John Hiatt "Wood Chipper"

Every other week, my Father-In-Law comes over for dinner.

It's always a good food night, because we have a meal.  He's a great cook, and even something as simple as a meatball dinner prepared by him is a delicacy.  Or if he doesn't cook, then my wife---who learned a kitchen-thing or two from him---makes something great.  Food is one of the languages that they can speak to each other.

Whatever we end up eating, you can count in there being some red wine.  And sometimes there's pie.

Dinner is inevitably followed by some lounging in the living room, in front of the TV.

I can't say that I care about "America's Got Talent" or "The Voice" or "American Idol," but it's something that they can watch when they are together, follow when they are apart, and talk about when they are on the phone.  It's a language they can speak.

Even though I suppose I wouldn't choose to watch these shows, I am game to participate.  I can weather the bad singing, the manufactured drama, the endless commercials and product placement, and the general hokey-ness of reality/competition TV. 

But I can't stand one, ridiculous cliche.

"Man, you could sing the phone book!"

That phrase should be barred from "American Idol" and the like.  Just stop saying it. 

No, they couldn't sing the phone book and have it sound good.  It would sound stupid, even if Pavarotti did it.

Or so I used to think.

Check out this John Hiatt song that Barbara Dacey pointed out to me.

It's a story song about a woman who has disappeared.  Perhaps falling victim to foul play and a Wood Chipper.  All that was found of her was a note that the narrator once wrote, and on the back was a grocery list.

That's a great little detail, and it would be enough to complete the story.

But Hiatt, instead, sings the grocery list.

"Eggs . . . Hamburger Meat . . . Bread . . . Funyons . . ."

He got me with the "Funyons."  It's both hilarious and effective.

One of America's premiere songwriters just sang the word "Funyons," and its the highlight of the song, and maybe the album.

So I don't know, John Hiatt, maybe next record you could try the phone book!


Hear the song on Youtube.

The Passengers "Miss Sarajevo"

I’ve had this argument with perhaps every DJ I’ve ever managed . . .

Inevitably, they get the itch to play something that goes beyond the bounds of normal station programming. Every DJ has done it (including me).

The station---whatever station you are talking about---has a defined sound, defined boundaries. But people---DJs---have tastes outside of the station’s parameters. What could it hurt to slip a little something in?

And this is the argument we have.

I say to the DJ, “Hey, that’s not really something mvyradio would play.” And the DJ counters with, “It’s just one song, what's the big deal? . . .”

And yeah, it IS just one song. And, yeah, on some level it's not a big deal. But sometimes one song is all it takes.

I used to bump into this guy, a UPS driver on the Island, who wasn’t a listener. But because we’d talked a few times, and he was a (classic rock) music fan, he was interested in checking out the station.

I had told him that, yeah, we play a lot of classic rock artists like The Allman Brothers and The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, and that we mixed in contemporary artists who were compatible.

“I’ll check it out,” he promised me.

The next time I saw him, he gave me this perplexed, frowny face.

“I tuned in yesterday, around 1 o’clock, and I heard some opera shit. I could only take about 30 seconds of it. Is that what you guys play?”

I tried to explain to him that it was just this U2 and friends track, and that we didn't play opera as a rule, and I told him to try back again another day, and he said he would . . . but I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't coming back, that I'd lost him.

I'd lost him in the same way people/places/shows have lost me.

Like that restaurant that everyone says is good, but when I ate there I had a lousy experience. Or that show that's popular, but the one time I watched it, I thought it was dumb.

With life full of choices and options, yeah, one underwhelming experience can mean the customer is never coming back. Or in a less-worst-case scenario, has hit the button to change the channel.

And in the story I'm telling, this is a song that we normally play. Imagine his reaction if we were really stretching boundaries.

Anyway, this is a beautiful song, and is a great chance to hear Pavarotti's voice on a rock radio station.


See the video on Youtube.

And here's a Luciano-less version, with Bono doing great justice to the Pavarotti part.

See the video on Youtube.