Category Archives: Nostalgic Obsessions

02/08/2016 · 1:44 pm

Hate Proof: Tears For Fears’ “Head Over Heels”

Tears For Fears was a “Second British Invasion” band, meaning they rode stateside on the coattails of MTV’s early-80s saturation. Around 1985, they were ubiquitous. Their single “Shout” is considered one of the most successful and recognizable songs of the 1980s. I swear to god, it played on the goddamn radio every single ride to school. I don’t know if I can claim to like it or hate it; it’s been looping in the back of my head since fifth grade. Actually, yeah. I hate it.

Roland Orzabal was the guy who looked like Jon Cryer’s older brother, and Curt Smith was the other, moodier bloke. Orzabal’s voice is fine, but it’s bass player Smith’s voice that completed the harmonies on their biggest chart-toppers. After Smith departed in 1991, Tears For Fears never recaptured the delirious heights of “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”.

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Filed under Bad Influences, Faint Signals, Late To The Party, Nostalgic Obsessions, Thousand Listen Club

Tagged as #tbt, 1980s, 1985, 1987, 38 Special, AOR, Curt Smith, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grand Funk Railroad, Max Carl, music, Roland Orzabal, Sally Field, Second British Invasion, Sibyl, synth-pop, Tears For Fears, Weird Science

01/30/2016 · 11:54 pm

Fresh & Fruity

Fruit is a humorous word, as is fruity; “fruitiness” is inherently funny. I’ve never been called a fruit, but I don’t think this affects my judgment of it; I’ve been called a “faggot”, and I still laugh at that word. How can you not crack up at words that rhyme with “agate” and “toot”, particularly when they’re barked in anger? “Agate” is funny-sounding. “Faggot” is just “agate” with a funny hat. See what I mean?

Okay, I know it’s a fine line. What isn’t these days, when it comes to sharing dialogue? My point is, “fruity” used to be a thing. One needn’t necessarily be gay to be fruity, or even queer. Fruity is a sort of indefinable mien, typically the product of societal constraints, resulting in a general state of fruitiness. Like weirdos, fruits don’t refer to themselves as such, but are so named by the more ignorant of the species. To the unknowing, it’s like calling someone a “chair”, or a “table”.

As entertainment continues to move away from “hurting feelings”, a load-bearing pillar of basic comedy, another flavor of humor has been lost.

Fruit flavor.

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Filed under Bad Influences, Faint Signals, Nostalgic Obsessions, Saturday Movie Matinee

Tagged as 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, Albert Molina, American Dad, Boogie Nights, comedy, Dan Castellaneta, fruit, Hollywood Squares, John Waters, laughter, movies, Paul Benedict, Paul Lynde, political correctness, Rick Springfield, Rip Taylor, Sesame Street, The Simpsons, This Is Spinal Tap, Tony Hendra

01/29/2016 · 7:36 pm

Pleasant Surprises

In the second issue of Bands I Useta Like, I drew a retrospective entitled “Thrills”, wherein I delineated the major moments of excitement from a lifetime of moviegoing. Thrills come in varying qualities and intensities, from “cheap” to “absolute”. A milder one, that is no less desirable, is the “pleasant surprise“.

One of the first pleasant surprises I took notice of was during the documentary Citizen Shane, from 2004. It tells the true story of Shane Ballard, a rotund, porn-loving oddball who ran for sheriff of his hometown of Lowndes County, Mississippi at 22. Ballard was a talented audiophile whose mother was murdered under mysterious circumstances when he was a baby. Not long after the documentary’s release, Shane Ballard and director Ron Tibbett would also be deceased, under mysterious circumstances. Subcin, the site where I saw the film, is not currently active. Continue reading →

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Filed under Faint Signals, Late To The Party, Movies You Missed, Nostalgic Obsessions, Saturday Movie Matinee

Tagged as Big Brother, camp, Carry On, Charles Manson, Django Reinhardt, goth, hipsters, Jackass, Joe Orton, Kenneth Williams, Larry Flynt, Mike Nelson, Morrissey, MST3K, Pleasant Surprises, Polari, Ron Tibbett, Shane Ballard, Subterranean Cinema, The Cure, The Smiths, thrills, Vengaboys, Ween

01/28/2016 · 11:27 pm

L’il T-Rex Arms

From ARMLOAD OF ACTION #1, 2008.

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Filed under Comix Classic & Current, Magazine Rack, Nostalgic Obsessions

Tagged as #tbt, 2008, comix, John's Arm:Armageddon, limited edition, Mike the Pod, movies, T-Rex Arms, Throwback Thursday, underground, Xanadu

01/26/2016 · 8:27 pm

Blawgospheres

From BIUL II

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Filed under Bad Influences, Comix Classic & Current, Idiot's Delight, Magazine Rack, Nostalgic Obsessions

Tagged as 1980s, 1990s, Bands I Useta Like, comic, comix, corporate crap, Madballs, Mike the Pod

01/25/2016 · 1:28 am

The Song That Can’t Be Named

Roughly every day, I search YouTube for a decent copy of what I consider The Funniest Song I’ve Ever Heard. I like to hear it often, but this is difficult, as the title of the song is “sensitive” these days, and it’s hard to pin down as a result. However, I believe it’s worth the effort.

When I listen to the song I invariably get the urge to share it with everyone. Alas, this is a touchy subject, as the title requires explaining. On the surface, the song is a man lampooning his friend as an insatiably homosexual fiend, presumably to gall him. Beneath this is a story of empowerment and acceptance. Continue reading →

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Filed under Bad Influences, Faint Signals, Idiot's Delight, Nostalgic Obsessions, Thousand Listen Club

Tagged as 1990s, Bam Margera, Brandon DiCamillo, CKY, comedy, Gnarkill, Jackass, laughter, music, political correctness, Rake Yohn, Ryan Dunn, underground

01/24/2016 · 12:32 am

Hate Proof: George Benson’s “Give Me The Night”

George Benson is an American musician, guitarist and singer-songwriter. He began his professional career at twenty-one, as a jazz guitarist. Benson uses a rest-stroke picking technique similar to that of gypsy jazz players such as Django Reinhardt. [Wikipedia]

[Warner Brothers]

I’ve always been impressed when a musician can sing and play an instrument simultaneously. It’s a difficult skill, and it typically has to be learned young. I can’t do it myself, and despite his godly skill on guitar, neither could Frank Zappa.

On occasion, a guitarist involuntarily vocalizes as they play. The great Albert Collins did, and I’ve heard that Carlos Santana does too. It’s not a bad thing, in fact, in talented hands, it’s great. So it is with George Benson.

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Filed under Faint Signals, Late To The Party, Nostalgic Obsessions, Thousand Listen Club

Tagged as 1970s, 1980, 1980s, Albert Collins, Carlos Santana, Chet Atkins, disco, Frank Zappa, George Benson, George Duke, guitar, Herbie Hancock, Jack McDuff, jazz, Michael Boddicker, Michael Jackson, Miles Davis, music, Quincy Jones, Throwback Thursday

01/18/2016 · 2:07 pm

I Never Liked You: INXS

Within my vast and dubious knowledge of music, there are holes. Some are tiny, like my ignorance of sex droid Taylor Swift. Others are much larger; one is the relative size of six Australians. I have never cared for INXS.

Nearly indistinguishable from Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam.

The closest I got was “The One Thing”, which saw heavy rotation on MTV in the early 1980s. The band benefited from a visual similarity to other groups, like U2, UB40 and the B-52s, and this sameness ensured my future confusion. I just never found INXS that memorable. Continue reading →

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Filed under Don't Know Don't Care, Faint Signals, Idiot's Delight, Nostalgic Obsessions, Worst Of All

Tagged as 1980, 1980s, 1983, 1987, 1990s, 1993, alternative music, autoerotic asphyxiation, Boston (band), depression, INXS, Jim Carrey, Joel Schumacher, Led Zeppelin, Michael Hutchence, music, Robert Palmer, Robert Plant, sellouts, suicide, The B-52s, The Power Station, U2, UB40

01/17/2016 · 11:24 pm

Hate Proof: Vengaboys’ “We Like To Party”

hateproof2
Imagine yourself sprawled on a nameless battlefield, exhausted, gasping your final breaths into the mud. The air is thick with the scorched smell of spent artillery and the moans of the dying. How long before help arrives? Is it even coming? All you hear is the distant whistle of a locomotive, as it slowly approaches with detached menace.

toot toooooooooot

They’re coming to round up the survivors, you think as you squint into the hazy distance. The end is near. Best hope that it’s merciful when it comes. Surely this must be the onset of madness, brought on by impending extinction. The stench of carnage gives way to the comforting scent of… cheese pizza? Ice cream sundaes? Funnel cake? Continue reading →