Go-Go's a-go-go

How is it even possible that I've loped along in this blog and NOT written of my crush on Jane Wiedlin from the Go-Go's? Or, more particularly, my crush on Jane Wiedlin when she was part of the Go-Go's, back in the day?

Jane was YUMMY! And look at her workin' the 80s hair!

For sure! She was my favorite Go-Go by far. Any time one of their videos would come on, I'd watch, just hoping for glimpses of Jane. It's funny, in retrospect, how the pre-Net world worked -- you had to work for your pop culture! If you didn't see her on MTV or on Friday Night Videos, or in Rolling Stone, it was hard to even get glimpses of the lil' Pop Tart!

I remember hearing about the debauchery of the Go-Go's, thinking "Not Jane! She's just too angel-sweet!" Although she was definitely as much of a party animal as the rest of them, but just had that vibe about her that was like catnip for my early teen self!

Ah, Jane. I'm a sucker for cute, what can I say? And "cute" is definitely a word one associates with Jane Wiedlin. Even her name is kind of cute. I mean, Belinda Carlisle -- her name made her sound like a Heather, and even her sneer kind of conveyed that, like the alpha girl busy giving her frenemies eating disorders with the curl of her lip (although I liked Belinda, too, just not as much as I liked Jane).

I was so enraptured by Jane Wiedlin that it took me time to actually notice what a rotten dancer Belinda Carlisle was (which was, really, part of her sneery charm, honestly). I remember, as a teen, thinking "What is Belinda doing?" but crushing on her and Jane to the extent that I didn't have a proper context for what the hell she was doing. Since then, watching clips of the Go-Go's playing in their prime, I crack up, watching Belinda do her Belinda Dancing thing...

Belinda Dancing, Exhibit A

Belinda Dancing, Exhibit B

Belinda Dancing, Exhibit C

And please note how adorable Jane Wiedlin is in all of these clips. *crush blush*

How to dance like the Go-Go's

(really, this dancing is more sophisticated than Belinda's signature moves, but it's still amusing)

Happy Birthdays!

To the King...

And the Thin White Duke!

Q101

I haven't regularly listened to radio since, I dunno, 1995 -- that was the last year I remembered hearing anything remotely compelling on the radio. After that point, I increasingly just listened to music on my own, followed my own interests and preferences, bought a lot of CDs. Of course, even that trailed off from about 2005 onward. That, in itself, is kind of curious for me -- I have so many CDs, but as I found fewer and fewer current bands compelling, my music purchases declined, and I just relied on my existing archive of music, stocking up my iTunes to the critical mass of music I needed, which was about 7000 songs. I have the good fortune to work at a job where I can "plug-and-play" and listen to music while I work. But while I listen to music, I don't listen to music radio. There just wasn't anything out there that was interesting enough for me, and the lack of control of the format was perhaps less appealing, after years of iPod and iTunes.

Now I read this article about Q101 being turned from an "alternative" station to news, and I'm very surprised. Q101 was a kind of musical institution in Chicago; it may not have played music that I considered alternative, but you could at least count on it to play rock music -- now it's news? I wonder where all of those orphaned listeners will go for music? Again, it's sort of a weird thing for me, because I haven't regularly listened to radio for over 16 years, but I'm still sad for the demise of a major local player like Q101. And since I'm admittedly no longer a radio listener, I don't even know where those people will go. It's just curious to think about it that way, how alien such an omnipresent medium has become to me (and, likely, so many others).

Musical

I'm uploading some of my umpteen CDs to my computer. It amuses me, just because CDs were supposed to be THE thing -- I mean, decades ago, I remember when they were trotted out that way. Now, they are effectively obsolete. At some point, CD/DVD players will cease to be, and CDs will vanish as everything becomes MP3 (at least until the next proper storm of energy from the sun blanks out everything electronic -- haha). All the same, it's funny to wade through these old discs. Exene always wanted me to throw them out, said her usual mantra "What's the point?" with anything she didn't value or appreciate. I would say "I am keeping them so I can have an archive of the music I like, in case I need to upload them, or if a computer crashes, etc." She'd just shrug it off, as she did so much. All the same, I've got'em, and am loading them up to my new computer, something I hadn't done for years.

Say what you will about Hole -- their "Live Through This" was a good album for its time (1994 -- now squarely in the confines of "a long time ago"), and the album cover was killer. That picture was so damned perfect -- the snarly-smiled, Heathers-esque beauty pageant winner/prom queen from Hell? Masterful...

Model Leilani Bishop: "I WON! YAY, ME!"

Musica

This was a good piece...

http://www.salon.com/2011/10/27/have_wilco_and_radiohead_become_the_new_adult_contemporary/

Damned Right!

I saw The Damned at Metro last night, part of their 35th Anniversary Tour. Was glad to have caught them, since they still have it! They turned out a great show, covering their debut album ("Damned Damned Damned") and their "Black Album," their fourth album. They looked good, sounded good, and seemed to be having a good time, although, sadly, no Rat Scabies on the drums. I was right near the front and center, and it was slamdance-tastic! Yes, I still call it "slamdancing" -- moshing is what Metalheads and Grunge kids do, and only after Punks first came up with slamdancing! Bahah!

They were one of THE seminal Punk bands of old...

Dave Vanian, frontman, working his mojo.

Captain Sensible and Dave Vanian.

Amusingly enough, I got caught in this cellphone clip during the show -- I called out "Love Song," which they then played; you can see Captain Sensible pointing to me when they call out the title, and you can see me in the clip!

At the end of the show, this drunk-as-a-skunk guy was lamenting loudly that they didn't play "I Just Can't Be Happy Today," and I said "Yeah, I wanted that one, too." and the guy shook my hand, said "Thash MY theme song, Man." and he introduced himself, said "Jesh wanned to say yer a real snappy dresser, Fella." Bahah! I said "Thanks!" as I was leaving. I normally would never wear a tux to a fucking show, but for the Damned, it kind of demanded it, especially with it being so near Halloween. As I left, I saw one other guy wearing a bowtie -- his girlfriend pointed to me, and he said "Hey, I thought I was the only one!" and I just whooped and pointed to my skull-and-crossbones bowtie...

September

Hope your September is a smooth one...

Soundgardening

Soundgarden right as they began.

I saw Soundgarden with some buds last night, at UIC Pavilion. Great show! The band looked great and sounded awesome. I've never seen a band at UIC, which always seemed conceptually like a bigger venue than it actually is, although that made it perfect, that right blend of size and intimacy that can make a show great. I'm all sore and hoarse from the festivities. This was the first show I've been to in years that actually had moshing, so I'm glad I wore my venerable steel toe boots; it was nice to see some actual crowd enthusiasm, since so many shows have kids just standing there like statues. Not last night; it was lots of thrown elbows and shoulders, putting the boot in, drunken hooligans and ditchweed, tough cookies and bellowing bruisers.


Even though it was a reprise set they played, covering their older songs, it was great, just the same, and they rocked every one of their tunes. Cornell said they're working on a new album, which should be out next year, and that they would certainly come back to Chicago, etc. I broke my usual rule of not spending more than $20 to see ANYBODY in order to catch Soundgarden, but had no regrets about it. It was definitely worth it. Somebody filmed one of the quieter moments of the show, "4th of July," below...



I'm hoping somebody filmed when the crowd went apeshit, during some of the other songs. Cornell really worked the crowd nicely, seemed to genuinely enjoy himself.

Unstuck

Today doesn't feel like a Sunday to me for some reason.

I'm catching Soundgarden next weekend. That should be fun.

Been feeling under the weather the past week, which has preoccupied me. Bleah.

Moz

Happy Birthday to Morrissey. It was a real toss-up for me, which song to pick for a solo Moz birthday tune, so I went with the one on the link.

Great summer weather today -- 80 degrees and sunny and yet not super-humid, yet, which makes it extra-nice.

Woo hoo!

Rock ON!

Telekinesis

This band, Telekinesis (kind of amused nobody has ever named their band that by this time), is really mining the Cure's sound in this song "Please Ask for Help." Kinda funny to hear that signature sound adopted in someone else's tune, but it makes sense -- for the kids today, the Cure qualify as "classic rock." The video is mildly amusing -- packed to the gills with hipsters, and there's even a Limoncello cameo around 1:01, one of the partygoers dancing.

To Hell With Poverty

Great tune by Gang of Four, and well-performed, here. Gotta love those bass grooves. Their sonic attack was always papercut-sharp, which lent a cold, crisp, taut-n-fraught trebly tone to their music that was nicely juxtaposed by the incredibly fat bass lines they would always throw in their music. And I always loved their brilliant use of feedback. Nobody's ever hit it like they did...

Mansun, "Take It Easy, Chicken"

I always liked Mansun, back in the day. Not as much as some of the other big Britpop bands, but their "Dream of the Grey Lantern" was a solid album, still holds up nicely. This is one of my favorites from that one...



51,000 words.

The Descendents, "Ride the Wild"

It's been awhile since I posted any music, hasn't it? This is my favorite song by The Descendents....

Final Solution

I haven't listened to Pere Ubu in awhile. I always loved this one...

The Look of Love

Need another video...

ABC, "The Look of Love"

...something to capture the absurdity of love, and of 80s videos, in general. Still, ABC cranked out nice dance-pop tunes in their prime.

Happy Valentine's Day

I don't like OutKast overmuch, but this one is topical, ergo, I post it. I like his pink-hued Desert Eagle...

Love Song

This is a nice, acoustic version of The Cure's "Love Song"...



The Companion Cube from "Portal" really comes into its own on Valentine's Day...

Love Will Tear Us Apart

Oh, you know I had to do it, what, with Valentine's Day looming...