982 songs grabbing my attention.
My goal for May was to adjust away from so much YouTube back towards more traditional shows and movies. I didn’t do a great job of that. I have started a summer viewing project, so while the hours may adjust in June, I don’t know if the number of entries in each section will change much for awhile.
Movies, Shows, etc The Gentlemen Highly entertaining. You can’t go wrong with a collection of fun British accents.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“Bored In The Summer” - Bad Bad Hats Too soon?
“Dotted Line” - Why Bonnie Blair Howerton wrote this in a moment when she “felt the weight of capitalism” pressing down upon her. I love shit like that. Also a nice warning to prospective artists about being aware of what they are giving up when they sign that record deal.
“Strawberry Moon” - Fancy Gap with Sharon Van Etten I read a description of this song that described it as sounding like Fleetwood Mac.
A few more random notes that didn’t fit into the weekend wrap-up.
Number Three Behind The Wheel L finally got her learner’s permit today. She had been gung-ho about driving since she was 13, and dove into the driver’s ed self-teaching program when we signed her up back in December. We’ve been taking her across the street to drive around the high school parking lot since last fall. Then a couple friends, who are smart cookies like her, failed their learner’s permit written test on their first tries.
A long holiday weekend filled with guests, rain, and fun.
L had a group of girl friends over Friday night. Storms curtailed their pool time but otherwise they kicked off their summer well. Since she spends so much time with basketball girls, it’s always good to get a confirmation that she hangs out with other freshman girls sometimes. Sorry, sophomore girls!
She took me to the gym Monday morning for a shooting workout.
It’s summer time, bitches!
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“Summertime” - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince DRUMS PLEASE!
“Dancing In The Streets” - Van Halen This song has always meant summer to me. It seemed like I heard it constantly Memorial Day weekend 1982, but it hadn’t cracked the Top 40 yet so I’m not sure how accurate that memory is.
“Summertime Tiger” - Rui Gabriel, Stef Chura This song is about working to improve yourself during the slower months of summer.
High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape - Marc Masters A single-book focus for this entry, less because of the book’s quality than what it got me thinking about.
The book itself wasn’t as good as I hoped it would be. Masters begins by laying out the history of the cassette tape and tape players. Then he dives into areas of music that were most affected by the popularity of the cassette: underground genres that found traction thanks the the easy production and distribution of tapes; copying and sharing licensed music; recording and collecting live performances; international music; and, of course, the mixtape.
I spent much of the afternoon working through a long read that is probably best shared on its own.
I’m not sure when I first came across Maciej Cegłowski’s work. I know I used his Pinboard bookmarking service a several times, although never as a primary collection tool. At some point I discovered his writing, which is often amazing. I kicked in a few bucks for his Antarctic adventure, too.
Lots of notes from the past several days.
Travel Hoops Pretty good weekend of hoops in Louisville. For the first time ever, we went 3–0 in pool play at a national event. We won our first game Friday by 11. It was a very tough, defensive contest that we controlled pretty much from the opening tip. However we only scored 28 points for the game, so it wasn’t the smoothest of performances.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“I See The Light” - The Men Just the thing to shake you awake and start your Friday off right.
“Baby Bangs” - Snarls These Ohio kids had my second-favorite song of 2020. Since then, their output has underwhelmed. This is a nice return to form.
“Pretty Happy Alone” - The Love Buzz I would not have guessed this band is from Cork, Ireland. More proof great music can come from anywhere.
Chart Week: May 15, 1987
Song: “Don’t Dream It’s Over” - Crowded House
Chart Position: #15, 18th week on the chart. Peaked at #2 for one week in April.
A few months ago, as I moved into posts 90-plus in this series, I considered whether I should do something special for number 100. Then I realized that since these entries are pretty sporadic, there was no way to predict where in the calendar we would be until we got to Volume 100.
Several car articles, since I’m still in that mode. I’ll slip those stories to the bottom if you aren’t super interested in them.
I’m not a government hater, but shit like this makes me furious. You would think the possibility of preventing the most prevalent forms of cancer would get all our branches of government to move quicker.
The Food and Drug Administration’s ability to approve the chemical filters in sunscreens that are sold in countries such as Japan, South Korea, and France is hamstrung by a 1938 U.
Reckless - Chrissie Hynde While doing my research for the recent RFTS post about The Pretenders, I came across several references to Hynde’s memoir. As soon as I completed that post, I checked and, LO!, the ebook was available at the library. I got it onto my Kindle and knocked it out over the next 36 hours. It is a great, if limited where it really counts, rock memoir. Hynde shares pretty much everything she experienced in life, good and bad.
A nice weekend here in Indy. I know eventually it will come back to bite us in the ass, but this is like the fifth or sixth straight season here that has been terrific. It got warm early but didn’t turn into summer in April. We’ve had a few cooldowns but none of those surprise weeks when you go from shorts and tees to coats and hats again. All that after a mild winter, a normal fall, a terrific summer, another nice spring, and I believe a relatively warm winter a year ago.
I had to get up early to attend a function this morning. I’ve very excited to share details next week, but that is the explanation for this getting out a little later than usual.
open.spotify.com/playlist/…
“22” - Hana Vu Remember when turning 22 felt like you were getting old?
“22” - Taylor Swift Had to do it.
“Ceasefire” - Frank Turner Frank released a new album a week ago. It sounds like every Frank Turner album.
I could write about the Pacers-Knicks series today. But given how the first two games have left me royally pissed off, I think you all would rather read more car content rather than me bitching about the referees or the Nova Knicks or how the Pacers refuse to play defense or block out guys four inches shorter than them.
Another Addition For roughly 60 hours we were a five-car family.
We are nearly three weeks out from the release of Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter. As an OG PJ head, I should probably do a review. Especially since I’ve been listening to it daily over that entire stretch.[1]
That last sentence could be the entire review. For the first time since 2006’s self-titled album, a Pearl Jam disk has stuck with me for more than just the few days after its release.