I'm a boy and I'm a man.

 

So I'm driving home the other day, turn on the radio and KLOS is right in the middle of "Eighteen".  I proceed to smile, turn the radio up as loud as I can and defy the people watching me scream "like it, love it, like it, love it, eighTEEN, eighTEEN, eighTEEN - I'm eighteen and I L I K E it" to mock me.  "Life is great'" I tell myself, right as that final organ chord hits and sends a chill down my spine.  I suddenLEE realize that that record is nearly 30 years old, and I can't for the life of me think of anything that would have sounded better at that point in time.  "What could be next," I ask myself with gLEE?  Out from the speakers comes the tolling of a bell.  It's the tolling of that bell I know so well.  Yep, it's "Hell's Bells".  I smile again, as I'm transported back to middle school.  Then, I begin to think about the fact that me being in middle school make me remember that Back In Black came out in 1980; which makes me realize that it's 20 years old, and THAT I'M GETTING TO BE A FUCKING OLD MAN!  But as I turn the radio down a few notches, I think back to the fact that while I was in middle school, I never owned Back In Black - a record so good that the band has remade it 8 times now.  In fact, I bought my first copy in 1988 - when, after discovering the majesty that is Appetite For Destruction, I realized that I could have an AC/DC record near my B-52's records and still be cool.  What a revelation it was to finally embrace it all.  I suddenly didn't care what other people thought about my tastes, because I knew one very important thing:  I'm always right.  And, I now know that Elvis Costello always was (and still is) a fan of the Grateful Dead (a band whose appeal I may never understand), and that those Dionne Warwick 8-tracks my dad had in his car were actually really cool.  Hey, "We've Only Just Begun" is a kick-ass record.  My point?  I don't really have one.  But, I've been playing lots of records again lately, and I realized how much I really miss music.  And, since LEEmail used to be all about the music, maybe it needs to get back to its roots...

 

Two words:  Game Theory.  Jesus, did they make some great records.  Real Nighttime has been the platter d'jour of late (especially their incredible cover of "Couldn't I Just Tell You"), but I'll be goddamned if The Big Shot Chronicles ain't a gasser, too.  Of course, Lolita Nation is the cream of the crop, top of the heap, A #1 motherfucker and I would suggest paying whatever someone's got it listed for on eBay if you don't have a copy.  (A fine plug from yours truly appears in the "Turn Me On" section at the always entertaining www.recordboy.com)  Listening to these records, I can understand why they weren't huge - but I can't understand why they're not at least a one-hit wonder.   

 

One word:  Kiss.  Poo poo the tunes all you want, but there has never and will never be another like act like Kiss.  In front of us at the show last weekend was a father & his three boys (who were probably 7 - 9 years old).  I asked the Dad if this was their first concert, and he told me it was.  I turned to the boys and said, "Boys, love your father.  My father took me to see Neil Sedaka."  The boys looked confused as the people around us chuckled.  The chuckles turned to laughs as I told everyone that the opening act was England Dan & John Ford Coley.  Anyway, the show began, and my four favorite 70 year olds in make-up gave California 2+ hours of the most incredible rock show ever created.  (I still sat in protest during "Lick It Up" & "Heaven's On Fire" - great singles, but not make-up tunes.  And, it magnifies the fact that Ace & Peter are basically hired hands now.)  All the hits, the blood spitting, the fire breathing, the elevating drum kit and a smoking guitar.  No surprises - just a whole lotta fun.  There will never be another band like them.  So long, guys.

 

Favorite Song Of All Time This Week©:  "Serve The Servants" - Nirvana

 

Happy Birthday To Thee from LEE This Week©:

08/18/44    Carl Wayne

08/19/43    Billy J. Kramer

08/20/42    Isaac Hayes

08/21/04    Count Basie

08/21/39    James Burton

08/21/44    Jackie DeShannon

08/22/17    John LEE Hooker

08/23/12    Gene Kelly

08/23/47    Keith Moon

 

Favorite Album Of All Time This Week©: Live At Leeds - The Who

 

Now, of course, all the music talk can't be good - right? 

AnnoyingLEE Everywhere This Week©:  Macy Gray.  "Why Didn't You Call Me?"  Maybe because he heard your crap record.  Jesus, there's nothing worse than black music for white people.  And why should women identify with that her?  The first hit was about being obsessed with a guy who doesn't like her.  Her second hit is about a guy who blows her off.  Well, at least I can believe those lyrics.  Maybe she should write a song about not being able to pull a comb through her hair or about having a voice like a retarded chipmunk while she's on this truth kick.  And a Target ad?  Paint a fucking target on her Adam's apple and give everyone a gun.  2 million copies of that shit.  Run like hell.

 

Last week's Squeeze rant got me to thinking and spawns Question Of The Week© #1:  what would be the best name for a new section of LEEmail which focuses on hacks who need to hang up their careers?

This week:  Sting.  God, is that "In Your Eyes" rip-off he's all over the radio with now is one lousy headache of a record.  I know I ranted about how crappy his new, GrammyÆ winning piece of shit album months ago, but that puss-filled sore of a single got me to thinking that he really hasn't been involved in a completeLEE solid album since Ghost In The Machine.  Sure there have been some nice singles (including "Englishman In New York" which may actually be more strange than good), but the albums have basically been lame.  He's been coasting along for far too long, and must be stopped.  And I'm not even going to go into the fact that he should have had his balls removed for that Puff Daddy "Roxanne" thing.

On the other non-musical note:  There's speculation that the final, two-hour (three, if you count the town hall meeting afterward) episode of Survivor may be the highest rated TV show of all time.  Well, you know what I'll be watching...  Do you think Big, Gay, Naked Richard knows that if he gets down to the final two that the jury picks the winner?  Do you think he realizes that everyone hates him more than anyone else on that island and he doesn't have a half eaten rat's ass of a chance of winning?  I just hope he cries.  And everyone else laughs.  Of course, Richard will lose the honor of being the most annoying person at the town-hall meeting.  That honor will go to its host & moderator:  Bryant Gumbel.

 

Question Of The Week© #2:  What's the record you always thought you were too cool to like, and later found that you loved?

 

©2000 Lee M. Lodyga

 

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