Tina Fey & Christopher Cross "All My Nights I've Been Waiting"

Are we about to witness the poisonous side-effects of the success of Glee?

Glee is a hit in the ratings, which is a lovely success story. But they are also an amazing music sales story. They now have more Billboard Hot 100 Chart Hits than the freakin' Beatles!

When CSI became a hit, what did we get? CSI Miami. CSI New York. Criminal Minds. NCIS. And other attempts to cash in on the crime procedurals.

When Lost became a hit, what did we get? Fringe. Jericho. The Event. Surface. Invasion. And other attempts to cash in on the mythology-rich psuedo-supernatural series.

So now that Glee has hit, expect plenty of knock-offs. And soundtracks. Even from unlikely places.

30 Rock?

Definitely one of my favorite shows, but not one that I'd think was ripe for its own CD. Let alone a double-CD.

And yet, here we are.

Full versions of songs shared in snippet form on the show, like "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah," "Muffin Top" and the fictional-when-mentioned-on-the-show-but-now-real "All My Nights I've Been Waiting." (Right click on the last one, for a free download)

Okay, so this might be fun.

But I DON'T want to hear the CSI double-disc.

Buy the 30 Rock Soundtrack here.



And somehow, THIS song IS NOT on the CD!?!?

The Rentals "Friends Of P"

I’ve been “PJ” since the day I was born. My first name is Paul, which is the same as my Dad. My parents didn’t want to stick me with “Junior” or “Little Paul” so they went for the initials.

If your name is Zebulon or Chrysanthemum or even Elizabeth or William, I can understand how kids might called you by a shortened nickname, something a little less unwieldy. Zeb. Chris. Liz. Bill.

But if your name is PJ---only two letters---does it really need to be shortened?

Somehow, in high school, and happening again with a separate set of friends in college, people close to me felt the need to shorten my unwieldy name.

They called me P.

I didn’t mind it, though I always thought it sounded a little silly. Like next, my friends would just shorten that, just pronounce the letter phonetically and call me “Pah.”

On the pro-side, when Matt Sharp left Weezer and put this song out, my friends got to claim the chorus as a theme song for being my friend.

“If you’re down with P, you’re down with me.”

Hayes Carll "Grateful For Christmas"

Around the middle of last week, I started to see Facebook Status complaints about the unwelcome early arrival of Christmas music.

Maybe you heard your first song of the season through the P.A. system in the supermarket.

Maybe it caught you off-guard while you were on hold.

Or maybe, the record labels sent you a free MP3 to pass on to your blog readers.

Okay, that last one may be a bit specific.

I interviewed Hayes Carll a few years ago, and was impressed with his ability to be tender, melancholy and hilarious, without ever really changing his delivery or tone.

I wasn't necessarily psyched to listen to a Christmas song during the first week of November, but I put it on, along with some other newly received tracks. And about midway through the song, I found myself laughing out loud.

So, yeah, it's early. But this one is worth it.

It's available as a free download from Hayes' site. (Right click the link to download)

He tells a couple of stories, before starting the song:

The Who "You Better You Bet"

Here's another video from MTV's first day of broadcast. I remember that folks made a big deal about this record, as it was their first post-Keith Moon album.

Rockpile "Little Sister"

After a week's worth of posts about early MTV videos, I did some research, and found a list of all the videos played on the first day of broadcast. There were a few things I'd never heard of, several things I'm happy to never hear again, and a couple of gems I was excited to revisit, like this live nugget.

Tenpole Tudor "Wunderbar"

After yesterday's post brought back faint memories of V66, I decided that I'd conclude this week, trying to test the limits of both my memory and of Youtube.

One of the lines in the V66 video, mentions that the video channel was playing a certain song and in the towns where the video was being seen, people were walking into their local record stores asking to buy it. This was true of early MTV, where they'd play songs that radio in the U.S. had never played.

So I wracked my brain, trying to think of an early, early MTV song, that I might vaguely remember a video for, but had never heard on the radio. Or, in fact, seen on TV since the early 80s.

Then I planned to search for it on YouTube, to see if anyone else remembered it.

I had the wispiest flash of a video, that HAD to be European, with a mad band on some kind of pirate ship, screaming "Wunderbar!" over and over.

Sure enough, typing "Wunderbar music video" in the search bar, led me to this band that I can't say I've ever heard of: Tenpole Tudor.

I read a lot about music. I listen to tons of it. I have, what some might consider, an elephantine memory for bands and songs. So I'm pretty certain that I haven't seen, heard or thought about his song in 28 or so years.

And yet, here it is, on YouTube. Do YOU remember it?

Asia "Heat Of The Moment"

Last week I invited mvy listeners and EDIWTB readers to write about the first video they remember seeing on MTV.

Christine Lorenzo is my cousin, who lived in Stow, MA, where they didn't yet have MTV, but who remembers V66! Here's what Christine wrote, when I asked for video remembrances:

OK! You guys were always way cooler than us and this is one of the reasons why!!! You got MTV BEFORE us!!! I sat in your basement in a trance and did not want to go home to V66, are you kidding? Part of it was listening to PJ tell us all about the VJ’s and the channel and how super cool it is. Asia, I think, “Heat of the Moment” was the first video I saw at MTV Newburyport HQ. Of course when you guys came to our house we did put on amazing air-band performances but I think that is another story...





For those of you who don't know what V66 is . . .

Michael Nesmith "Rio"

Last week I invited mvy listeners and EDIWTB readers to write about the first video they remember seeing on MTV.

This one's from a commenter on the blog, who didn't leave a name:

The first video I can remember seeing was Michael Nesmith's rudimentary, but groundbreaking Pop Clips, which aired in 6-hour chunks as a test on the new Nickelodeon network. A year later, he sold the concept of MTV to Time-Warner, Also memorable, not long after that, Godley and Creme of 10cc fame did a really cool video involving morphing--way ahead of its time. I can't remember the song, but it was catchy and the visual was very cool.

Here's one of the songs that appeared on that test show, followed by the Godley & Creme.

Blotto "I Wanna Be A Lifeguard"

Last week I invited mvy listeners and EDIWTB readers to write about the first video they remember seeing on MTV.

Dan Reilly and I go all the way back to Mrs. Seeger's 1st grade class at Belleville Elementary School in Newburyport. Here's his post:

I think the first video I saw on MTV was "I Wanna Be a Lifeguard" by Blotto. You know "white stuff on my nose!!! I remember rushing up to Chris Bradley's house to watch MTV before walking to school. We did not have this marvel at my house yet.

The Police "Don't Stand So Close To Me"

Last week I invited mvy listeners and EDIWTB readers to write about the first video they remember seeing on MTV.

Tim Taylor from Little Rock wrote today's entry:

I remember exactly where I was the first time I ever saw a music video. It was the summer of 1981. I didn't have cable television at the time, so I wasn't really aware of the draw of MTV. But the gym I worked out at did have cable in various rooms, and I remember stumbling into the lobby of the gym after a particularly hard workout to witness three men jumping up and down in graduation robes in a classroom. It was The Police, singing their hit "Don't Stand So Close To Me." I was immediately transformed into a fan of their music and the medium. I had no idea what MTV was or what music videos were supposed to accomplish, but I knew that they would have a dramatic impact on the music world.


If you have a good "First MTV Video I Saw" story, I have a few more guest blog slots. Send it to pj@mvyradio.com.