Yeah, that's a great song too. I love the piano sound on that song, relentless pounding, so simple yet so effective. The Velvet Underground & Nico is still one of my all time favourite albums. Although i must say i still prefer white light/white heat, cause it's so chaotic and fragmented.
I am from Portland and have been to many of their shows and every one of them was a blast. . .the best was when they played in this old church in Salem--all of these frat boys were there--and they had a bunch of dancers on stage wearing fur coats and boots but nothing else. This guy keeps yelling, "Show us your tits!" (Um, they were) and they stop playing and order their real fans to boo him and throw stuff at him until he left. Which he did, quickly.
I don't know if you saw my post, but all I have been listening to lately is The Jam. Watched an old rerun of the British Office and I thought how much Weller looked like Gareth in the 80s. Pulled up some Youtube videos and it's been barely anything but them. No one wants to get in the car with me and I think even my cat is pissed. A few months ago I saw a preview of a documentary that was coming up about his latest tour; I keep forgetting to check it out but now is the time. And I totally agree about your post. It blows me away how few people know who they are or even who Weller is. And I'm from Portland, for god's sake. You'd think people would be biking to The Jam and drinking their coffees reading Bukowski, but maybe they're too busy getting pierced and opening another brew pub (not that I'm against those things). :)
Hysterical comment, Hooch! Spot on, too. Thanks for the laugh. That'll tickle me for awhile.
I "met" him a couple of Christmases ago at a Barnes and Noble. Lived in Eugene for a long time so it I thought if I ever bumped into him it'd be no big deal. My entire college years, I held onto a plan about how cool I'd be if I ever got the chance to talk to him. He held the door open for me and said something about it being cold and I snorted a laugh. Then I giggled and watched him walk away into the parking lot. So much for being a grown up.
I swear, the people on this site are so goddamn amazing. I had to watch Welk every Sunday evening growing up because my grandma loved it and she watched me on those nights. I literally developed panic attacks when Sunday approached because she insisted I watch it with her. It terrified me. I couldn't believe it happened and people still stood behind it. Man, if I was in grad school I would totally write a paper on Welk and the Nazis. I've had to teach Holocaust units several times and you are dead right about Welk and the women on the show and the insidious way he just crept into people. . .my little brother even liked him. God, I wonder if he had any Jewish watchers. I bet the only show that family on TV with the 20 kids watches is Lawrence Welk. Getting a picture of them acting out episodes a la Rocky Horror. . .
That was Billie Holiday on July 17. The anniversary of Anita O'Day's death is November 23.
