Category Archives: pop music

Money for (next to) nothing on WXPN

Posted on February 27, 2011 by oddmanout215

But there’s nothing, really nothing, to turn off. — Bob Dylan, “Visions of Johanna,” 1966 I turned on the car radio this morning and noticed the DJ on WXPN was yakking for a long time between songs. “Oh no, a … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, economic collapse, Great Recession, mainstream media, Philadelphia, pop music, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fergie and Fyodor do the Super Bowl

Posted on February 7, 2011 by oddmanout215

Yes, we shall set them to work, but in their leisure hours we shall make their life like a child’s game, with children’s songs and innocent dance. — from the Grand Inquisitor’s speech in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov And … Continue reading →

Posted in mainstream media, pop music, sports | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Woe-is-uh-me-bop, Beefheart is dead

Posted on January 1, 2011 by oddmanout215

My musician son Barney sent me a text message on Dec. 17: “Beefheart died today.” This was sad but also a good sign that the music of Captain Beefheart, aka Don Van Vliet, will long outlast the man, although you … Continue reading →

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Sympathy for Aunt Gert

Posted on November 13, 2010 by oddmanout215

Mick Jagger… prances inexhaustibly through a two-hour set, at his best evoking the spawn of James Brown and Gumby, at his worst coming off like someone’s liquored-up Aunt Gert, determined to trash her prettier sister’s wedding with a gruesome performance … Continue reading →

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