Saturday, November 4, 2006
MINER'S LADY, STRANGER TO BLUE WATER: Thus far, God appears to be strangely biased in favor of coal power, granting a series of unusually lucky breaks to David and Mary. If David were named Joseph, I might even consider their luck miraculous. (Look at me making the easy Christianity joke -- it's like I'm married to a Lutheran or something.) So, marshalling our powers of prescience: what do you think happens tomorrow? Do our West Virginians Kentuckians (damn that John Denver) finally bite the black dust, or will events once again conspire to allow them one more leg of the Race? And will Mary continue her unbroken streak of being the sweetest, kindest, nicest person ever to run the Race (unless, of course, she's talking to her husband, in which case a blazing shrewish streak emerges)?
TAKE THESE LIES, AND MAKE THEM TRUE (SOMEHOW): On the one hand, it features the music of George Michael, and is remarkably well-edited, moving and funny. On the other hand, it's partisan in a way that we just don't do on this blog, except when we do it. So if you want to see a GOTV video that makes me immensely proud of the work I did before the FEC over the past two years, click on this link, but if you don't, that's cool.
In the interest of equal time, the two funniest campaign ads I've seen this season from the other side -- Lynn Swann's "Decades" and "Heads Up" by Christy Mihos.
edited to add: Okay, another citizen-generated one from one of our favorite genres, the movie trailer mashup, regarding robo-calls in the Connnecticut Senate race.
In the interest of equal time, the two funniest campaign ads I've seen this season from the other side -- Lynn Swann's "Decades" and "Heads Up" by Christy Mihos.
edited to add: Okay, another citizen-generated one from one of our favorite genres, the movie trailer mashup, regarding robo-calls in the Connnecticut Senate race.
DID I EVER MENTION THAT MY WIFE USED TO REFER TO HER ENGAGEMENT RING AS "PASDAR", BECAUSE IT, TOO, SPENT ITS FORMATIVE YEARS LIVING IN A BOX? The Onion's A.V. Club highlights "15 Lamentably Lost One-Season TV Wonders", many of which are beloved by this blog's readers, including the Judd Apatow shows, "Cupid" and "TV Funhouse" (underaged bichon! Sames Restaurant, where you eat what you are!).
LIFT UP THE RECEIVER, I'LL MAKE YOU A BELIEVER: Our 2006 Keltner Rock Hall series continues with Depeche Mode, eligible for induction for the first time but not among the list of nine finalists.
1. Was Depeche Mode ever regarded as the best band in rock music? Did anybody, while they were active, ever suggest that Depeche Mode was the best band in rock music?
Not in this country, at least. But within the elastic genre of goth-synth-dance-pop, either these guys, New Order or The Cure (if you trended more guitar-based) was your gateway drug, and there was a time when many an adolescent thought that no one understood them quite like DM did.
2. Was Depeche Mode ever the best band in rock music in its genre?
Maybe. My bias runs to New Order, but they never had an album here with the impact that Violator did. Between "Personal Jesus", "Policy of Truth" and "Enjoy the Silence", there was definitely a moment of bigness for the band. Too, in terms of having a physical presence, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore were more there than the New Order boys, but less of a star/cult thing than Robert Smith.
3. Was any individual member of DM ever considered the best at his instrument/role?
No.
4. Did DM have an impact on a number of other bands?
Absolutely, and if you're going to make the case for Depeche Mode it really starts here. They were part of that first big wave of "new wave"/synth-based bands, with "Just Can't Get Enough" debuting in 1982, and they definitely had an impact both in that poppy-dance realm (Erasure, Flock of Seagulls) and the darker stuff that followed, which you can see in bands like Garbage and Smashing Pumpkins.
Culturally, Depeche Mode marks the shift between the American "underground/alternative" scene being focused on American punk/hardcore bands to the wistful yearning for things British -- there's no Smiths cult, no Stone Roses cult in the US unless Depeche Mode and New Order get there first.
5. Was DM good enough that the band could play regularly after passing its prime?
They're still touring now, so, yes.
6. Is DM the very best band in history that is not in the Hall of Fame?
No.
7. Are most bands who have a comparable recording history and impact in the Hall of Fame?
73 million records ain't bupkiss, and this is a band with a lot of hits. In addition to the aforementioned trio from Violator, let's not forget "Strangelove" (pain -- will you return it?), "Master and Servant", "People Are People" (I'll say it again: pain), and "World In My Eyes", among others. Okay, those are the only ones I know.
This is where we get into the Small Hall/Large Hall argument, and it's messy. Because in terms of hits and sales, it's more than what Blondie accomplished, for sure, and Blondie is (for me) the Rube Marquand of this hall. Seriously, if Traffic is in the Rock Hall, if The Shirelles and The Rascals are in, is Depeche Mode really out of consideration?
8. Is there any evidence to suggest that the band was significantly better or worse than is suggested by its records?
Just that this band had a significant and intense (and large) cult following. Depeche Mode was selling out arenas when they weren't getting much radio air play, and, hell, played a lot of stadiums here too. Betcha didn't know that they once sold out Giants Stadium in 1990 with Nitzer Ebb and the Jesus And Mary Chain as warmup acts.
9. Is it the best band in its genre who is eligible for the Hall of Fame?
I don't believe New Order is eligible yet, but if The Cure is, it's a close call.
10. How many #1 singles/gold records did DM have? Did DM ever win a Grammy award? If not, how many times was DM nominated?
Three DM albums sold over a million -- Some Great Reward, Music for the Masses and Violator, with Songs of Faith and Devotion falling just short, joining three other albums on the Gold level.
Most of DM's career came before the Grammy recognized separate categories for dance music, and before synth-pop was respected by NARAS. They've only been nominated twice for a Grammy -- a long-form video nomination and a 2002 "Best Dance Recording" nomination for "I Feel Loved", which lost to Janet Jackson's "All For You" (and should have lost to Daft Punk's "One More Time".)
11. How many Grammy-level songs/albums did DD have? For how long of a period did the band dominate the music scene? How many Rolling Stone covers did they appear on? Did most of the bands with this sort of impact go into the Hall of Fame?
A bunch of Grammy-worthies in theory, but hard to match against the lameness of the nominees during most of DM's peak era. One example: the year that "Personal Jesus" was eligible for Song of the Year/Record of the Year, both awards went to Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings", with other nominees being "The End of the Innocence", "We Didd'n't Start the Fire" and "The Living Years" (all nominated in both categories), along with "She Drives Me Crazy" (record) and "Don't Know Much" (song).
"Alternative" bands like Depeche Mode are seriously underrated by this metric.
(Quick insert about the 1990 Grammys: The End of the Innocence topped Lou Reed's New York, Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" and Neil Young's Freedom for Best Rock Vocal Performance - Male. WTF?)
No Rolling Stone covers. Peak period covers 1987-1993, which is well within the range for the Hall.
12. If this band was the best band at a concert, would it be likely that the concert would rock?
If you were a goth or alterna-kid, a DM concert was like a bar mitzvah where they have a cotton candy machine and a photo booth and the dj gave out t-shirts.
(No, I haven't seen them live.)
13. What impact did the band have on rock history? Was it responsible for any stylistic changes? Did it introduce any new equipment? Did it change history in any way?
Arguably yes. See above.
14. Did the band uphold the standards of sportsmanship and character that the Hall of Fame, in its written guidelines, instructs us to consider?
It depends on whether multiple failed suicide attempts (Gahan) are a minus for these purposes, doesn't it? To me, surviving six minutes of clinical death is probably a good thing.
Conclusion: I'm more of a Small Hall guy, so I have to say "no" on this one. If you let in Depeche Mode, then there's a lot of bands with more hits and a decent cultural impact who need to get in, one of which we'll be profiling later this week. My instinct is that of this genre, New Order and The Smiths ultimately belong in, The Cure is a borderline case and Depeche Mode, while borderline, will have to enjoy the silence of being outside.
1. Was Depeche Mode ever regarded as the best band in rock music? Did anybody, while they were active, ever suggest that Depeche Mode was the best band in rock music?
Not in this country, at least. But within the elastic genre of goth-synth-dance-pop, either these guys, New Order or The Cure (if you trended more guitar-based) was your gateway drug, and there was a time when many an adolescent thought that no one understood them quite like DM did.
2. Was Depeche Mode ever the best band in rock music in its genre?
Maybe. My bias runs to New Order, but they never had an album here with the impact that Violator did. Between "Personal Jesus", "Policy of Truth" and "Enjoy the Silence", there was definitely a moment of bigness for the band. Too, in terms of having a physical presence, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore were more there than the New Order boys, but less of a star/cult thing than Robert Smith.
3. Was any individual member of DM ever considered the best at his instrument/role?
No.
4. Did DM have an impact on a number of other bands?
Absolutely, and if you're going to make the case for Depeche Mode it really starts here. They were part of that first big wave of "new wave"/synth-based bands, with "Just Can't Get Enough" debuting in 1982, and they definitely had an impact both in that poppy-dance realm (Erasure, Flock of Seagulls) and the darker stuff that followed, which you can see in bands like Garbage and Smashing Pumpkins.
Culturally, Depeche Mode marks the shift between the American "underground/alternative" scene being focused on American punk/hardcore bands to the wistful yearning for things British -- there's no Smiths cult, no Stone Roses cult in the US unless Depeche Mode and New Order get there first.
5. Was DM good enough that the band could play regularly after passing its prime?
They're still touring now, so, yes.
6. Is DM the very best band in history that is not in the Hall of Fame?
No.
7. Are most bands who have a comparable recording history and impact in the Hall of Fame?
73 million records ain't bupkiss, and this is a band with a lot of hits. In addition to the aforementioned trio from Violator, let's not forget "Strangelove" (pain -- will you return it?), "Master and Servant", "People Are People" (I'll say it again: pain), and "World In My Eyes", among others. Okay, those are the only ones I know.
This is where we get into the Small Hall/Large Hall argument, and it's messy. Because in terms of hits and sales, it's more than what Blondie accomplished, for sure, and Blondie is (for me) the Rube Marquand of this hall. Seriously, if Traffic is in the Rock Hall, if The Shirelles and The Rascals are in, is Depeche Mode really out of consideration?
8. Is there any evidence to suggest that the band was significantly better or worse than is suggested by its records?
Just that this band had a significant and intense (and large) cult following. Depeche Mode was selling out arenas when they weren't getting much radio air play, and, hell, played a lot of stadiums here too. Betcha didn't know that they once sold out Giants Stadium in 1990 with Nitzer Ebb and the Jesus And Mary Chain as warmup acts.
9. Is it the best band in its genre who is eligible for the Hall of Fame?
I don't believe New Order is eligible yet, but if The Cure is, it's a close call.
10. How many #1 singles/gold records did DM have? Did DM ever win a Grammy award? If not, how many times was DM nominated?
Three DM albums sold over a million -- Some Great Reward, Music for the Masses and Violator, with Songs of Faith and Devotion falling just short, joining three other albums on the Gold level.
Most of DM's career came before the Grammy recognized separate categories for dance music, and before synth-pop was respected by NARAS. They've only been nominated twice for a Grammy -- a long-form video nomination and a 2002 "Best Dance Recording" nomination for "I Feel Loved", which lost to Janet Jackson's "All For You" (and should have lost to Daft Punk's "One More Time".)
11. How many Grammy-level songs/albums did DD have? For how long of a period did the band dominate the music scene? How many Rolling Stone covers did they appear on? Did most of the bands with this sort of impact go into the Hall of Fame?
A bunch of Grammy-worthies in theory, but hard to match against the lameness of the nominees during most of DM's peak era. One example: the year that "Personal Jesus" was eligible for Song of the Year/Record of the Year, both awards went to Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings", with other nominees being "The End of the Innocence", "We Didd'n't Start the Fire" and "The Living Years" (all nominated in both categories), along with "She Drives Me Crazy" (record) and "Don't Know Much" (song).
"Alternative" bands like Depeche Mode are seriously underrated by this metric.
(Quick insert about the 1990 Grammys: The End of the Innocence topped Lou Reed's New York, Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" and Neil Young's Freedom for Best Rock Vocal Performance - Male. WTF?)
No Rolling Stone covers. Peak period covers 1987-1993, which is well within the range for the Hall.
12. If this band was the best band at a concert, would it be likely that the concert would rock?
If you were a goth or alterna-kid, a DM concert was like a bar mitzvah where they have a cotton candy machine and a photo booth and the dj gave out t-shirts.
(No, I haven't seen them live.)
13. What impact did the band have on rock history? Was it responsible for any stylistic changes? Did it introduce any new equipment? Did it change history in any way?
Arguably yes. See above.
14. Did the band uphold the standards of sportsmanship and character that the Hall of Fame, in its written guidelines, instructs us to consider?
It depends on whether multiple failed suicide attempts (Gahan) are a minus for these purposes, doesn't it? To me, surviving six minutes of clinical death is probably a good thing.
Conclusion: I'm more of a Small Hall guy, so I have to say "no" on this one. If you let in Depeche Mode, then there's a lot of bands with more hits and a decent cultural impact who need to get in, one of which we'll be profiling later this week. My instinct is that of this genre, New Order and The Smiths ultimately belong in, The Cure is a borderline case and Depeche Mode, while borderline, will have to enjoy the silence of being outside.
THUS MAKING IT LESS LIKELY THAT HE GOT IT ON WITH WANDA OFF THE SET: This one, I didn't see coming, in a Neil Patrick Harris statement to People Magazine:
The public eye has always been kind to me, and until recently I have been able to live a pretty normal life. Now it seems there is speculation and interest in my private life and relationships.No one ought to be pushed out of the closet, but nor should anyone feel forced to live there in the first place. That's all I've got.
So, rather than ignore those who choose to publish their opinions without actually talking to me, I am happy to dispel any rumors or misconceptions and am quite proud to say that I am a very content gay man living my life to the fullest and feel most fortunate to be working with wonderful people in the business I love.
Friday, November 3, 2006
WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THEM, EVER: Except for this one, over here, that babbles wide-eyed free verse in a tub full of water thickened with cornstarch and gelatin like the future-seer-judge-lady from Minority Report and, oh yeah, flies the Cylon mothership for us. Why don't you get a moment of exposition in with her before we send you off to investigate the crippled Base Star with the enormous moral conundrum aboard it?
Do the "hybrids" exhaust the other five Cylon models? Probably not the whole picture. At least we don't know for sure. Maybe they're only some of them. Perhaps some of them are hybrid with machines and some of them are hybrid with organics. (Yes, I'm still hoping maybe Tigh isn't just chasing hooch-induced hallucinations down the decks of Galactica, but will concede that it's a stretch at this point.) It's got to be more complicated.
Complicated is good though. I love this show for the complicated. And for the explosions. And asskicking. And... Yes, forgive me, for the wide variety of charismatically angry women with knives. The psychotic-but-practical expression Starbuck adopted for her haircut this week was just about the high point of the episode.
Darker and darker for Tigh, it would seem. But towards the light for Lt. Thrace? Hugging the kid you were tricked by enemies of humanity into accepting as your own daughter because you know you're supposed to even though its rightful mother has since reclaimed it from your arms is the first step towards hugging the same kid because you want to in your heart, after all.
Otherwise: Cylons "projecting"? Catching diseases? Fighting amongst themselves like frightened children?
Whatd'ya got? What'd I miss? Thoughts, theories, predictions and paranoid political fantasies all welcome in the comments.
Do the "hybrids" exhaust the other five Cylon models? Probably not the whole picture. At least we don't know for sure. Maybe they're only some of them. Perhaps some of them are hybrid with machines and some of them are hybrid with organics. (Yes, I'm still hoping maybe Tigh isn't just chasing hooch-induced hallucinations down the decks of Galactica, but will concede that it's a stretch at this point.) It's got to be more complicated.
Complicated is good though. I love this show for the complicated. And for the explosions. And asskicking. And... Yes, forgive me, for the wide variety of charismatically angry women with knives. The psychotic-but-practical expression Starbuck adopted for her haircut this week was just about the high point of the episode.
Darker and darker for Tigh, it would seem. But towards the light for Lt. Thrace? Hugging the kid you were tricked by enemies of humanity into accepting as your own daughter because you know you're supposed to even though its rightful mother has since reclaimed it from your arms is the first step towards hugging the same kid because you want to in your heart, after all.
Otherwise: Cylons "projecting"? Catching diseases? Fighting amongst themselves like frightened children?
Whatd'ya got? What'd I miss? Thoughts, theories, predictions and paranoid political fantasies all welcome in the comments.
BOND, LAME BOND: I've been lame myself this week on the list front, so I thought I'd throw out this bone before the weekend. With Casino Royale right around the corner, Idolator lists the The Worst James Bond Themes Of All Time, replete with YouTube goodness (if you really want to hurt your head, play all five at once). Personally, I might swap the Madonna track from "Die Another Day" in there for the Garbage song and was anyone else as shocked as I was that Ah-a sang a Bond song?
So, conversely, which Bond theme is your favorite? I'll go with the easy pick, Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger," though I have soft spots for the bombastic "Live and Let Die" and "Nobody Does It Better."
So, conversely, which Bond theme is your favorite? I'll go with the easy pick, Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger," though I have soft spots for the bombastic "Live and Let Die" and "Nobody Does It Better."
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