Finally Summer Friday Random Ten

Back in February, my coworker/friend Sarah predicted that this would be one of those years where Chicago went straight from Winter to Summer, with no stop at Spring. She was, lamentably, correct. But alas, summer is here. Long may it run.

1. Woodstock- Joni Mitchell
2. Nite Klub- The Specials
3. Back In the USSR- The Beatles
4. Dophin's Smile- The Byrds
5. (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais- The Clash
6. I'm Straight- Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
7. Interstate Love Song- The Stone Temple Pilots
8. Kentucky Rain- Elvis Presley
9. Career Opportunities- The Clash
10. Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts- Bob Dylan



Notes:
1. CSN & Y, who were at Woodstock covered this song by Joni Mitchell, who was not there. Crazy world.
2. Love the line: "I won't dance in a club like this/All the girls are sluts and the beer tastes just like piss!"
3. This song started out as "Back in the USA," but ended up being "USSR," because the line sounded better. Right wingers were, of course, mortified.
4. The more the years go on, the more I love the music of the Byrds.
5. Probably my favorite Clash song. From their first album
6. "I'm certainly not stoned, not like Hippy Johnny..."
7. We bought this one for Rock Band recently. I sing it. It's one of my favorite-ever songs.
8. What's this? This one came up two weeks in a row in my shuffle! Good thing it's my favorite Elvis song.
9. Another one from their first album. "I hate the civil service too/I won't open letter bombs for you..."
10. Classic Dylan story-song, from Blood On The Tracks, and album that still sounds great 35 years later.

John Calloway

If you're not from the Chicago area, you probably never heard of John Calloway, who passed away yesterday. He was a fixture on Chicago-area television for decades, particularly with WTTW, our public television station.

I was surprised to hear that he was from West Virginia, and not Chicago-- he was a Chicago guy through and through. For years, he did fascinating features on Chicago-related stories. The one I remember most is the feature he did a few years back on the tragic 1958 "Our Lady of Angels" fire (I did a post last year, on the fiftieth anniversary of the fire).

I had two run-ins with John Calloway in my life. The first was in 1980, when Calloway moderated a debate at Triton College about nuclear power, between Ralph Nadar and a representative from the Commonwealth Edison electric company. Calloway was, as always, genteel, erudite and elegant, despite the debate becoming heated. The second encounter with Calloway was face to face; I waited on him at Nida's/The Smokehouse, a BBQ restaurant I worked at in the '90's (he sat at your table, Lulu!).

Having worked as a server on and off for 29 years, one of the things I've learned is that it tells a lot about a person, whether they're polite to people they don't have to be polite to. Calloway was exactly as he seemed on the television-- gracious and pleasant, completely unfazed by the fact that he was a local celebrity. He was the real deal-- a guy who really was as nice as he seemed to be.

Mr. Calloway leaves a large body of work; many of the features he did are available on DVD now. I'm saddened by his passing, but glad he told a little of Chicago's story, and glad that I got to meet him.

Maybe He Should Be Appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs

"I was just responding to my critics-- they kept telling me that I should accept the stimulus package."-- Gov. Mark Sanford, (R) South Carolina

My old friend Dan pointed out that Fox "News" is up to its old tricks-- when they broke the story, they "accidentally" listed Sanford, who is a Republican, as a Democrat. They apparently do this all the time with disgraced Republicans. See link below.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/200906240026

Occasional Forgotten Video, Foreigner, "I Want To Know What Love Is"

When I was in high school, Foreigner's first album came out. It was an instant classic, with hits like "Feels Like the First Time," "Cold As Ice," and "A Long Way From Home." They continued their success into the early eighties with their album "4," which had several more hits-- "Urgent," which featured a sax solo from Junior Walker, and "Waiting For a Girl Like You," which showcased beautiful, haunting synthesizer by a then-unknown Thomas Dolby, who would have his own top five US hit with "She Blinded Me With Science," in 1983.

Foreigner took a three year hiatus, but the wait was worth it: "I Want To Know What Love Is," which was written by Mick Jones (not to be confused with the Clash member by the same name) was their only #1 US hit, in 1985. The beautiful gospel touch was provided by the New Jersey Mass choir.

Honest To Goodness, The Bars Weren't Open This Morning...

"Honest to goodness, the bars weren't open this morning
They must have been voting for the President or something
"Do you have a quarter?" I said yes because I did
Honest to goodness the tears have been falling all over the country's face
It was better before they voted for what's his name
This must be the new world...."

The New World, X

Double Door, June 19, 2009

X at the Double Door Tonight

X was one of those bands or musicians that pretty much defined my tribe musically-- along with Johnny Cash, The Replacements, The Blasters and a handful of others.

Pretty much everybody I know is seeing X during a four-night stand at the Double Door, in Chicago. Though I didn't say anything, Kim must have realized that I was kind of bummed out that I couldn't afford to go see them. So she got me a ticket to tonight's show for Father's Day, bless her heart.

I saw them once before, in 1987 at the Caberet Metro in Chicago. Original guitarist Billy Zoom had been replaced by Tony Gilkyson, and Exene Cerveka was 8 months pregnant with her son by now-ex-husband Viggo Mortenson. Tonight's show will have the original line-up. I have a hunch that I'll run into some folks I know.

I'm hoping they'll play my favorite of their songs tonight, "White Girl." Until then, here's a Youtube clip of them at a show from last year at the Caberet Metro.

Summer So Close I Can Taste It Friday Random Ten

Yesterday, we finally had a nice Spring day here in Chicago-- now that Summer is almost here. I took advantage of it to go to a Cubs game yesterday. Now, if it ever stops raining...

1. Teenage Lobotomy- The Ramones
2. Last Child- Aerosmith
3. A Summer Song- Chad and Jeremy
4. Bad Little Woman- Shadows of Knight
5. Wouldn't It Be Nice?- The Beach Boys
6. Push A Little Daisy- Ween
7. Lonely Days- The Bee Gees
8. I Shall Be Free #10- Bob Dylan
9. The Bird- The Ramones
10. Kentucky Rain- Elvis Presley

Notes:
1. Classic Ramones.
2. From "Rocks."
3. Perfect song for today.
4. A Chicago group best known for their cover of Van Morrison's classic "Gloria." This song is from the Nuggets garage rock collection.
5. A sweet little number from one of my favorite bands.
6. Whatever happened to these guys?
7, This one was from between the Bee Gees folk and disco periods.
8. Some early Bob Dylan-- he refers to Cassius Clay (now known as Muhammad Ali) in the song.
9. Joey and the boys covering the Trashmen's classic.
10. Probably my favorite Elvis Presley song. It was co-written by Eddie Rabbit.

Watch For Me

No time to blog today-- my old friend Dan called this morning-- he has an extra ticket for today's Cubs/White Sox game. Watch for me in the bleachers-- I'll be wearing a CBGB's t-shirt and a Red Sox cap.