…if, for example, you’re jogging on the beach and listening to your iPod and a small experimental plane has to make an emergency landing and the pilot can’t see because there’s oil on his windshield and he lands on the beach and you don’t hear the plane coming because you’re jogging on the beach listening to your iPod and the plane runs you over. Looked at another way, we could say that jogging can kill you, too. Or maybe it’s the combination of jogging and listening to an iPod. No, that’s not enough. An emergency landing has to be added to the mix. And a windshield covered in oil. Maybe never mind. Keep up the jogging and the listening to the iPod, since the chance of the above all happening has to be near zero. At least, the chance of it happening again. This might even be almost funny, if it happened in a movie, maybe to a villain in an action spoof of some kind — if it hadn’t happened for real, if Robert Gary Jones hadn’t been killed, if he didn’t have two children, if he weren’t just minding his business, if things that shouldn’t happen didn’t and a person’s life didn’t sometimes end like that.

Tags: music, trusted media & news
1 Comment »

Nobody has enjoyed a late career renaissance like Johnny Cash. The series of collaborations he made with Slayer producer Rick Rubin reignited critical interest in his work at a time when Cash believed he was destined to become a touring nostalgia act. The first of these, American Recordings is a fantastic album — raw, dark, stark, stripped down to the Man in Black’s voice and primitive guitar playing. Cash had never sounded young, and he’d always been good with death, but I was shocked by the simplicity of the first lines, the frank, naked, blasé expression of brutality: [Read more →]

Tags: music
No Comments »

Bon Jovi is using the occasion of his latest tour to promote volunteerism, and is apparently playing this video at each of his concerts:

I think it’s obvious that anyone who would willingly attend a Bon Jovi concert is in desperate need of direction as to how to spend his free time, but that video is liable to confuse Mr. Jovi’s fans. [Read more →]

Tags: music, politics & government
9 Comments »

Valentine’s Day has recently passed, leaving many to look forward to next year’s bouquet of flowers, heart-splattered teddy bears and cardboard boxes full of calories. Good for you, I’m glad Hallmark/Walmart/the entire advertising industry has your continued attention, affections, and disposable income.  I, however, am left to ponder deeper, more meaningful issues. Like Phil Collins. [Read more →]

Tags: ends & odd, music
5 Comments »

As I am a foreigner, the first I ever heard about the Super Bowl’s tradition of mid-show entertainment was the now notorious Janet Jackson nipple incident whereby Justin Timberlake ‘accidentally’ unleashed Ms. Jackson’s breast upon millions of unsuspecting Americans. I was living in Moscow at the time and even the Russians were quite obsessed by the role of Ms. Jackson’s mammary glands in a sport none of them played or cared about. [Read more →]

Tags: music, sports
3 Comments »

When most 23 year-olds claim to have had a good year, “good year” usually means a college graduation, a blooming engagement or gainful employment that doesn’t involve phrases like “sweater vest” ,”deep fryer”, and “temp agency”.  With epic record sales, roof-shattering concerts, and admiration from even Barbra Walters, saying Lady Gaga had a “good year” is like saying Bernie Madoff had a bad one.   [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, music
1 Comment »

10. You’re the surviving half of Milli Vanilli

9. Your comedy album is entirely in Kurdish

8. Your CD just went Tin

7. Your musical style is a cross between Zamfir and Boxcar Willie

6. Your reggae album was recorded using only bagpipes

5. Before you copied and released your album, you forgot to make sure the microphone was on

4. You’re up against Lady Gaga in the category Most Gaga

3. Your CD’s main popularity is as a beer coaster

2. Your band is named The Living Kazoos

1. There isn’t a category called Highest Score on Guitar Hero
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, art & entertainment, music, television
No Comments »

You probably should wait till the kids go to bed or make sure your boss is out at lunch before you play this. But, whatever you do, make sure to play it — and play it with an open mind. Talent comes in mysterious forms and I expect you will ask the same question I asked myself, “How on earth does someone figure out they can do this?” And then answer your own question with “I’d rather not know!”

Hat Tip to The Frisky

Tags: ends & odd, music
14 Comments »

Here is my hastily put-together “Best Albums of the Decade” list. Some of the selections are favorites that I’ve listened to with OCD-style frequency. Others are fairly new discoveries but are unique and interesting enough to warrant inclusion. The “honorable mention” list consists of recent additions to my playlist that are still in the “getting to know you” stage. They hold high promise.

[Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, music
No Comments »

When I’m not railing against Israel or otherwise decrying imperialism, sometimes I like to write about music on my blog, Dogs Thought. I’ve combined here a two-part post I published there listing, in no particular order, ten albums I liked from this past year. WFTC does not have as much content about current music as current movies or TV, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to throw in my two cents on the various tra-la-las and boom-boom-baps that emerged from stereos, headphones, tin cans, etc. in 2009. Enjoy. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, music
No Comments »

I recall Christmas, 1970, when I was an 18-year-old sailor stationed aboard a swaying aircraft carrier off the coast of North Vietnam.

We young sailors, like our civilian counterparts back home, thought of ourselves as young, hip and cool guys. After all, we were teenagers during the swinging 1960’s, a time noted for drugs, sex and rock music. The 1970’s promised to be cooler still, we believed.

As we were eating our Christmas dinner the 1MC, the ship’s public address system, offered Bing Crosby singing his Christmas classic, White Christmas. A lot of young, hip and cool guys became misty-eyed.

[Read more →]

Tags: music, terror & war
No Comments »

2009 marks the 40th anniversary of many famous things, ranging from the mind-bendingly fatuous (John and Yoko’s bed in) to the truly historic (the moon landings) to the not as good as they used to be (Sesame Street), to the never any good in the first place (Woodstock). But in addition to all of the above, 2009 is also the 40th anniversary of something much less celebrated: a very strange record that only gets stranger with the passing of time, King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, music
2 Comments »

Recently, my wife and I attended a Philadelphia Orchestra concert that featured, as the concluding work, the Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s fifth symphony, which is perhaps best-known — even notorious — for its first movement duel between snare drum and orchestra (a note in the score instructs the drummer to improvise “as if at all costs to stop the progress of the orchestra”).

At its premiere in 1922, the symphony was pretty well-received by both critics and the public. But a couple of years later, when performed in Stockholm, about a quarter of the audience is said to have fled the hall. Those who remained in their seats were none too pleased, either. My wife, more than 80 years later, felt their pain. [Read more →]

Tags: music, that's what he said, by Frank Wilson
1 Comment »

The American Music Awards (Sunday, 8PM, ABC) – I am a big fan of music award shows. Grammy’s, VMA’s… hell I’ll even watch the CMA’s. Last night were the American Music Awards so obviously I watched. I didn’t get around to many shows this week so I am dedicating this week’s column to the awards show. It was clearly a night for the ladies. My commentary below: [Read more →]

Tags: Lauren Likes TV, music, television
2 Comments »

For most non-Teutons the idea of German rock is not very appealing. The fatherland of Bach and Beethoven may well have produced many interesting experimental groups (Kraftwerk,  Einstürzende Neubauten etc) but on a global, top 40 level it’s an entirely different matter. Consider:

1) The Scorpions- hair metal popular in the 80s, approximately as good as Winger. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, music
No Comments »

I am so far behind on TV it’s not even funny. Between my vacation (holla to my fellow PV Zoo Party-goers), the baseball playoffs, and my day job, I’m a good 2 weeks behind. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I desperately need some rerun weeks in order for me to catch up. So that being said, this week I can’t tell you highlights, lowlights, and what to watch next week (except for Yankee baseball, of course). So what do I talk about today? [Read more →]

Tags: Lauren Likes TV, music, television
5 Comments »

The NYC Veg Fest speaker line-up doesn’t leave you guessing which one of these guests is doin’ his own thing. Attendees, I presume, didn’t dispense with politeness and ask the natural but uncomfortable question, “If not animals, what, exactly, are you a master killer of, Masta Killa?” (I present this incongruity as a vegan, myself, not one of those snarky, I-belong-to-People-Eating-Tasty-Animals nimrods, just FYI.)

And speaking of incongruity, when a porn star and a dude who helped invent something called rap-core can’t make their marriage work, what hope do the rest of us have!?

Tags: animals, music
No Comments »

Last week I had the misfortune to read a true journalistic atrocity. Here are but two paragraphs, awful enough to make a baby die were you to read this tripe within earshot of the aforementioned innocent: [Read more →]

Tags: music, trusted media & news
13 Comments »

I really enjoy bagpipe music. Groups like Flogging Molly, The Dropkick Murphys and The Pogues have a resonance with me.  On August 3rd I saw The Tartan Terrors perform at Musikfest. They were hysterical and awesome.

[Read more →]

Tags: fan boy says, music
No Comments »

A quick post from vacationland. Every year for more than a decade, when driving through southern Michigan, I play for my family one of the best songs of the 90’s: “Hindu Rodeo” by the Minneapolis band of the same name. Their eponymous album has two incredible songs, “Blue Sky” and “Hindu Rodeo.” The latter, though, at over 7 minutes, is what I call a “kitchen sink song”. It has everything. [Read more →]

Tags: music
1 Comment »

Although I was sorry to hear of Michael Jackson’s death yesterday at 50, and I sympathize with his family, I can’t forgive the damage he has caused to untold innocent children over the years.

Yes, he was found innocent of child abuse, but O.J. Simpson and Robert Blake were found innocent of murder. It’s good to have money and fame.

[Read more →]

Tags: music
27 Comments »

As a devoted fan of Michael Jackson, it’s very hard for me to comprehend that he is no longer with us. I never thought Michael would live a long life, but I wasn’t prepared for him to leave us today. I’ve never felt such sorrow following the death of a famous figure or someone I didn’t know, but while remembering Michael, I find it hard to hold back tears and emotion. It’s extremely difficult to write a tribute to the King of Pop. I won’t even attempt it. However, I will remember Michael only through his music and dance. It’s difficult to narrow down to my favorites, but my heart is set on the following: [Read more →]

Tags: music
3 Comments »

As a child of the 80’s, I’m a great fan of Michael Jackson’s music. Whenever I hear “Thriller” or “Billie Jean”, I still crank up the volume. He was just a brilliant musician, and his music resonates with millions of people. However, I’ve never been too keen on Michael Jackson as a person. The plastic surgery was odd enough, but the sleepovers at Neverland Ranch and sips of “Jesus juice” were beyond creepy. Still, it’s shocking and sad when someone passes so suddenly. [Read more →]

Tags: health & medical, music
No Comments »

While never a great fan of Michael Jackson, I always appreciated his talent.  Just to watch his music videos was to see a performer doing what he was born to do.  The flexibility of his movements, all in perfect sync with the music.

While we may have envied his talent and the success which he achieved, in large part because of that talent, we with smaller talents and much less material success, may well have found more happiness in our lives than did the late King of Pop.  Yes, Jackson enjoyed a level of success that none have since equaled and few could even imagine, but happiness seemed to elude him. [Read more →]

Tags: music
6 Comments »

The weird thing is that in death Michael Jackson looked more like Farrah Fawcett than he did himself. He had a Farrah Fawcett nose, a Farrah Fawcett chin, and as close as a black man could have, a Farrah Fawcett complexion.

And wouldn’t it be like a Farrah Fawcett wannabe to die the same day she did, stealing her headlines and screen time. I don’t know much about Farrah Fawcett except that she was a hot babe who died with more dignity and courage and honor than any honest man has a right to expect from an honorable death.

Michael Jackson was a fruit. Whatever that word means. He was a different genus. Deciduous or something other than human. Farrah proved herself to be the most decidedly human of babes. A mench. A force of nature. A human beautiful being. A better man than the name that stole her dying moment.

Tags: music, television
41 Comments »

Okay, before I even get started, if you like Bon Iver (pronounced bahn ee-vare) and want to see them live, your opportunities are dwindling fast, so go make arrangements now. Trust me. I saw them last week at The State Theatre in St. Pete, Fl and it was amazing. You can read my review of the show here.

Justin Vernon

Justin Vernon is the kind of rock star you should have a crush on. [Read more →]

Tags: music, nine questions with Van
No Comments »

10. The Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive”

9. The Three Degrees’ “When Will I See You Again”

8. Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”

7. Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”

6. Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”

5. Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To”

4. Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”

3. Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy”

2. Amii Stewart’s “(You Better) Knock On Wood”

1. The Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love”
 
 
Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, music
1 Comment »

This is the literal video version of Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” Replacing the lyrics with a literal description of what’s happening in the video is pretty funny, especially because of how stupid the video is. (Via Ann Althouse at Instapundit.)

Tags: art & entertainment, music
No Comments »

Willie Heath Neal plays country music. That’s what I’d call it, that’s what he calls it. If you listen to popular country radio then you will disagree. You will call his songs “alt-country rockabilly” or “cowpunk” or “outlaw country” or “hillbilly” or “psychobilly.” Really, there seem to be endless ways to describe him by tacking “billy” onto the end of a word. But what really matters as we hash it all out is that he knows how to write a good song. That’s all I care about, and that is exactly what matters when you are in Ybor City on a rainy Tuesday night at Crowbar to see Willie and his gang play. I don’t ordinarily listen to country music (I adore The Old 97’s, but here again, they don’t seem to count), so I had no idea what I was getting into, but I loved every minute of it. [Read more →]

Tags: music
3 Comments »

The Pack A.D. (yes, the A.D. is for After Death) is not a blues band. Sure, they probably listen to blues music (don’t a lot of people?), and they met at a gas station, but they are not a blues band. How do I know? Because I hear them rocking out my ipod right now. I think I am supposed to call them garage rock. I wish I had a garage and some money because they are coming to a show in my town and I would pay whatever for them to show up the day before, plug their equipment into my washer/dryer outlet and play a while. [Read more →]

Tags: music
No Comments »