MYSTERY SOLVED

This explains everything.

Key Quote That We Are Not Making Up: "...I feel that the craft of songwriting has taken a nose dive."

Comments

[bluecat33]

FIRST???

[GDogg]

har!

[PeeJay]

First, I hope?

[Federal Duck]

At least they haven't started a church for him (yet). That will, of course, spawn the apocalypse.

[PeeJay]

Jeeze, can my life get any worse? The Cardinals get their(not there) hat handed to them in the WS. Then the Rams stink up the field like dead skunk, and now my college town newspaper reports this garbage. Although Somewhere North would probably like Springfield, quiet secluded, but with not much snow or nude rugby; It's (not its) the "Bible Belt" there. Ya know, anything that is fun is worth banning.

[mannyramirez]

of all the folk singers of the 60's the carpenters were on drugs the most often. exceptin' for joan biaz. she was comatose from coca cola and aspirin. her music reflected her struggle with soda and bayer aspirin.

[little richard]

has anybody really seen johnny b. goode. i think he got with james brown and the moody blues and faded away with neil young.

[barrymcguire]

my name is almost like roger mcguin's. were on the little eva of destruction.

[tomjones]

michael douglas is gentle on my mind.

[Mr.Fishair]

Is it ironic that the next story is one involving Six Feet Under? Or am I just thinking wishfully?

[glencampbell]

i played for elvis and had a better show than cher. isn't cher still on a farewell tour in gypsies, tramps and thieves land.

[earworm]

If I could turnnnnnnnnnnnnn back tiiiiiiime

[insomniac]

Jeopardy ! category: Before&After

A: Pulitzer Prize winning humorist who 'writes the songs' .

Q: Who is Dave Barry Manilow ?

(mea culpa)

[Just]

Umm... "National Car Rental Center" is the name of a PERFORMANCE venue??? Then what do they call their car rental places????

[MeganBNL]

must..................

hear..................

Barry.................

[Just]

*sniffin pits*

Didn't mean to scare everyone off... I promise I showered today! That smell isn't me....

*shrug*

[SchadeBoy]

Just - no the smell wasn't you. I admit it. I had a left-over steak from last week's lunch in my car. I just threw it away.

On topic - I'm not sure I get what is so bad about Mr. Mannilow? Sure, he looks kind of funny, but his music isn't bad. I admit, I still get a kick out of Copacobana. But then, I also have some find childhood memories regarding that song, so maybe I'm a bit biased.

[Christobol]

Did someone say 'Copacabana' and songwriting has taken a nosedive?

Hmmph.

Café Iguana

His name was Barry, he was a writer
With a mop of sandy hair and a blue shirt he’d always wear
He would post satire, and make funny ha-ha
And while he rose to be a star, Judi stayed his researcher
Across the cyber-space, they’d blog right in your face
And when they got off work you know they’d hang
at just one place

At the Café (Calf!) Café Iguana (come see Ivanna!)
See Frank in the john for marijuana
At the Café (Calf!) Café Iguana
Poorly dressed women who are likely to give in
At the Café….. you can buy love

(Café Iguana)

His name was Paco, he had a switchblade
He was a bouncer at the bar, but he’d also park your car
But he’d expect good tips, or he’d remove your lips
Paco don’t care who you are, he’ll smash your head against the bar
And when he drop-kicks you, there’s not much you can do
So just give the man two dollars you dumb cheapskate you!

At the Café (Calf!) Café Iguana (please say you wanna!)
Much safer than invading Havana
At the Café (Calf!) Café Iguana
Poorly dressed women who are likely to give in
At the Café….. you can rent love

(Café Iguana)
(Café Iguana) (Café Iguana, ahh ahh ahh ahh)
(Ahh ahh ahh ahh Café Café Iguana)
(Please put your handa, on my banana)
(Music and passion...always the fash--shun)

It’s there that Judi, became a showgirl
Since Dave said he was gonna go, Judi needed to have a show
But not with disco, no not for Judi
To strip down to her underwear, Judi only danced to Cher
And men there soon unwind, no teeth but damn they’re kind
Judi’s just shakin’ her caboose for money
But soon she’ll lose her mind!

At the Café (Calf!), Café Iguana (Café Iguana)
They’ll spank you and call you their nana
At the Café (Calf!), Café Iguana
Poorly dressed women who are likely to give in
At the Café ....you can rent love

(Café) you’ll pay for love
Café Iguana
Café Iguana

[Lmd33]

Now I know why Bush won.

[Just]

Schade -

ahhhh.Thanks. Here I was thinking it was me that scared everyone off. How man of you to admit it though.

[Mr.Fishair]

*Waving Erratically*

Here I am!!

Or there I was!!

I leave you with a Zippy Haiku

Down, down, down I say
It's like I'm walking on air
Manilow says Hi

[Avon]

I can't understand why anyone who can stand Manilow would read this blog, or anything else Dave Barry related, or anything else related to anything irreverent of our society, or anything that even takes a fresh look at our society at all, or anything that does anything else original at all, or ...

When I worked on a radio station and the Osmonds and Manilow had their first hit records, I and everyone I knew were disgusted and astonished. Radio stations get lots of freebies so there were a lot of 7-inch and 12-inch vinyl frisbees with Manilosmond names on them shattered around our building ...

It all makes sense in one way. Assuming that the commenters on this blog are actual people, I'm reinforced in my pet belief that reality is stranger than fiction. (My corollary - that reality is funnier too - fails here.)

[Somewhere North]

Hey Peejay- did you say bible belt? Sorry, I'm from the Rock and we have a proud tradition of getting totally snockered which I understand is not permitted on the bible belt. Too bad. But if you have baby seals and like bootleg, we could reconsider.

[Lairbo]

Chrstbl:

The Day the Music Nose-Dived

Have at it.

[Rachel]

My, my this here Manilow guy
Wrote some songs but didn't write the one that he's best known by
His nose for "good music" caused him to cry
On the day the music took a nose dive
The day the music took a nose dive

I'm leaving work in 2 minutes, so I didn't have time for the verses. C-bol's will probably be more creative anyway. *hopes C-bol feels extra pressure to write whole song*

[SchadeBoy]

C-Bol, you are one amazingly talented guy. The way you come up with these so quickly, I'll never know. I couldn't come up with witty satirical lyrics like that in a decade.

That may be why I don't write the songs...

Maybe you're really Weird Al?

[Christobol]

"I'd like you to meet my pet: Belief that Reality is Stranger Than Fiction"

"I thought it was Truth that was stranger than fiction?"

"It's my frikken pet."

"Ok. Must be easy to feed and clean after, what with it being intellectual rather than physical. Then again, probably doesn't wag much, huh?"

"Want to meet it's corollary?"

"You're pet has a corollary?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Seems a bit... I dunno"

"Look you want to meet it or what?"

"Fine"

"Reality is funnier than fiction."

"What about Monty Python?"

"What about them?"

"They do fiction, and they're very funny. How about Reality can be funnier than fiction, except when fiction is funnier, or reality is having a particularly unfunny day, or when it's an exact tie for a corollary?"

"I hate that."

"Good, I'll make it mine. Is it permissible to have a corollary to your pet without having the pet per se?"

"I think I hate you."

"Ok then, let's drink a beer."

[Christobol]

Arrgh. Make that a "your"

Rachel - great start - I feel like twice was enough for me to do that song, pretty soon I'll be back to the real lyrics or something. One of y'all is bound to be able to take the ball in for a score!

[punky brewster]

Love that red plastic jacket Manillow is sportin' in that photo.

Rowr!

[PETER]

*doing a little cabbage patch dance* Go Barry,
Go Barry...

[SchadeBoy]

I find it perfectly reasonable that someone can like this blog and Barry M. at the same time. Just not in the same space.

Now, don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm about to go buy his albums or tickets to one of his concerts. He doesn't rank up there with my first picks for favorite singer. I reserve that level for Billy Joel, Phil Collins, and Elton "I'll f***in say the f-word if I f***in want to" John, as well as Huey Lewis and the News, The Eagles, and the RBRs.

But that don't mind Barry, either.

[SchadeBoy]

What the heck?! What was I on when I wrote that last sentence?

[pogo]

ShadeBoy, it's obvious you meant "But that don't make no nevermind, Barry, either."

[Brad]

The funniest moment of American Idle last year was Simon telling Casper the 16-year old ghost that he needed to sing Mandy like he was making love to a woman. I mean, come on. I didn't need the image of Casper gettin it on with Omarosa (wait, wrong show). But I *really* didn't need the image of Barry Manilow and Babs Streisand either! Ick.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Hey Dave, don't you credit the people who send these articles in anymore? Like ME? I guess I better change my name to Claire Martin after all.

The article I sent you -- YESTERDAY -- this one, even had a picture of BM, so be warned.

[Jeff Meyerson]

Melody said "butt" (nyuk nyuk)

[punky brewster]

Ooh, Jeff ... in your photo, Barry Manilow looks like he is wearing a pink plstic jacket ... I like your photo better :)

I write the songs that make the whole world gag ...

I write the songs that make your perky breasts sag ...

I write the songs that make the whole world cringe

I write the songs, I write the songs.

[julietine]

Yes Jeff...the only one that get credit for anything around here is Claire Martin...

[pogo]

*Just before he signs off, pogo has a bright idea!*

If you replace "I write the songs" with "I eat the frogs", it makes a much more interesting tune.

*But then pogo's brain has been addled by work and beer at this point*

[rhealist]

Jeff, I think you need to seriously consider the possibility that Claire Martin has installed spyware on your computer. *whispers* She's out there. *looks around warily*

[Just]

*Perks*

Popcorn??????

[avon]

Who knew I'd be "askin' fer it" when I posted at 5:50 and got Christobolized by 6:11?

And who knew that Christobol would be more funny than vicious even from the point of view of the (supposedly always) over-sensitive victim?

I enjoyed the reality/fiction/corollary dialogue very much. As to the 'Arrgh. Make that a "your"' postscript, though, I could do without it. Some such errors just improve the text, as in "The funniest moment of American Idle". Anyway, if you've got to take the apostrophe out of "you're pet", then you've got to do the same with "it's corollary" too.

Anyway, maybe I'd better just stop with my appreciation for Christobol. Any further rant and I'll be a candidate for rechristobolization.

[everysandwich]

The craft of songwriting in a nose dive? How can he say that when at this very moment in the hip-hop top 10 we have lyrics such as this:

"So don't change the dizzle, turn it up a little
I got a living room full of fine dime brizzles
Waiting on the Pizzle, the Dizzle and the Shizzle
G's to the bizzack, now ladies here we gizzo"

Or this favorite from the pop charts:

"It's an itch we know we are gonna scratch
Gonna take a while for this egg to hatch"

Now that's songcraft!

[Corn]

See, that's the thing: I actually agree with Barry Manilow. (Um, shoot me now, please.) No, seriously, I totally agree with his point. The songwriting craft has taken a serious nosedive, in my opinion. When Enimen is hailed as 5-star genius by critics, you know the entertainment industry has gone to hell in a handbasket. Everysandwich illustrates this perfectly.

So yeah, I agree with Manilow that quality songcraft has been on the decline for years now. Although, it would be safe to bet that my idea of quality songcraft is VASTLY different than Manilow's idea of the same!

[Corn]

Argh, make that "Eminem," or whatever stupid pseudonym he's going by now.

[Christobol]

Hey Avon - I didn't mean to victimize you, so I'm glad you caught the funny, and the damned "it's" - though that one drives me mildly to moderately less crazy (similar to sugar pill) for no good reason I can think of whatsoever.

Corn - how about "Enema m"

[waterboy]

Song writing has declined across the board. I never thought country music would decline in funny titles. We don't get stuff like the following anymore:

"Drop Kick Me, Jesus (Through the Goal Posts of Life)--Bobby Bare

"I Was Looking Back to See If You Were Looking Back to See If I Was Looking Back to See if You Were Looking Back at Me"--Red Sovine

"I Went Back to My Fourth Wife for the Third Time and Gave Her a Second Chance to Make a First Class Fool Out of Me"--Billy Wirtz

"She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles)"
--Gary Stewart

"I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I'm Gonna be a Diamond Someday)"
--Billy Joe Shaver

And finally, the king of country titles:
"I'm Gonna Hire A Wino To Decorate Our Home"
--A classic by David Frizzell

Luckily, New Orleans is still cranking out good titles: "Take Your Drunken Ass Home"
--Big Al Carson

[Corn]

"Enema m" LOL, yep, that'll do nicely, C-bol!

Or since these idjits always have to look tough, menacing, and in-your-face in every photo shoot, how about the anagram "I'm meen". OK, maybe that one doesn't quite work.

[waterboy]

"If I Said You Had a Beuatiful Body. . ." is a great song by the Bellamy Brothers, Meyerson. Good call.

[Corn]

How about "Your phone's off the hook, but you're not." -- by the punk band X.

[julietine]

Oh Jeff!..I am falling in love here!...again per Judy's instruction manual I have to ask,,are you single???..how cute are you????...forget about that Claire Martin..she really gets on my nerves!!!!!

[waterboy]

"Let's Do Something Cheap and Superficial"
--Burt Reynolds, Smokey & the Bandit 2 soundtrack

[waterboy]

"Thank God And Greyhound She's Gone"
--Roy Clark

[Corn]

Holy groupie mania, Jeff! Geeze, I'm going to have to seriously rethink my strategies here, 'cause you're obviously doing something right. Hell, you're evidently just oozing HTML-formatted panache. Maybe I need a sexier nickname; I mean Corn is pretty stupid now that I think about it. Argh, what was I smoking when I came up with that? (Oh yeah, I'm from Iowa.) What if I changed my name to Rutabaga, would that work? Red Beet?

[Slartibartfast Rockin' II]

Oozing panache = Gnfarb?

And bringing back a previous thread:

Badnfrsongs:

25 or 6 to 4 and Questions 67 and 68

please, never ever, ever, ever link Dave Barry and Barry Manilow again, insomniac. It's creepy.

[slyeyes]

How about

It's Hard To Kiss The Lips At Night That Chew Your Ass Out All Day Long" -- Vince Gill.

[waterboy]

High, high quality song right there, slyeyes. Ronnie McDowell (not Roddy the Scotsman actor) sings in that one, too.

[Slartibartfast Lenin II]

It's quite obvious that some of you have stolen these songs from other places, so I feel entitled to do the same:

Her Teeth Was Stained, But Her Heart Was Pure

I Hate Every Bone In Your Body Except For Mine

and to relate to Dave Barry:

If I Can't Be Number One In Your Life, Then Number Two On You

[Slartibartfast Rockin' II]

Apparently, that third line wasn't a song, it's just how I feel, you know? OBVIOUSLY, that should be in italics. Now I know never to trust in italics carrying over an entered space.

[Corn]

I read somewhere once that "25 or 6 to 4" simply refers to a time: 25 or 26 minutes to 4 AM. And the song is about staying up all night trying to write a song, and not coming up with anything to say...so they wrote a song about the frustration of not coming up with anything to write a song about.

Interesting theory, anyway...

[wysiwyg]

Its not just the memorable titles that are disappearing. What happened to the sort of lyrics you can instantly associate with like Jimmy Buffet's:

My head hurts, my feet stink, and I don't loooove Jesus.
It’s that kind of mornin’
Really was that kind of night
Tryin’ to tell myself that my condition is improvin’
And if I don’t die by Thursday I’ll be roarin’ Friday night

and a bit later in the same song:

Gotta get a little orange juice
And a Darvon for my head
I can’t spend all day
Baby layin’ in the bed

If you haven't had at least one morning like that in your life, then you aren't trying hard enough. Or you're a wuss (Australian for someone who isn't game to have a go, and also part of a drinking game that caused one of those mornings for my own sorry self back in my restless youth)

[waterboy]

On the contrary, Slart. . ., I have personally heard a large majority of these songs posted by several persons and myself, though I cannot vouch for the Burt Reynolds one. It's a funny title, anyway, I thought. A lot of the other ones are on old jukeboxes in old beer joints around the country.

I whole heartedly agree, Doc Wysiwyg.
A high-quality Ronnie Milsap lyric from 2o+ years ago:
"I keep talking to your picture/but a smile is all you say."

A lyric from a year ago by a non-country womanperson whose name I refuse to associate with and whose name rhymes with "Pariah Train":
"Even my skin is acting weird/I wish that I could grow a beard."

BTW, I've got another one referencing another thread somewhere. Johnny Russell's finest hour:
"Rednecks, White Socks, and Blue Ribbon Beer"

[Slartibartfast Obvious II]

obviously, I was making assumptions. Obviously, I am aware some people are "fortunate" enough to know these songs off the top of their heads. Obviously, the blog clock is wrong. Obviously, the obviousness of the obviosity raised to the second power squared cubed is an obvious attempt to use obvious a lot. Duh.

Haha, I like your "2o." Wait, I should say "What's your 2o, waterboy," but I obviously don't know if that would come across as me finding it humorous in an obviously aesthetic way.

[alanboss]

When talking about the craft of songwriting and Barry Manillow in the same sentence, we must not forget BM's (not BMs) magnum opus....

You deserve a break today.
So get up and get away.
To McDonald's.

[waterboy]

I was using a different font!
No! I meant to type it like that!
OK, so the letter "o" is right under the number zero on my laptop, and my finger can't tell the difference sometimes, just like when I used to hit the CaPS lOCk key instead of the shift key. Luckily, somebody sneaked a useful feature into WinXp on my laptop and made a little option to make a little tone sound when I hit the caps lock.

BTW, a friend of mine got up on a cruise ship and sang "I'm Gonna Hire a Wino. . ." on night at Karaoke. Yes, the cruise ship had "Wino" on file; don't ask me why. My friend did well, too.

[wysiwyg]

*whisking walking frame out of sight, so as not to give age away*

Speaking purely for myself, my knowledge of a lot of these songs derived from a time in my youth in Australia, where TV was black and white and there were only two channels - the public broadcaster and a free-to-air. Videos for home use were inconceivable. Hell, we didn't get the "Pong" video game here until I was about 18.

All I'm saying is that radio, and hence music, played a much larger part in growing up, particularly when you got around by car a lot, as we all did.

*eyes go misty*

Why I still remember 8-track quad-channel sound systems were the ants pants accessory for the car....

*gets out the walking frame - there's no use hiding it any more*

[Corn]

I can't think of any country songs you guys haven't already come up with, but a lyric from a few years ago that cracked me up was from "Red Dragon Tattoo," by Fountains of Wayne. It's about a kid that gets a tattoo to impress a girl:

"Will you stop pretending I've never been born?/Now I look a little more like that guy from KorN."

Or how about the classic pseudo-advertisement song "Medac" from "The Who Sell Out" (still one of the funniest rock masterpieces ever IMO):

Henry Pond had no fun
Had a face like a currant bun
This adolescent little fella
Was nicknamed by his friends "Old Yella"
The doctors gave him creams and lotions
To try to sooth the boy's emotions
But all in vain; the acne stayed
Henry's hopes began to fade
Then, when just about to crack
He found another cream - "Medac"
When Henry in the mirror peered
His pimples all had disappeared
Henry laughed and yelled, "I got 'em!"
"Me face is like a baby's bottom"

[wysiwyg]

Come to think of it, some regional radio stations weren't all that hot back then either.

In the early 70s, I was off on the equivalent of a school camp up to the rural mid-west of New South Wales near a little town called "Singleton".

The local radio station had a favorite song of the week, which it used to alternate between a selection of about five other songs. It was probably all they could afford.

That year the favorite song was "Toast and Marmlade for Tea", and I later calculated that I heard it in excess of 100 times over the course of the week I was there. But there was nothing else to listen to, and, Lord knows, not a lot else to do.

I still can't hear that song without twitching.

[wysiwyg]

I forgot a piece of context there: its not that "Toast and Marmalade for Tea" was such a bad song, even if you heard it 100 times, but for a group of boys used to a diet of Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and the like, it was akin to a medieval torture like running your nails down a blackboard.

[haha]

Is boredom another form of brainwash?

[wysiwyg]

No, but the pace of life today makes me want to hide under the couch and pine for easier, simpler times.

No, wait. It's spring-cleaning that does that to me.

[queensbee]

punky - you got it right on the nose.

sorry. NOT. Ive had some really busy time at work, so havent had time to blog in... just reading this now at 630 am at home, brightened my whole day.

[everysandwich]

Corn -- Thanks for bringing up Fountains of Wayne! When my son brought home "Welcome Interstate Managers" it restored my faith in the state of songwriting. I'm Glad to see they have a similar effect for you.

[slyeyes]

dee deeee deee deeee

****NEWS BULLETIN*************

THIS JUST IN

Just heard on the radio that Barry Manilow is going to re-record Copacabana.

It is because some anonymous person bought the new recording at a charity auction. When Manilow re-records the song, he is changing the name of "Lola, the Show Girl" to "Trudi, the Show Girl" .............in honor of Sting's wife.

Gee, I wonder who the anonymous person is.

[MOTW]

slyeyes, are you sure Manilow isn't going to sing "judi, the Show Girl"?

Didn't punky once say that judi is a soon-to-be exotic dancer?

Quick, guys - we need to hide judi and protect her!

[Jeff Meyerson]

wysiwyg, you can never go wrong quoting Jimmy Buffett. Thanks.

There was a sick song on the Phil Spector: Back to Mono CD written by Carole King & Gerry Goffin & recorded by the Crystals called (no lie): "He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)."

sly & rita: well put.

[Slartibartfast Mark (not Merck) II]

What (not wtf) was (not wuss) that (not #H#*GFJ#), Jeff (not Jiffy)? Phil (not fill) Spector (not Spectre) has (not Hess) Mono (not Nome)? I'm (Not Im or Aunt Jemima) sure if (not eff) you (not u) had (not head) stereo I (not eye) could (not cud) have (not half) heard (not herd) you (again, not u) better (not butter or beater or bitter).

I wonder if it's a coincidence that on the topic of "bad songwriting," we've focused primarily on Country Songs...Nahhh (Not neigh).

[SchadeBoy]

Only country music could get away with titles longer than the songs themselves.

Me, I prefer songs with titles like:

We Didn't Start the Fire

Scenes From an Italian Restaurant

You May Be Right

I Go To Extremes

and

Big Man on Mulberry Street

Just to name a few. I don't think that will give you the impression that I'm a Billy Joel fan.

I do agree, though, that music lyrics are on a decline. There are still a few out there, though, that right very intriguing and thought provoking. Five for Fighting's Superman and 100 Years are good examples of new music with quality lyrics, in my opinion.

But I'm only 36 so what do I know?

[SchadeBoy]

Okay, relating to my last post, the sentence should have read There are still a few songwriters out there, though, that write very intriguing and thought provoking lyrics.

Geez. This is what I get for trying to write interesting sounding commentary on only a few hours of sleep.

[Blue Meanie]

Schadeboy - stop writing songs and get some sleep :}

[Christobol]

this will force Dave or Judi to post, maybe.

Blog

I went to blog this morning
So I could read and smile
And it was funny as usual
Laughin’ all the while

Now the blog it displayed the wrong time
Just like it does without a doubt
And Dave Barry says that’s just fine
And we don’t need to point it out

You know the bloggers they kept blogging
And the bloglits had witty things to say
So kids how can you dream of leaving
There’s enough here to read all day

Now everyone got nervous
Because everyone was employed too
And everyone was wondering
If I get caught what will my damned boss do

And the bloggers they kept blogging
They said now we'll remind you if we may
You all better pay attention
You can’t find humor any better way

And now everyone was getting so giddy
That the Titans posted thoughts at will
And the blurkers started calling out
Laughing so hard they could not sit still

And the blogger's posts grew wilder
And the bloglits posted many links
So I gave in to desire
And I begged Titans, bloglits, help me please

I said when I give you a signal
I said when I post this song
Won't you please join with me together
And praise the Lord please play along

And the bloggers they kept blogging
Here’s what Cher wore last night
And I said, bloglits please forgive me
If these lyrics don’t work out just right
I sang

To the Blog let praises be
It's time for humor now let's just see
What Punky posts and that Duck named Fed
I can’t wait to read what he said
Now it's to the Blog let praises be
It's time for humor now let's just see

Yes and I did give a signal
Yes and I post this song
And then joined with me the bloglits
Knowing they could not go wrong
They sang

To the Blog let praises be
It's time for humor now let's just see
What Jeff Meyerson hipped Claire Martin to
What else are we supposed to do
Now it's to the Blog let praises be
It's time for humor now let's just see

And the blogger he stopped blogging
And a hush the blog did fill
And then a case of beer did there appear
And his glass he did refill

And the stein he set down beside him
And tequila appeared right in his hand
And with everybody watching
The blogger drank that shot right there and then

And now everyone got really excited
And the blogger he did start to toast
And as we watched in great relief
These are the words that he did post

He said now Judi's in the wet bar
And she's been there all day
And I know she's mixing something good
For all of us to share, okay?
And he sang

To the Blog let praises be
It's time for humor now let's just see
What the bloglits say and what they link to
Now listen to what I’m tellin’ you
He said to the Blog let praises be
It's time for humor now let's just see

And the moral of this story
Bloglits it is plain but true
God knows if the bloglits wait here long enough
Dave and Judi will come thru
And we'll sing

To the Blog let praises be
It's time for humor now let's just see
What Punky posts and that Duck named Fed
I can’t wait to read what he said
Now it's to the Blog let praises be
It's time for humor now let's just see

[SchadeBoy]

Rita - FFF is a decent band, in my opinion. Though the radio station here in good ol' Sunny Sierra Vista (city motto: we may lack technology, but we got hummingbirds in them thar hills!) plays them a bit too much. The guys voice gets to me after a while, too. You just can't argue with lyrics like:

I'm more than a bird.
I'm more than a plane.
I'm more than some pretty face beside a train.
And it's not easy, to be me.

I also love the lyrics to 100 Years a lot. They really make sense. The term "for a moment" that follows each age that the singer relates really is true - you're only a certain age for a moment compared to the rest of your life.

You know, when you're in your teens, a year is a long time. When you're in your 30's, a year is not quite so long. I can't imagine how I'll perceive time when I'm 100. It'll probably make .5 beyond light speed (Star Wars fans will know what I'm referring to).

[elizabeth]

SchadeBoy,

Personally, I don't trust anyone who doesn't like Billy Joel. He's a musical genius IMHO.

Elizabeth

[SchadeBoy]

Elizabeth - Is there someone out there who doesn't like BJ?

I've been to two of his concerts - both of them for the River of Dreams tour. The first one was at the beginning. He was just getting ready to divorce Christie, but the news wasn't out on that, yet. I had noticed during the concert, though, that he seemed very subdued. In retrospect, I understand why.

The second concert, his divorce was finalized, and he was much more upbeat. He did some of the crazy antics that he was famous for (laying on his piano, flirting with the audience, playing the piano with his butt, etc.). It was a livlier concert.

I am amazed that I still have not yet purchased his piano-only album, Fantasies and Delusions.

[Elizabeth]

SchadeBoy,

You're so lucky! I've never seen Billy Joel in concert.

Now Barry on the other hand... :)

Elizabeth

[that Duck named Fed]

Bravisimo, Christobol!

Lei è il burro che inumidisce il mio biscotto. Le sue canzoni me fanno vuole abbracciare gli alberi.

[SchadeBoy]

Zaphod - I imagine that maybe this is simply a break from tradition. Most song titles have something to do with the lyrics, and are even a part of the lyrics at some point. I think it's kind of neat when bands move away from that and give a song a title that doesn't appear anywhere in the lyrics, or the title is a word that appears only once in the song itself.

Maybe in this case, the "Character" in the song (songs, after all, are mostly just stories set to music) is Dave's hair, and it's telling him how sad and pathetic his life really is. Does that make sense?

[SchadeBoy]

Elizabeth - If it's any consolation, I never got to see him when he was performing with Elton "I'll swear whenever the hell I want" John. Both of them are two of my favorite musicians. I hear those shows were outstanding. I don't know if those two are still performing together, or not. I hear they go to Las Vegas periodically, though.

[SchadeBoy]

My previous comment about Dave's hair talking to him should not be inferred to mean Dave Barry. Of course, I may not have had to even say this. If that's the case, just ignore me (most people do, anyway).

[upper-case challenged]

if b.m. does change lola to trudi, then he'll just increase the angle of descent of the nose-diving songwriting craft, and maybe speed it up a little so it crashes sooner.

*no offense, oklahoma*

[pogo]

There's a new genre of country called "alternative country". That seems to be where the real songwriters went who used to do country. Either I moved a way from Rock or it moved away from me, but with few exceptions, the only Rock I care to hear is old.

[wrong-time-ophobe]

105th@1155am

[wrong-time-ophobe]

OOOOPS!

Shoulda been 106th@1156am

[Blue Meanie]

Gotta Lovett, Christobol!

[Mr.Fishair]

Cbol- goodstuffnstuff...

Oh yeah Fed, take this !! (and do me a favor, tell me what the hell it means will ya?)

Overheard somewhere after one too many shot of Cuervo. (actually my wife and eyes conversations sound alot like this after too many cuervos)

SPERABENE (Al graccio che tiene in pugno):
Diritto, dici, dove c'è quell'albero?
GABBACOMPAGNO (Alla cornacchia che l'ha beccato):
Crepa! - Questa, poi, gracchia un dietro fronte!

HA!

[SchadeBoy]

No comprendo Espańiol.

I don't even know how to spell it!

[Jeff Meyerson]

Christobol, if I had a lighter it would be lit for you now.

Rita, I kept checking the awards but missed Jimmy. I think he sang "Hey Good Lookin'" with the several country guys who did it with him on the CD, but I don't think he was up for an award.

BLue Meanie: I love Louis Jordan too. We saw Five Guys Named Moe, based on his songs, in London and bought the CD.

As for the other, it was -- unstandably -- hated by everyone as it was an early excuse for domestic abuse: He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss).

I'd never heard of it until I got the 3-disc Spector CD.

"Songfacts:
Written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. They were inspired to write this song after Little Eva (pop singer famous for her hit "The Loco-Motion") told them about her relationship with an abusive boyfriend.

"Due to the subject matter and lyrics, this was a complete failure. It was disliked by the public, and radio stations denied the song airplay. The Crystals hated the song as well. Why Phil Spector convinced them to record it and then tried to release it as a single remains a mystery today."

Elizabeth, I might trust you more on Billy Joel if you weren't such an avowed BM fan. Actually, we liked Billy Joel WAY before he made it. We saw him at the now defunct Westchester Premier Theater (anyone remember the photo of Sinatra taken there with the late great mob boss Carlo Gambino, Jimmy "the Weasel" Frattiano & other mobsters?) and later at Nassau Coliseum. We're talking 1976 & 1977.

We saw Elton John (although "saw" is a relative term) at the free concert in Central Park. Also saw (ditto) Simon & Garfunkel's 1981 Central Park concert. Are you jealous yet, Elizabeth?

[Jeff Meyerson]

Rita, you met Don Henley? Tell us more.

[Blue Meanie]

Jeff - Yeah, I "saw" that Simon & Garfunkel concert too. Was that you standing on my blanket, ya ____!

[Jeff Meyerson]

Nah, we had our own blanket. We went in the afternoon and hung out all day but still weren't close enough to see anything.