My Top 20 music videos of all time

1. "Our Lips Are Sealed," the Go-Go's (1981)

Grainy perfection from a rare naturalist of the medium, Derek Burbidge (who directed the Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"): The Go-Go's drive around what looks like low-rent Hollywood in a vintage convertible, play in a fountain. Did it take a young format to feel this fresh? I think it took the Go-Go's, who make lip-synching seem natural, and whose music seizes on its new eternal pop sound with female punk hunger.

Trivia: Trashy Lingerie at 402 North La Cienega Boulevard still stands--check out the website at www.trashy.com.

2. "This Is Radio Clash," the Clash (1981)

The Clash take Manhattan in May/June of '81, and the time and place are as key as the band. Director Don Letts cut his documentary footage of New York breakdancers, protesters, and police with shots of pre-cable TV randomness, boom boxes on parade, the Clash live and in slo-mo, and disguised graffiti artist Futura 2000 going to work--all to one of the group's eeriest sonic pastiches, a quasi-rap produced as dub. Not actually like anything on the radio at the time, but the sound (and look) of the future. (It even influenced Guns N Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle.")

Trivia: All footage taken from Letts's aborted doc The Clash on Broadway, about the band's over-sold '81 residency at Bond's casino (more here). The list of opening bands was amazing: the Slits, Funkapolitan, the Equators, Grandmaster Flash and the Treacherous Three, the Sirens, the Sugarhill Gang, Lee Perry, Joe Ely, the Nitecaps, Miller Miller Miller & Sloane, Kraut, the Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, the Fall, the Bloods, ESG, and the Brattles (a high-school aged band).

The shows drew Scorsese's crowd as well: "Me and Paul once took De Niro and Christopher Walken down to Gaz's Rockin' Blues," frontman Joe Strummer later said. "They loved it. I think it was just what they wanted."

About 22 edited minutes of the doc appear on the DVD for Westway to the World, but the rest of the film was thought lost. ("As far as I know, the reels were stored in a rental place in New York," said Strummer. "[Manager] Bernie [Rhodes] forgot to pay the rent and the footage was destroyed.") Then some 50 reels of original footage turned up last year. Expect it to take some final form during Letts's lifetime.

3. "Borderline," Madonna (1984)

Casual-seeming now as her iconography flowers before our eyes, but Madonna was at her most natural and charming here, with director Mary Lambert transforming one of Madonna's best songs, using Latino Los Angeles locations, breakdancing in slo-mo, a story arc of romance-jealousy-reunion, pool tables and rooftops, color and black-and-white, that hair, and a fateful can of spray paint.

Trivia: John Leguizamo played Madonna's boyfriend's friend, according to the internets. I'd love to know more about the central location, which appears to be 1201 6th Street.

4. "Beat It," Michael Jackson (1983)

"Billie Jean" is the song, "Thriller" the icon, but this first-ever video-as-event is the definitive movie--Michael Jackson's best and most cinematic video. Captivating from its first moments, looking and sounding humid and grimy, it ultimately seizes on the directorial insights of Fred Astaire: Back up and show the dancing. Bob Giraldi and choreographer Michael Peters famously used real gang members, who probably look more New Wave (and grouped more interracially) than in life, but their moves are closer to breaking or the Lockers than to West Side Story. Even now you could watch this and believe Michael could bring gang peace: When did we ever agree on anything as much as we agreed on him in 1983?

5. "Sabotage," Beastie Boys (1994)

Deep down, it turns out, a lot of us had always wanted to be a '70s TV cop show. Ergo the career of Spike Jonze, launched with this welcome reminder that videos are supposed to be fun. Hipsters inherited the mustache.

Trivia: When "Sabotage" lost to REM's "Everybody Hurts" at the 1994 MTV Music Video Awards, a lederhosen-clad Adam Yauch (MCA) stormed out from backstage in a fake beard, hat, glasses, and wig, to take the mic away from Michael Stipe, and sputter the following in a thick accent before security intervened: "This is an outrage, because Spike is the director who has just... [sigh] I'm from Switzerland. Let me just tell everyone that. And since I was a small boy I had dreamed that Spike would win this. And now that this has happened, I want to tell everyone this is a farce, that I had all the ideas for Star Wars and everything."

6. "This Ain't No Picnic," Minutemen (1984)

Unearthed Ronald Reagan WWII propaganda footage cut by Randall Jahnson to show the president bombing the Minutemen, who keep raising a fist from the rubble. Still hilarious, exciting as music, and more iconic in its black-and-white cheapness (budget: $600!) than any Godley and Creme video.

Trivia: Jahnson used footage of German and Japanese planes to double as Reagan's.

7. "Twilight Zone," Golden Earring (1982)

Underrated as tune, and such an early-'80s Ur-video (Bunuel surrealism without satire, a narrative set to song structure, Nazi girls dancing) that it probably gets mistaken for the countless crappy videos it influenced. But this snappily edited masterpiece by Dutch director Dick Maas isn't too caught up in its little torture-noir-thriller to be hilarious. And a lot of its spawn (Rolling Stones'/Julien Temple's "Under Cover" for starters) was more fun than what passes for music video now.

Trivia: Though forever tied to '80s MTV, Golden Earring formed as teenagers in the Hague in 1961, and have performed with the same lineup since 1970, making them one of the oldest bands.

8. "Get Ya Hustle On," Juvenile (2006)

Best protest video ever: Eight years after Juvenile brought the Magnolia projects to the world with "Ha," Ben Mor directs this lump-in-throat dreamlike street theater on location already made surreal by federal disaster--post-Katrina Lower Ninth Ward New Orleans, December 2005, drained of failed-levee floodwater but still looking like a war zone. The lyrics should be taken in context (queasily pro-cocaine at the peak of drug rap, but also unusually community-minded). Best use of limo in a rap video.

Trivia: Despite being pilloried in this video, Mayor Ray Nagin handily won re-election the same year, after the black community rallied around him in response to what was seen as a white establishment power grab.

9. "Born in the U.S.A.," Bruce Springsteen (1984)

Even if you don't notice the check-cashing store, or the lyrics, there's always the Asian-looking toddler dissolving into endless rows of Vietnam war graves, as Springsteen lets out a high-pitched cry. This is the defeated invader's blues, a peace protest wrapped in colors that don't run, packaged to blur, and about a sadness that's still with us. Director John Sayles's finest moment.

10. "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Nirvana (1991)

We won: Punk takes over high school, which is to say, the world. Samuel Bayer works the same subconscious symbolic territory as countless movies, and even throws a wrench in his dream's motor--is that janitor with the phallic mop Nirvana, the director, or us (anyone not "over" high school enough to find this powerful)? Yet it's all so seductive, I never even noticed the repeated shots. Plus, obviously, Weird Al's best set-up.

11. "Beauty Lies In the Eye," Sonic Youth (1986)

An early sign that neither music, nor music video, needed to be anything we thought they were. The swirling imagery and half-heard chord changes still don't resemble anything else that ever played on MTV, and are still beautiful.

Trivia: Shot in the band's rehearsal space on Ludlow Street, Lower East Side. Director Kevin Kerslake went on to a successful career in music video, but not because of this one.

12. "Hot For Teacher," Van Halen (1984)

Double-kick-drum dazzle matches pre-adolescent purity of guy-guy satiric-erotic vision, so that the slapstick combo of classroom and strip club/beauty contest never actually demands that an actress play a teacher becoming a stripper--in fact, this is less a wet dream for Van Halen than a nightmare for Waldo. Which is probably why not only boys found David Lee Roth's directing debut harmlessly naughty and funny at the time, and why MTV refused to ban it.

Trivia: That's Phil Hartman as the voice of Waldo, according to the internets.

13. "Sunday Bloody Sunday," U2 (1983)

Fire and Red Rocks around them, the band seems to be burning itself into every cheap frame of video, on a song that somehow doesn't get less stirring with time or self-deprecation. Director Gavin Taylor isn't awed, just caught up.

14. "Walk This Way," Run-DMC ft. Aerosmith (1987)

Steve Tyler gives the comic pantomime of his career simply by looking taken-aback, as his song is stolen from him, then put-out and resigned. Run-DMC triple the oomph of their "King of Rock" by taking on (and reinvigorating!) an actual living band. Jon Small directs the surreal transitions so smoothly that you barely notice them. Rap won! But so did rock!

15. "Jump Around," House of Pain (1992)

For three and a half minutes, not only is everyone Irish, but everyone's an Irish thug. David Perez directs St. Patrick Day parade, bagpipes, and lager toasts in black and white alternated with seething bar-lit color.

16. "Drop," The Pharcyde (1995)

The unique backwards-forwards motion effect comes from the rappers doing everything backwards, then director Spike Jonze reversing the film so that the Pharcyde's forward motion defies gravity and biology. (They even lip-synch convincingly, though they had to do that backwards, too.) The result is funny and beautiful in a way that tells us something new about how human beings move.

17. "The Saints Are Coming," U2 and Green Day (2006)

Somehow subtler and more devastating than the sum of its parts: evocative Skids cover performed by U2 and Green Day, shot in Abbey Road Studio and live at the Louisiana Superdome, with a "House of the Rising Sun" intro, set to a news-footage-based CG fantasy of U.S. military redeployed from Iraq to rescue New Orleans from the post-Katrina floods. Director Chris Milk effectively said what Bono couldn't.

Trivia: U2 and Green Day debuted the song at the live pre-game show of the New Orleans Saints versus the Atlanta Falcons, September 25, 2006--the first game held in the Superdome since the hurricane. Before a sold-out arena, they performed with locals the New Birth Brass Band, the Rebirth Brass Band, and others, then made the performance available for sale online to benefit NOLA musicians. The Saints beat the Falcons that night, 23-3.

18. "Save a Prayer," Duran Duran (1982)

If you can forgive the overblown-shallow lyric (and plenty of former 12-year-olds do), this slither of Apocalypse Now synth and minor-key hook is irresistible Duran Duran. Set to their usual international playboy motif by usual director Russell Mulcahy, this one gets Sri Lanka and a spiritual vibe in place of sexualized vacation spots, statues and fishermen instead of anonybabes, and one Taylor or another splashed by an elephant.

19. "Once In A Lifetime," Talking Heads (1981)

This had the early-MTV effect of at once introducing and overshadowing its more timeless source material, but the video nonetheless tackles the lyrics visually without getting literal (co-director David Bryne's Toni Basil-choreographed spastic dance really does look like a preacher man becoming life's marionette), and it remains there in your subconscious every time you hear the song.

20. "Electric Relaxation," A Tribe Called Quest (1991)

New York in black and white set to one of A Tribe Called Quest's best songs, Q-Tip exchanging looks across cabs, bridges, and diners with a decidedly non-video-chick-looking video chick as they mimic conversation in lip-synching, with director Fab Five Freddy Baithwaite (the first host of Yo! MTV Raps) cutting perfectly ahead of the beat.

Runners up (a list in progress):

"Ain't No Half Steppin'," Big Daddy Kane (1988)

A rap battle becomes a boxing match, becomes a poker showdown, in a gym, with well-oiled honeys doing erotic workouts on the side, but most of all a master of the rhymed one-liner at the center, making it all look easy and funny well before LL entered the ring.

"Reggaeton Latino," Don Omar (2005)

A meeting of Che and Tito Puente, Panamanian nationalism and Puerto Rican radicalism, archive footage and studio documentary, all in celebration of the new beat. Less pointed than Calle 13's "Querido F.B.I.", and not as compelling musically as Daddy Yankee or Tego Calderon, this remains the most stirring audio-visual packaging reggaeton has produced.

"Big Me," Foo Fighters (1995)

You have to know the Mentos commercial it's making fun of, but this is still pure genius.

"Weapon of Choice," Fatboy Slim (2000)

The one with Christopher Walken dancing. A great Walken moment, but the song had entirely left my memory, and nearly took the video with it.

"Just a Friend," Biz Markie (1989)

That Beethoven wig alone made this the most iconic '80s rap video this side of Run-DMC.

"Little Red Corvette," Prince (1983)

Just Prince, his band, his smile, and his dance in red and white lights. His best video.

"All That I Wanted," Belfegore (1984)

A video that asks the timeless question: Can a band play and sing rock and roll while constantly running?

"Fu-Gee-La," the Fugees (1995)

A refreshing Third Worldist twist on Duran Duran, recasting "Sabotage" in the image of The Harder They Come.

"Big Time," Peter Gabriel (1985)

Both transcendently goofy satiric song and kitchen-sink-animated video are funnier to me than "Sledgehammer," but then I'm big on sarcasm. Eat the rich.

"Doin' It," LL Cool J (1995)

Honestly can't think of another video that's actually erotic--it's all about female agency, kids.

"Summertime," DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince (1991)

Pre-sold brand name has ease and perspective to immortalize Sunday barbecue.

"The Message," Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (1982)

Social realism on its way.

"If I Can't Change Your Mind," Sugar (1993)

Bob Mould's coming out party, not a moment too soon.

Why are so many great videos missing? (a rant)

Because, first of all, they weren't as great as you remember. Most videos, even in the medium's supposed '80s heyday, were just delivery systems for great songs you could hear nowhere else. In many ways, MTV, BET, Friday Night Videos, the Box, and the various clubs that played videos were filling a musical void left by radio. They also delivered enticements that don't necessarily endure--like seeing an artist for the first time.

I went back to scores of beloved videos thinking I'd find gold, and discovered there were reasons why the songs stayed with me as the visuals faded. Videos were always supposed to be disposable ads for the artist and song. Even many of the celebrated exceptions date poorly, like Godley and Creme's "Wrapped Around Your Finger" for the Police--hopelessly self-serious in its Bob Guccione-soft-focus, though the slo-mo effect was amazing at the time.

Personal taste inevitably factors here: Videos are only as good as the music they use, and beauty lies in the ear of the beholder. But I have slightly more confidence in my eye. Hype Williams bores me because I've grown up with the empty advertising he immitates, and slick new techniques lose their lustre after nearly 30 years of MTV viewing. Visual cliches that are evidently kosher with a new generation of viewers--lens flare, the constant fading-to-black beginning in the mid-'90s--irritate me to distraction. And mainstream music itself is now such a high-stakes blockbuster game that the videos all look equally "good" and equally dull, so that a whimsical little goof by OK Go becomes a big deal on Youtube.

That said, there are a lot of fun videos I've left out (Joseph mentions "Pressure"), and I'm still catching up with the various MTV offshoots, so any suggested additions or disagreements would be welcome.

Other lists:

Best rap videos ever (Status Ain't Hood)
Best music videos (ILX)
Best hip-hop videos evah (ILX)
Top 100 music videos of all time (Stylus)
100 awesome music videos (Pitchfork)
100 greatest music videos (Slant)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at March 21, 2008 8:45 PM | Comments (1)

 

Obama's "Race Speech"

Either you actually believe Obama "hates America" or you don't. If you don't, consult your conscience, and drop the issue. If you do, consult me, because I'm far to the political left of Obama, and probably love the country more than you do.

Speaking of stepping out of one's bubble, liberals should check the looking glass of Little Green Footballs before proclaiming "Gettysburg Address"--in some universes, white racism doesn't exist, and could never have had anything to do with sentiments expressed in a black church.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at March 18, 2008 7:51 PM | Comments (0)

 

The Jam-Lewis lineup of the Time, Grammys, Sunday

Holy Moly.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at February 9, 2008 3:15 AM | Comments (0)

 

What I did for Mardi Gras: My resolution passed!

Tonight I went to the Golden Valley caucus across the street from my house and introduced a resolution for the Democratic Farm-Labor Party of Minnesota to support H.R. 4048, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. The DFL turnout in my suburb was something like four times greater than the previous all-time record, so that 400-plus people turned out for my precinct alone--basically one classroom in a gradeschool full of classrooms, ours filled past capacity, with people sitting on the floor and standing in back.

The room was heavily pro-Obama and pro-Al Franken. Nevertheless, resolutions calling for single-payer healthcare and impeaching Bush and Cheney were voted down. So I was happy to see mine adopted without any nay votes, and without even arguments against it. "But I didn't get to read my speech," I said. That got a laugh. Afterward, I found a delegate going to the county caucus who'll advocate for the resolution, a former resident of Louisiana.

There's every chance in the world that none of this will amount to anything. Yet I wanted to share the experience in case anyone feels, as I have in the past, that caucuses are for insiders, and that you can't do anything to make a difference in either of the major political parties. They're not, and you can.

I was gratified, too, to see both Clinton and Obama mention New Orleans in their speeches on television tonight. I hope that they force the Republican party to address the question, because the media isn't pressing it. What I was going to say in my "speech" was this: that failure or success in reconstructing the Gulf Coast will be looked back on as a defining issues of our time.

High-larious:

Obama Girl email to City Pages and video.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at February 6, 2008 12:17 AM | Comments (1)

 

Mardi Gras Super Tuesday

"I would, with all due respect, say that the United States government is much more than a business. It is a trust. It is the most complicated organization, but it is not out to make a profit. It is out to help the American people. It is about [what we do] to stand up for our values and to do what we should at home and around the world to keep faith with who we are as a country. With all due respect, we have a president who basically ran as the 'CEO/MBA president,' and look what we got. I am not too happy about the results."

-- Hillary Clinton, 2008

I guess I can now say in good conscience that I was for Edwards. He launched and ended his campaign in New Orleans. When he was done with his short withdrawal speech, he and his family went to work on rebuilding a house. CNBC reported that he secured, from the two remaining leading Democratic nominees, a promise to make poverty an issue in the general election.

The night before, I shook his hand in St. Paul and slapped him on the back, but I think I knew then that it was over. Edwards was the first candidate I've ever supported whose reading list actually interests me. And yet he lacks Obama's sense of humor, Clinton's fighting eyes, and McCain's off-the-cuff humanity, the kind of things that matter in mass-media campaigns. Whatever intangible quality silences the voice in the back of my head saying "he's only a politician," Edwards does not have it. (Read Facing South's take.) Now I'm simply against Evil Robot, who triggers the "World War III" voice in the back of my head, and whose adviser on national security is none other than a VP for Blackwater.

I'm also for whichever of the Democratic candidates has a better plan for the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. You can compare Clinton's and Obama's yourself. Then go caucus tonight if you're in Minnesota. I'm leaning towards Obama, whose rhetoric on the issue is stronger, but so far I haven't heard either candidate so much as mention HR 4048, or the HUD corruption behind the recent razing of affordable housing in New Orleans. Download a resolution form here to shape the Democratic Farm-Labor platform for 2008.

Before and after caucusing (which starts at 6:30 p.m.), there's a Mardi Gras celebration tonight with the Jack Brass Band at Dixie's on Grand, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Don't miss their CD release show on Friday, February 22 at the Varsity Theater; $7 (21+), 9:00 p.m. door. Gold Standard open. By then, let's hope the media recognize the Gulf Coast reconstruction as an issue of national concern.

Minnesota caucuses tonight at 6:30 p.m.
http://caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us/

Democratic Farm-Labor Party
http://www.dfl.org/

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at February 5, 2008 11:39 AM | Comments (0)

 

Minnesota Mixtape 2007

CD 1

1. Michael Yonkers with the Blind Shake, "Don't I Get" (from Carbohydrates Hydrocarbons, Michael Yonkers)
2. Brother Ali, "The Puzzle" (from The Undisputed Truth, Rhymesayers)
3. Zachariah, "Cool J Planets" (from White Jesus, Interlock)
4. The Owls, "Peppermint Patty" (from Daughters and Suns, Magic Marker)
5. Little Man, "Soulful Automatic" (from Soulful Automatic, Eclectone)
6. Dan Wilson, "She Can't Help Me Now" (from Free Life, American)*
7. Ed Ackerson, "Flashes of Light" (from Ed Ackerson, Susstones)
8. Shatterproof, "Septemberine" (from Splinter Queen, Catlick)
9. Golden, "Falling" (from Peddling Medicine, FreeFlow/SOL)
10. Maria Isa, "Yo Lo Quiero" (from M.I. Split Personalities, Emetrece Productions/Smoke Signal)
11. Indigo, "What Do?" (from Kiri'Ke, Dynamite Panic)
12. Big Quarters ft. I Self Devine, "How to Kill Your Rap Career" (from Cost of Living, Big Quarters)
13. Mouthful of Bees, "The Now" (from The End, Afternoon)
14. The Great Physician, "Filled to the Brim" (from Overture, Broken Product)
15. Desdamona, "The Source" (from The Source, Zlink/FS Music)
16. Moochy C ft. EMS and Slug, "The Club" (from I Know What I'm Worth, self-released)
17. Carnage, "Orientation" (from Sense of Sound, Hecatomb)
18. Fog, "I Have Been Wronged" (from v/a, Radiok.org, University of Minnesota/Noiseland Industries)
19. Mystery Palace, "Nascar Survivor" (from Mystery Palace, Zodrecords.com)
20. M.anifest, "Manifestations" (from Manifestations, www.manifestmc.com)
21. Ice-Rod, "Freaky Puppy" (from various artists, Sixth Annual Twin Cities Celebration of Hip Hop, Copycats)
22. Kwang, "She's Sophisticated" (from For what it's worth..., Root of All Evil)
23. Pert' Near Sandstone, "Summer Skies" (from Up and Down the River, www.pertnearsandstone.com)

CD 2

1. The Hold Steady, "Can You Please Crawl Our Your Window?" (from I'm Not There: Original Soundtrack, Sony)
2. Atmosphere ft. Stage One, St. Paul Slim, Muja Messiah, YZ, Brother Ali, Toki Wright & Blueprint, "Crewed Up" (from Strictly Leakage, Rhymesayers)
3. Low, "Breaker" (from Drums and Guns, Sub Pop)
4. Trama, "Viet-Tram" (from The Mixed-Up Tape, RaincLOUD)
5. Paper Tiger, "MAke-MAke" (from False Hopes, Doomtree)
6. Chris Thomson, "Stay" (from The Three Elements, www.chrismikethom.com)
7. Danny y Elliot, "Esa Mirada" (from City Pages online and MySpace)
8. Roomsa featuring Lady Sarah, "Tatiana" (from Oceans, Aphrodisio)
9. Prince, "Guitar" (from Planet Earth, Columbia)
10. MC/VL, "The Guarantee" (from Stance, self-released)
11. Gingerjake, "Jeckll and Hyde" (from How to Kiss the Devil Goodbye, Special Teams)
12. Baby Guts, "Staplegun" (from Gasoline, Guilt Ridden Pop)
13. Trampled by Turtles, "Valley" (from Trouble, Banjodad)
14. Orikal, "Shackles" (from The Harsh Reality, Graff Roots)
15. Charlie Parr, "Last Freight out of Asheville" (from Jubilee, Eclectone)
16. Storyhill, "Love Will Find You" (from Storyhill, Red House)
17. Young Pluky featuring AKI, "Savage" (from D.T.R. Dodging the R.I.C.O., Brickboy2.2 Entertainment)
18. Aneuretical, "Mayday" (from Million Dollar Man, Afternoon)
19. Gumbi, "Jaw" (from Happy Birthday EP, self-released)
20. Scottie Miller & the Re-Uptake Inhibitors, "Sweet Babe" (from Elixir for the Soul, Scottiemiller.com)
21. Sha Cage, "Minneapolis Poem" (from Amber People, Tru Ruts Endeavors/Speakeasy)
22. Fiction, "Small City USA" (from Rocky VS. FIC, The Midwest True Story, Rock City Productions)
23. JG Everest (with Channy Moon Casselle), "In the Stars" (from Parade, Firetrunk)

*switched out "Free Life" for this song to make it all fit on the CDR.

I wrote about CD 1 at Idolator, but CD 2 is probably as good, mostly of stuff I either missed the first time around or had to leave out for space. You have one great CD between the two. Email me for free copies of both at petescholtes at gmail dot com. Here's last year's (before I could turn the tracks into actual CDs). I liked other acts live this year, and heard promising stuff on CD or MySpace that didn't make the cut, but these 46 tracks pretty much represent my favorite local songs and/or albums of '07, excluding reissues (by Michael Yonkers, Badfinger, and the Sorry Muthas). Look for Wisely, Children 18:3, and Nena Free on my '08 mix. Catching up with City Pages recommendations. Discussion at DUNation and Modern Radio. What would you add?

Email from Paul Lundgren, "Re: Substitute Teaching":

One day, when I was a senior in high school, I heard there was a substitute math teacher. I decided to skip my studyhall and go to the sub's class and cause problems, since he wouldn't know I didn't belong there.

No one in the class ratted me out, so I sat there for about five minutes trying to think of some clever prank to pull. Nothing came to mind, so I decided I would just throw a fit and storm out upon the slightest provocation.

The sub was working out a problem on the board, and when he got to the answer -- 8.9 -- I stood up and shouted in horror, "Eight point nine? What do you mean eight point nine?" Then I started crying and ran from the room.

I later found out what happened after I left. The teacher, who was obviously a little surprised, asked the class what happened. My friend Doug said, "Don't worry. It's not your fault. You didn't know. His brother was killed by an 8.9."

That was a weird day.

My friend and colleague John Behling said he looked into the classroom where I was teaching the other week and saw me smiling, figuring I was "dissociating." I've never been happier.

Thank you:

The Daily Mole (I ran into Steve Perry at Springsteen--hadn't seen him since he left City Pages himself), MN Monitor, Cheek, Modern Radio message board, Blotter, MNSpeak, Reveille, JCollins, Riemenschneider (link expired).

Congratulations:

Diablo!

Recently posted elsewhere:

I proposed to Toasty in my "artist of the year" item on the Owls (City Pages 1/2/08), and she answered in the letters page, under "clarifications" (City Pages 1/9/08), MN Mixtape '07 (Idolator 1/18/08), I voted in 'Undisputed' champ: The top local albums of '07 (Star Tribune 12/27/07), I wrote the text for This Atlas Rocks months ago (The Blotter 12/20/07, and in City Pages), Rude Girl A-List (City Pages 12/19/07), previous roundup.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at January 23, 2008 6:54 AM | Comments (1)

 

An interview with Julien Temple

Julien Temple directed the bracing 1980 curio The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, a half-fantastical documentary about the selling of the Sex Pistols, then made one of the greatest rock and roll docs of all time in 2000's The Filth and the Fury, which was largely a corrective to the first film's mythologizing. Temple's new picture, Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (opening today at the Lagoon; here's Jim Ridley's review), might be a great movie far beyond its value to fans of the Clash (many of whom will recognize some of the late Strummer's voice audio from interviews in Don Letts's equally essential Westway to the World; see more of my Clash writing here, here, and here). The new picture is one of the few nonfiction films to explore how punk effected those it mythologized. It's impossible for me to review it with disinterest, for it asks what it means to be a Clash fan, and offers poignant answers.

I spoke to Temple a few weeks ago, reaching him over the phone at New York's Soho Grand hotel:

What was the most difficult thing about making your new film about Joe Strummer?

There's several different things. The fact of making a film about a friend is more complicated than making a film about a subject you're more distant from, because you are constantly second-guessing what you think your friend might have thought. Also, there's the volume of material to go through.

Did you envision yourself making something like this at some point, years ago?

Not about Joe when he was alive, certainly. I had started filming the Clash back in '76, and there's my footage that I shot then in the film. So I was fascinated by the Clash then, and was trying to make a film of some kind at that point. But I hadn't really thought about it at all until several years after Joe died, when I was cutting another film about Glastonbury, which is a festival in England, and I was cutting a sequence with Joe in it. And that's what triggered me to think I should perhaps do a film about him. Also, in terms of the way a lot of people I knew, who knew Joe very well, were still feeling a few years after he died. I just felt maybe getting everyone together and talking about Joe, and in a sense passing something on about him, would make everyone feel a little bit better.

Was that something you found people doing off camera, just in your life?

Yeah, everybody was talking about Joe all the time. It was very hard for people to come to terms with the fact that he'd died. Partly because he was such an incredible connector of people. A lot of people knew each other quite intensely through Joe. He also seemed to be such a life force that it was hard to take on board that he could suddenly just be like that.

You've sort of joined the biographers, but at a certain point you were simply watching films or reading books about your friend. Now I think we're up to something like five Clash biographies. Do you have a favorite book among them?

Well, I hadn't read any of them until I started to do this film, and I haven't read all of them.

There's a certain law of diminishing returns in reading about the same subject over and over.

Yeah. And there's a difference between a Joe Strummer biography and a Clash biography to an extent. But his life on its own is something I find interesting enough to make a film about. I hadn't really thought about his life on its own, really. I had heard the Clash story told many times, but not particularly Joe's.

And your film deals a lot with people talking about their feelings about Joe after the fact, which doesn't come up a lot in those books.

Yeah. It's also great hearing voice, I think, rather than just seeing words on a page. There's something just compelling about the pattern of his speech, in a kind of beat poet way.

For me, I was born in the same year as Joe, so there's a sense of making a film about the time that you've lived in, which is quite interesting to do. I think the film isn't just about a musician, it's about a life lived in a culture with immense change going on, and the film is also about that on one level.

Do you think the outlines of that life appeared different to you once you got to know him, than from when you were simply fascinated by the Clash?

Yeah, when I met him again in the mid-'90s, he seemed to me a totally different character than he'd allowed me to know in the late '70s. In '76 he was very much having to in a sense overcompensate in terms of his punk credentials, in order to put people off the scent of any kind of baggage that might be totally unacceptable in that moment and context. So he was much more aggressive, projecting a kind of street persona, and a hardcore accent that when I met him later, he'd lost that. He still had an edgy, punky aspect, but he'd certainly mellowed. He'd become a father, and he was beginning to allow some of the things that he'd been before he was a punk. Certainly his upbringing, the manners that are instilled in a diplomat's son were coming through, and some of the hippie period of his life was more evident.

I wasn't there, and I'm a bit younger, and American, but looking in from the outside, it seems as if some of that posing had to do with class credibility.

Yeah, a lot of it did. He was from the wrong side of the tracks at that point in time, even though he lived in a very humble bungalo in not a very nice suburb, it still wasn't from a project in inner-city London. He went to a very nasty little public school. It wasn't an aristocratic school in any way, but it was certainly not a state public school. He didn't come straight off the streets. And it probably made him the figurehead of punk that he was, because he had to try that much harder to kind of convince, if you know what I mean.

There's almost something more compelling about the real story than the myth that might have been built up there. I was wondering if that entered your thinking in making the film, that there was something admirable about the way he remade himself.

Yeah, that's what I found fascinating about him, really, that he could reinvent himself. And he did seem to embody this idea that it doesn't matter so much where you come from, it's where you're going.

I never knew that Strummer was troubled about living down the Clash--that material in the movie was new to me. Did a lot of people know that? Did he share that with a lot of other people?

He had a lot of close friends, and I think they knew what he went through after the Clash, and how long it took for him to find another direction that he could really hitch himself to creatively. I'm not sure how much he gave out in terms of interviews, but I think his friends knew that he was paralyzed, really, in the aftermath of the Clash, by what had happened. And it took him a long time to get over the feelings of guilt that he had in terms of what he had done, I think [in breaking up the band]. He certainly turned that over and over in his mind.

It seems like the film is also about just simply what it means to be a fan of Joe. How do you think that fandom has changed since he died?

Well, sainthood beckons when you die. The figurehead, Che Guevera aspect of things can swamp the reality of who the person was. Often that comes with a sense of hagiography, of someone being more perfect than they actually were. And I don't know whether I succeeded or not, but I wanted to show the flaws in the man and show a kind of rounded sense of his contradictions as a person without doing a lot of dirty laundry washing.

He stole Topper's girlfriend! [laughter]

Yeah, you know, if he can steal his, he probably stole some others' as well. You don't have to go into every affair. That's not what the film is about, anyway. It's more about the essence of the guy, which to me a lot of it is to do with contradiction, the poles of some incredibly ruthless behavior, some incredibly generous behavior, the contradictions of his upbringing that made him act in different ways at different times. But to try to give a rounded portrait was very important to me because I thought that would be very important to Joe, as much as anything else.

Do you think he's the kind of figure who will inform people by his life and not just by his music, over time?

I felt that knowing him. I think when he was alive, you felt that actually spending time with him was probably more enlightening and inspiring than just listening to the music. Because he was a thinker, and he was a person who really appreciated other people, and listened to other people. I think the life and the opinions and the kind of code that he had of living and thinking about the world will have an ongoing impact. And he probably is more of a figure now than he was 10 years ago.

For someone who's never heard of Joe Strummer, how might you describe that code?

It's made up of many things, but it's certainly to do with great respect for other people, at the core of it. And wanting people to believe in their power. Joe felt that people were very powerful, but it was a question of unlocking that power. And questioning everything you're told, and trying to think for yourself, which becomes more and more important the less people do actually think for themselves. That idea of reminding them that that's what makes you human, really, is something to really try and hang on to, and not give up on. [Joe] was also about not giving up. That was something he kept saying to me: "Don't give up."

End note: Clash fans in the Minneapolis area might want to check out Rude Girl, an "all-girl Clash cover band," at Pi this Sunday; doors at 8:00 p.m., $5 cover, 21-plus show, with openers Sux Pistols, Party of One, and the Shortcuts.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at November 9, 2007 7:15 PM | Comments (0)

 

Who loves the sun?

Read my City Pages story about the Owls (click above for larger image), including a photo gallery, mp3s, and a podcast. (The wonderful cover illustration, below, is by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, from a photo by Nick Vlcek, who took all the Owls pictures.) Then check out these links related to the band, which performs a CD release party at the Cedar in Minneapolis on Thursday, with openers Elk:

(click for larger image)

The Owls
http://www.theowls.net

The Owls MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/theowlsband

previous City Pages profile of the Owls
http://www.citypages.com/databank/25/1208/article11850.asp

MPR profile of the Owls
http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/03/11_robertsc_owls/

Maria May interview
http://citypages.com/databank/25/1254/article12780.asp

The Hang Ups
http://www.hangupsmusic.com/

The Hang Ups MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/hangupsmusic

Radio8Ball
http://www.radio8ball.com

Magic Marker Records
http://www.magicmarkerrecords.com

Deep Pool
http://www.myspace.com/deeppool

Stephanie Says
http://www.grimsey.com/stephaniesays/

Stephanie Says MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/92952869

Owls release show photos
http://home.citypages.com/slideshow/index.php?gallery=25199&type=1&page=0

Hello, I must be going

Ten years ago I walked off the job at a nearby factory and walked over to City Pages, to Will Hermes's office. I didn't start here right away, but I knew this was where I wanted to be. Now it's my last week, and I can't even begin to list all the people and memories that made this such an amazing place. I'm not entirely out of here: Graciously, City Pages will continue hosting this blog, complicatedfun.com.

But as of Thursday (my 38th birthday), I'll have emptied my desk and stepped on a plane for Las Vegas, using a trip I won at the holiday party in January. If you need the excuse, stop by for a drink at Jager next Thursday (November 15) during happy hour. Thanks for the only job I ever looked forward to in the morning when I woke up.

Love,
Pete ("petescholtes" "at" "g-mail" "dot" "com")

Recently posted elsewhere:

Out on a Limb: Before the Owls could take on the pop world, they had to face stage fright, shyness, and each other (City Pages 11/7/07), with more here, here, and here, Slide show: Bruce Springsteen at the Xcel (citypages.com 11/5/07), Minneapolis Cable Access: We're Not Worthy? (Culture to Go 11/5/07), The MMAs move to March (Culture to Go 10/26/07), Benefit for a rapper who broke his face (Culture to Go 10/16/07)

(click for larger image)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at November 7, 2007 1:55 PM | Comments (1)

 

The Minnesota Zelig of Hollywood

Read my City Pages cover story on the Hollywood odyssey of St. Paul native Michael Bodnarchek (above, with Hillary Clinton), who helped launch A Band Apart with Lawrence Bender and Quentin Tarantino before that arrangement imploded. Below are more photos from Bodnarchek's personal album (the dark one, says Bodnarchek, is Lars from Metallica jumping through a window during a video shoot).

Speaking of trips, I just realized that in the past two years, besides a dozen or so drives to Northern Minnesota and Madison (Wisconsin), I've been to Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Duluth, Moorhead, Seattle, Chicago, Kansas City (Missouri), Milwaukee, Detroit, New York City, New Orleans, Memphis, St. Petersburg (Florida), Costa Rica, and, soon, Las Vegas. Friends and family have a way of shrinking the world. I miss you all and hope to get in touch with you soon.

Out in Seattle for my best friend's wedding the other week, I ran into Mark Baumgarten. This is for him: One of the first cartoons I put on this blog (click on it for a larger image), and one of the first he liked:

Recently posted elsewhere:

Reservoir Dog Days: The True Hollywood Story of A Band Apart Co-Founder Michael Bodnarchek (City Pages 10/10/07), News briefs: Sell no boxed wine before its time (City Pages 10/10/07), A more local B96? (CPCulture.com 10/5/07), News briefs: Last chance for the Church (9/26/07), previous roundup.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at October 10, 2007 3:51 AM | Comments (1)

 

Coming home to 'K-Ville'

The Odd in 1998, photographed by Daniel Corrigan

Before I sign off for some much needed vacation (minus a couple stories I'm still finishing--ain't that always the way), I wanted to give this blog's hearty thumbs up to the new Fox TV series K-Ville (Mondays at 8 p.m. Central; Wikipedia enty), a cop show set in post-Katrina New Orleans. Melodramatic? Check. Convoluted? Check. Visually overcooked and hyper-edited to the point where the cops running on foot seem to beam straight into their already-racing cars? Check.

But along with Thief, the program shows what a rich landscape for reality-based fiction New Orleans is, and the lead actors are fantastic, while the poignance of the real-life situation can only be ignored by those industry dolts at Variety (the NY Times was gentler). Anything helping to direct national attention back to this ongoing national failure and tragedy is good, but the show is more compelling as entertainment than I could have hoped for. Here's Humid Haney's minute-by-minute New Orleans accuracy test.

Recently posted elsewhere:

News brief: First Avenue in St. Paul? (City Pages 9/19/07), The Curse: Why “Picked to Click” may have already broken up Mouthful of Bees (City Pages 9/19/07), Picked to Click XVII: complete links (CPCulture 9/18/07), Picked to Click XVII: complete ballots (CPCulture 9/18/07), New publication: 'Twin Cities Radio Magazine' (CPCulture 9/18/07), This year's Picked to Click winners! (CPCulture 9/17/07), Auburn album listening party (CPCulture 9/14/07), Best New Band Names (CPCulture 9/14/07), Michael Yonkers at the Turf tonight (CPCulture 9/11/07)

Jenna Fischer stars in new Willie Wisely video (CPCulture 9/10/07), My (very good) life as a dog (CPCulture 9/7/07), MF Doom just isn't himself lately (CPCulture 9/5/07), Blotter: The Men in the Iron Masks (City Pages 9/5/07), The Dutchman is halfway to New York (CPBlotter 8/31/07), Mr. Blue Sky: Local Music’s Most Optimistic Fan Joins the Current (City Pages 8/29/07), previous roundup.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at September 21, 2007 4:01 PM | Comments (0)

 

Picked to Click winners so far: 1991-2007

Picked to Click Winners 1991-2004:

1991

Walt Mink (31)
The Loose Rails (24)
God's Favorite Band (19)
The Willie Wisely Trio (16), the Mighty Mofos (tie)
Draghounds (14)
Monster Zero (13), Rifle Sport (13)
Snapperhead (12)
T.V.B.C. (11)
Arcwelder (10), Cows (tie)
Mother's Day (9)
Jonestown, Pseudonymphs, the Mings, Dylan Hicks & Three Pesos, Dutch Oven, Superball '63, Vertigo (8)

1992

Hammerhead (38)
The Carpetbaggers (37)
Muskellunge (34)
Gneissmaker (18)
Mickey Finn (17)
Salbando, Cows (13)
The Pidgeonholes, Superball '63, the Loose Rails, Jonestown (12)
Walt Mink, Skeleton Ed (11)
Mint Condition, the Sycamores (10)

1993

Guzzard (27)
Rex Daisy (24)
The Spectors (21)
Balloon Guy, John's Black Dirt (16)
Saucer (15)
Hovercraft (13)
Dogfight (12)
Tim O'Reagan and Jim/Dave Boquist, Somethin' Smooth, Ten Cent Fun, Andromeda Strain (9)

1994

Lily Liver (41.5)
Low (26)
Smattering (19.5)
John Casey and the Old Pussums, Lefty Lucy (19)
Pleasure, Small Engine City (17)
Balloon Guy (16)
Bean Girl (14)
Hot Date (12.5)
Karen Therese and Jai Cafe (12)
Fauna (11.5)
Delilahs, Grows Like Topsy, the Sea, Venison, Vibro Champs (10)

1995

Tribe of Millions (36)
Polara (31.5)
Phull Surkle and Casino Royale (22)
February (19)
Honeydogs, National Dynamite (16.5)
Strawdogs (14)
Rhea Valentine, Push on Junior (13)
John Ewing (12)
Vena Cava (11)
T.H.R.U.S.H. (10)
Dust Bunnies, Run Westy Run, Speedway, Interstate Judy (9)
Flipp (8.5)
Freddie Fresh [a.k.a. Freddy Fresh], G.I.V.E., Beangirl [a.k.a. Bean Girl], The Blue Up? (8)
Better off Airport (7.5)
[Other low-ranking 1995 notables: Deformo (7) and Abstract Pack (7)]

1996

12 Rods (43)
Semisonic (23.5)
National Dynamite (16)
Who Are Those Guys, Hot Karl (15)
The Kelley Deal 6000, Medium (13)
The Joint Chiefs [a.k.a. the Sensational Joint Chiefs], the Pins, Superman Curl (11)
Detroit (10.5)
Ether Bunny, Mountain Singers (9)
Dwindle (8.5)

1997

Brother Sun Sister Moon (49)
Sukpatch (30)
The Beatifics (25)
The Sensational Joint Chiefs (23)
Happy Apple (17)
Druel, Wheelo (14)
Accident Clearinghouse, The Short Fuses (13)
Mike Merz & the Can o' Worms (12.5)
Lifter Puller, Ninotchka, Magnatone (12)
Vaz (11)
Think Tank (10)
Dave King (et al.), Plain Jane (9)
The Sandwiches (8.5)
The Big Wu, The Buck-Fifty Boys (8)
Baby Grant Johnson, MMF (7)
Atmosphere, DJ Jesus Juice (Henry Mhoon), Terry Eason, Freedom Fighters,
The Great Depression, Lady & the Katz, The Siren Six (6)

1998

The Odd (20)
Love-cars (19)
So-So (18)
American Paint (17.5)
Ana Voog, The Autumn Leaves, Ousia (16)
The Minx (15)
Autonomous, Mary Nail (13)
Brits Out of America, Lunar 9, Rhyme Sayers Collective (12)
Florida (10)
Bobby Llama, Freedom Fighters (9)

1999

The Mason Jennings Band (57)
Selby Tigers (33)
Plastic Constellations (29)
Jake Mandell (27)
Abstract Pack (23)
Bellwether, UberScenester (21)
Mark Mallman (and the Heat) (20)
Sixth Sense (18 1/3)
Tangletown (18)
Indigenous (16)
Hawaii (15 1/2)
Moveable Feast, Ouija Radio (14)
Walter Kong and the Dangermakers, American Head Charge (12)
Radar Threat, The Misfires (11)
The Hot (10 1/2)
The Dames, Escape Mechanism (10)
Landing Gear (9 1/3)
Lunar 9 (8 1/2)
Arkology, Fizzy Lifter, Truth Maze (8)
Bobby Llama, Prosthetica, Debi 7, Sliver, Dixie and the Cannibals, Salamander (7)
DJ Ts, Ninian Hawick, Drunk Drivers (6)
Olo (5 1/2)

2000

Astronaut Wife (44)
decembers architects (38)
The Busy Signals, Tulip Sweet & Her Trail of Tears (29)
Valet (26)
Jan (25)
Triangle (tie)
Sean Na Na/Har Mar Superstar (23)
Hidden Chord, Manplanet (16)
Capital! Capital (15)
Iffy (14)
Raw Villa, Smattering (12)
The Sure Shot Brothers, Touchy Feely (9)
Flapjack, Kaos (8)
Katie Spoden, Dred I Dread, Flim Flam Man, Skye Klad, Superhopper (8)
Keller Brothers, Arson Welles, Houston (7)
Inside Straight Blues Band, Vaz, Terraplane, End Transmission, Heiruspecs, The Hot (6)

2001

Faux Jean (43)
Work of Saws (35)
Alva Star (31)
The Fog (26)
Cropduster, Kid Dakota, Song of Zarathustra (20)
Poor Line Condition (18)
The Dames (17)
American Monsters, Black Eyed Snakes (14)
Jonas (13)
Suki Takahashi (11)
Iffy (10)
Buss, Jan, Sandman, Oddjobs, Ol' Yeller, the Waves (9)
The Psychedelicates (8)
The Crush, Tin Porter (7.5)
Animals Expert at Hankering, Heiruspecs, Howlin' Andy Hound, the Mike Brady Trio, Jamie Ness, Satan on the Loose (7)
Silent Iris (6.5)
Grickle Grass, If Thousands, the Malachi Constant, Nationale, Sweet J.A.P., Volante (6)

2002

The Soviettes (35)
Dosh (31)
Ashtray Hearts, Sweet J.A.P. (22)
Fog (21)
The C.O.R.E. (17)
Signal to Trust, Vicious Vicious, A Whisper in the Noise (15)
Divorcee, Redstart (14)
Askeleton, Michael Yonkers (12)
Kentucky Gag Order, Ourmine, The Psychedelicates (11)
Exercise, Falcon Crest, Honeymoon Shockers, The Owls, Tiki Obmar (10)

2003

Monarques (69)
Haley Bonar (49)
Revolver Modele (37)
Brother Ali (36)
Mike Gunther (35)
So Fox (24.5)
Bridge Club (20)
Ice-Rod (19)
Big Ditch Road, First Prize Killers, Tiki Obmar (17)
Luke's Angels (16)

2004

Olympic Hopefuls (90)
P.O.S./Doomtree (49)
Melodious Owl (48)
Spaghetti Wester, Thunder in the Valley (39)
Die Electric, Zebulon Pike (34)
Romantica (27)
Big Quarters, Halloween, Alaska (23)
Missing Number (18)
The Belles of Skin City (17)
Traditional Methods (16)

2005

STNNNG (66)
The Deaths (51)
Kill the Vultures (45)
Chariots (36.5)
Brother and Sister (34)
Duplomacy (32)
Chris Koza (31)
The Get Up Johns (26)
The Blind Shake, Fort Wilson Riot (25)

[sorry, info on runners-up not available for this year]

2006

The Alarmists (73)
Black Blondie/Sarah White (72)
The God Damn Doo Wop Band (62)
Chooglin' (60)
Maria Isa (35)
White Light Riot (31)
Gay Beast (28)
The Awesome Snakes (25)
Birthday Suits (25)
One for the Team, Vampire Hands (23)

[plus previously unpublished runners-up]

Tapes 'N Tapes (22)
The Retainers (20)
The Brass Kings, I Self Devine, Mictlan/Sims of Doomtree, Skoal Kodiak (18)
ZibraZibra (17)
Digitata (16)
The New Congress (15)
In Defence, Story of the Sea (14)
Beight, FIC (a.k.a. Fiction), MC/VL, Solid Gold (13)
The Dad in Common, Duplomacy, The Evening Rig, Formaldehyde Junkies, Mazta I (12)
The Chambermaids, Community Gardens, The Deaf, Mel Gibson and the Pants, Prof and Rahzwell, Synchrocyclotron, The Maps of Norway (11)
Belles of Skin City, The Chosen Few, Dance Band (10)

2007

Mouthful of Bees (68)
Gay Witch Abortion (34)
First Communion Afterparty (29.5)
Skoal Kodiak (28)
Roma di Luna (27)
Dance Band (26)
MC/VL (23)
Baby Guts (20.5)
M.anifest (18)
His Mischief (17.5)

[plus online-only runners-up:]

Weaver at the Loom (17)
Black Audience (16)
City on the Make, Jeremy Messersmith, Private Dancer (15)
Big Quarters, Pandemonium (13)
Mystery Palace; Now, Now Every Children (12)
A Night in the Box, Dark Dark Dark, Switzerlind (11)
Bastard Saint, The Evening Rig (10)
Beatrix Jar (9)
Dessa, France Has the Bomb, Ghost in the Water, Joanna James, To Kill a Petty Bourgeoisie (8)

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at September 19, 2007 2:16 AM | Comments (1)

 

Michael Yonkers tonight

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at September 11, 2007 5:38 PM | Comments (0)

 

You must remember this...

In the role of a lifetime, City Pages film editor Rob Nelson wrote movie reviews that spoke to the wider culture for 14 years before his job was eliminated last month. To quote Bob Cowgill, "he was a volcanic force for the good of film in this city. His writing was always valued; but it was as a film editor who made sure that everything--and I mean everything--of film-related interest in this town was covered that he had his largest impact on deepening audience interest, awareness, and understanding." Part of this legacy is that City Pages now possesses one of the most exhaustive databases of film reviews available online. Rob also programmed the wonderful, now-defunct City Pages Get Real Documentary Film Festival from 2001 (here's 2002, 2003, and 2004) to 2005, and nourished some of the best writing on movies in newsprint.

It's a career worth catching, and here's one fan's highlight reel, beginning with his treasure-trove cover story on that made-in-Minnesota classic, The Heartbreak Kid, which (poetically enough) is being remade in L.A., San Francisco, and Mexico (with Ben Stiller more or less reprising his Meet the Parents variation on Charles Grodin's role): Freeze Frame: Forget Fargo and A Simple Plan: A quarter-century ago, The Heartbreak Kid had Minnesota down cold (12/16/98), Mission: Interminable: Stanley Kubrick's long-delayed Eyes Wide Shut sets out to baffle and bore Tom Cruise fans--and succeeds impeccably (7/21/99), Saving Stanley Kubrick: With A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Steven Spielberg tries to rescue the world's most elusive filmmaker from an unhappy ending (7/4/01), Go Digital or Die: 'One Hour Photo' takes an ugly snapshot of the retail employee (9/4/02), The Long Goodbye: Keillor's 'Prairie' makes a fine pasture for Altman (6/7/06), L.A. Plays Itself: The 'Transformers' premiere party runs out of gas (7/4/07). Visit his author's archive for more.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at September 5, 2007 2:53 PM | Comments (0)

 

A New Deal for the Gulf Coast

Support the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, and push Obama and Edwards to do the same (should we even bother with Clinton?). The basic idea is, let those affected by the 2005 hurricanes go to work on the reconstruction. Watch Edwards on New Orleans, check out "The Lower 9th Battles Back" in The Nation, and then read and circulate the important report from Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch, who write:

"On September 15, 2005, President Bush pledged that our nation would 'do what it takes, and stay as long as it takes,' to rebuild the Gulf Coast. Yet over 60,000 people are still in 'temporary' FEMA trailers, and houses, hospitals and schools across the region remain shuttered. For thousands of people, the Katrina recovery has failed.

"[Blueprint for Gulf Renewal: The Katrina Crisis and a Community Agenda for Action (pdf)], published in collaboration with Oxfam America and the Jewish Funds for Justice, looks at 80 statistical indicators and draws on interviews with more than 40 Gulf Coast leaders to identify roadblocks to recovery, and ways federal leaders can tackle critical needs in the region like housing, jobs and coastal protection.

"The study also features 'Where did the Katrina money go?'--an in-depth analysis of federal Katrina spending since 2005. The Institute reveals that, out of the $116 billion in Katrina funds allocated, less than 30% has gone towards long-term rebuilding--and less than half of that 30% has been spent, much less reached those most in need."

New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, two years later:

http://neworleansmusiciansclinic.org
http://southernstudies.org/gulfwatch
http://studenthurricanenetwork.org
http://www.survivorsvillage.com
http://louisianamusicfactory.com
http://www.solvingpoverty.com
http://squanderedheritage.com
http://commongroundrelief.org
http://justiceforneworleans.org
http://drkingcharterschool.org
http://handsonneworleans.org
http://stopglobalwarming.org
http://bestofneworleans.com
http://tipitinasfoundation.org
http://americaswetland.com
http://childrensdefense.org
http://www.zenithsvs.com
http://acorn.org/katrina
http://reneworleans.net
http://katrinaaction.org
http://nojazzfest.com
http://dirtycoast.com
http://vatul.net/blog
http://satchmo.com
http://nolevee.com
http://thegyac.org
http://cleanno.org
http://offbeat.com
http://levees.org
http://wwltv.com
http://nomrf.org
http://wdsu.com
http://wwoz.org
http://nola.com

New Orleans brass bands thread at I Love Music

Previous posts on New Orleans.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at August 31, 2007 5:41 PM | Comments (2)

 

David Campbell: Mr. Blue Sky

Read my profile of David Campbell, the E.L.nO. guitarst and Local Show guest-host (more here), then go see him with the great local band Accident Clearinghouse on Friday opening for Le Cirque Rouge Cabaret and Burlesque at Lee's. Hope to make it after a day at the races.

Accident Clearinghouse also play the wedding of Dan Haugen (radio's "the Dan One") and Amy Softich (brilliant and beautiful sister of singer Sara Softich) on Sunday up in Northern Minnesota. Sara will sit in with the band.

I snapped the photo above when I caught Dan and Amy on what turned out to be their second date, in April 2006 at the Turf Club, and it was a happy epiphany: I knew both of them separately before they moved to Sioux Falls, had no idea they knew each other, saw them together, and in an instant knew