Present & Past
By all means, let’s give billions more to Iran, the world’s #1 sponsor of terrorism — number one with a bullet.
Foibles are universal. Amusing headline from nypost.com: “Amish men carrying forbidden cell phones outed by national emergency alert test.”
Part three of my favorite one-hit wonders by year, ‘91–2000. I’m not sure I can go further than this.
1991: Chris Isaak — Wicked Game. Tried to add it to my repertoire. I’m an awful vocalist but was always able to sing any song except this beauty.
1992: House of Pain — Jump Around. It has a weird sound effect, probably keyboard, that is an unbelievable hook.
1993: Blind Melon — No Rain. Excellent performance on SNL, especially lead guitarist Rogers Stevens. Unfortunately, front man Shannon Hoon suffered a fatal coke-induced heart attack in ‘95.
1994: Unfamiliar with the five songs listed at Wiki.
1995: Joan Osborne — One of Us. A rationale for questionable behavior but a beautiful, infectious vocal.
1996: Dishwalla — Counting Blue Cars. Fine, moody pop record.
1997: Chumbawamba — Tubthumping. Just a fun track by every day Brit anarchists.
1998: Jennifer Paige — Crush. Figured it out on guitar, love to play it.
1999: New Radicals — You Get What You Give. Yes, the lyrics may be contradictory, but I love the upbeat delivery. “…Don’t give up/You’ve got a reason to live…” (Gregg Alexander/Rick Nowels)
2000: Lee Ann Womack — I Hope You Dance. Beautiful, uplifting pop.
I looked up the definition of “Tub-thumping” — expressing opinions in a loud and violent or dramatic manner. As for Chumbawamba, a Google search turned up this: “It meant nothing, signified nothing, and it didn’t attach us to any preconceptions.” A more widely accepted story is that the name came from a dream Danbert Nobacon (vocalist) had about gender confusion. In it, he found the male and female public bathrooms labeled “Chumba” and “Wamba.” Photo from Google Images:
Decent return for the floating book shop on this cool, breezy day. My thanks to the young woman who bought Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, and to the gentleman who purchased Rocky (1976) and The Last Dragon (1985) on DVD, and The Godfather Returns by Mark Winegardner and The Family by Ed Falco, both novels using characters originated by Mario Puzo; and to the couple who chose Seduction in Death by J.D. Robb; and to Bill Brown, author of Words and Guitar: A History of Lou Reed’s Music and other fine books, who selected The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper.
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