Evan Dando "Frying Pan"

Doing "Fair" songs for the MV Ag Fair . . .

One of the highlights of the Fair on Martha's Vineyard, is the Skillet Toss, which is exactly what it sounds like.  Local women compete to see who can throw a frying pan the farthest.

And yes, I have a song for that.  He's the Victoria Williams song called "Frying Pan," sung by a guy who's spent many a summer day on the Vineyard.


Hear the song on Youtube.


See the Ag Fair Skillet Toss on Youtube.

The Lemonheads "Great Big No"

"The new phone book's here! This is the kind of spontaneous publicity - your name in print - that makes people.  Things are going to start happening to me now!"  --- Steve Martin in "The Jerk"

I don't exactly know what I was thinking was going to happen, but that wasn't stopping me.

They'd just announced that they'd be shooting scenes for a new music video during the next song.  So I was going to be in it.

Fortunately, it was 1993, I was young, the crowd was young, and pushing your way toward the front wasn't a faux pas at a Lemonheads club show, in the same way it might be at, say, Symphony Hall.

We were in Atlanta for a Redd Kross/Lemonheads double-bill, and I was determined to have my presence recorded.  I wormed my way as far forward as I could, right in front of Evan Dando and hoped for the best.

And I waited.

Well, I mean, I jumped around up front for that song, then retreated back to where my friends were and enjoyed the rest of the night out in Atlanta.  Then I went home and kept my eye on MTV.

I used to watch "120 Minutes" religiously.  I'd tape it even, if I thought I was going to miss it.  But I definitely taped it when I heard that The Lemonheads label was finally getting around to releasing "Great Big No" as a single.

So here's the thing . . . I am in the video, but you really need a good pause button to find me.  You can't really do it on Youtube.

Right around the 1:22 mark, there's a shot where the camera looks over Evan Dando's shoulders, into the crowd.  I'm there!  I swear I am.

Surprisingly, my phone did not ring.  No agent called because they had "discovered" me in a crowd shot that lasts for 2/10ths of a second in a video shown after midnight on a Sunday night by a band releasing its fourth single off a record.

Despite Navin's promise, things did not start happening to me.

But it's still pretty cool.  Look Ma, I'm on the internet!


See the video on Youtube.

Evan Dando "Ballad Of El Goodo"

Here's another Weekend Post:

Like yesterday's post, here's a 90s version of a throwback tune.  This one is from a pretty good soundtrack to a pretty lousy movie, Empire Records.



Hear the song on Youtube.


See the trailer on Youtube.

Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show.  They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are wonderful to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.

Ben Lee "I Wish I Was Him"

Here's another Weekend Post:

Like the Vanishing Point in perspective drawing, the last 3 posts (one, two, three) culminate here:

This is Ben Lee (look at how young he was) singing a song, about Vineyard-connected rock star Evan Dando.

At the height of The Lemonheads popularity, little Ben Lee became a little famous for this song about Dando. Then Dando himself went on to cover it.