I originally planned to start this entry by remarking that this song
should surely be in the “Power Pop Hall of Fame”, should such a thing exist.
Oddly enough, such a thing DOES exist, albeit only online. Like its more famous
counterpart, it contains artists (22 if I counted correctly) rather than songs,
but the Raspberries are in fact there, along with other personal favorites such
as the Smithereens and Teenage Fanclub. (No Marshall Crenshaw, unfortunately.)
The Raspberries didn’t stay around very long, although Eric Carmen went on to a
successful solo career, but "Go All the Way", "Let's
Pretend", and "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)” are also more than
worth hearing. It’s really the guitar riff that kicks off the song and is
repeated thereafter that, for me, elevates “I Wanna Be with You” above the
rest.
Saturday, August 25, 2018
#189 Ain't It Fun – Paramore (2014)
Hayley Williams and Paramore have certainly come a long way from “Misery
Business” to this one, although the song’s lyrics aren’t exactly as upbeat as
the positive title and bouncy music would suggest. I definitely agree with one critic’s suggestion that this recording is a perfect accompaniment for high
school graduation ceremonies. I also think that the line “Don’t go crying to
your mama” would be a great chant for the student sections at college
basketball games to direct at visiting team coaches whining about personal foul
calls.
#188 Cry Like A Baby – The Box Tops (1968)
The Box Tops are best-known for their debut single “The Letter”, which hit
#1 in 1967. (Although I like the concise 1:58 original, I prefer Joe Cocker’s
raucous and much longer 1970 remake.) Although the band’s material was not
always the greatest, “Cry Like A Baby” is a blue-eyed soul classic, co-written
by Spooner Oldham (who also played keyboards on the recording) and the great
Dan Penn, whose body of work also includes another one of my all-time favorites. Singer Alex Chilton, who went on to become an indie-rock cult
favorite after the Box Tops disbanded and inspired a musical tribute by the
Replacements, throws in a sly reference near the end to “You Left The Water Running”, another great (but little-known) tune co-written by Penn.
Friday, August 24, 2018
August 22, 2018 – Nats 8, Phillies 7 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 31,855
Duration: 3:45
Weather: 80 degrees, Partly cloudy
Wind: NNW 9 MPH
Umpires: HP: Gary Cederstrom. 1B: Eric Cooper. 2B: Ramon De Jesus. 3B: Stu
Scheurwater.
Game notes – Strasburg struggled in his return from the DL, giving up 2
doubles and a Maikel Franco HR in the first after fanning the first two
batters, a Justin Bour homer in the third, and an RBI single by Roman Quinn in
the fourth before being lifted … Nats answered back each time, with a run in
the first, 3 to tie in the third (on RBI hits by Harper, Soto, and Wieters),
and 1 more in the fourth … after Phillies starter Zach Eflin gave up 10 hits in
3 1/3 innings, the Philadelphia bullpen held the home team scoreless until the
eighth … Philadelphia took a 7-5 lead with a run in the sixth off Wander Suero
and a solo HR by Cesar Hernandez an inning later … Washington narrowed the
deficit to a single run in the bottom of the eighth when Wilmer Difo (replacing
the traded Daniel Murphy) led off with a triple off Pat Neshek and scored on a
sac fly by Andrew Stevenson (recalled Tuesday to replace the traded Matt Adams)
… after Seranthony Dominguez retired Harper and Rendon in the bottom of the
ninth, Soto dumped a double into RF and Ryan Zimmerman supplied the 11th
walk-off homer of his career, after review reversed the initial call of a
double
Other – we started heading out after Rendon’s at-bat in the ninth to be
sure of not missing the final Metro train of the evening
Monday, August 20, 2018
August 19, 2018 – Marlins 12, Nats 1 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 31,435
Duration: 2:40
Weather: 86 degrees, Partly cloudy
Wind: NNW 7 MPH
Umpires: HP: Will Little. 1B: Kerwin Danley. 2B: Ben May. 3B: Ted Barrett.
Boswell: After latest horror show, season feels officially dead
Game notes – Gio again dug a deep hole, allowing 3 runs in the 3rd
(two resulting from walks) and 3 more in the 5th before being lifted
… Greg Holland relieved Gio and allowed his two inherited runners to score …
Tommy Milone absorbed the final 4 innings, allowing 3 Miami round-trippers …
Harper contributed to the debacle by failing to reach 2 catchable balls in the
3rd, and dropping one for an error in the 7th … Turner
booted an easy grounder in the 8th, at which point we decided to
leave … Nats “offense” consisted of doubles by Wieters and Eaton in the bottom
of the 3rd … Miami villain Jose Urena pitched a two-hit complete
game, retiring the final 16 Nats after walking Soto for the second time in the
4th
Other – our early departure from Rockville paid off, as we got one of
the final remaining parking spaces along Half Street SW
Saturday, August 18, 2018
August 17, 2018 – Nats 8, Marlins 2 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 37,106
Duration: 3:03
Weather: 80 degrees, Overcast
Wind: SSW 7 MPH
Umpires: HP: Ben May. 1B: Ted Barrett. 2B: Will Little. 3B: Kerwin
Danley.
Section 320, Row E, Seats 3-5 – next-to-last 300-level section down the
right field line, next-to-last row from the top
Game notes – Scherzer got his 16th win of the season,
blanking Miami through 6 innings on 5 hits and 1 walk while fanning 7 … he also
contributed at the plate, scoring from second on a Harper single in the 3rd,
doubling an inning later and scoring on Eaton’s double … Zim and Wieters hit
solo homers in the 3rd and 5th respectively, and Bryce
manufactured a run in the 4th, hustling out a double, reaching third
on a wild pitch, and scoring on Rendon’s sac fly … Trevor Gott gave up 2 runs
in the top of the 7th before Grace came in to end the inning … Nats
got those 2 runs back plus 1 in the bottom of the frame, featuring 5 Nats
singles and 2 Marlins errors
Other – a light rain fell through parts of the game, although the
threatened thunderstorms never materialized
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Aretha Franklin
It seems somehow appropriate that the news of Aretha’s death broke
during WXPN’s weekly-in-the-summer “Throwback Thursday”, which today has been
devoted to music by women. Fittingly enough, it's now morphing into a
longer tribute to The Queen Of Soul.
I saw her live twice, once at Wolf Trap many years ago, and in November
of 2012 at DAR Constitution Hall (attended by, among others, Michelle Obama and
Eric Holder). Both shows were great, although relatively short. Her recorded
legacy, of course, is amazing.
Favorite songs:
Angel
Freeway Of Love
Respect
Chain Of Fools
Day Dreaming
Rock Steady
Until You Come Back To Me
I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)
I Say A Little Prayer
Who’s Zoomin’ Who
Something He Can Feel
Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves
(You Make Me Feel Like) A
Natural Woman
Since You’ve Been Gone
Monday, August 13, 2018
Lyle Lovett & His Large Band – Wolf Trap, 8/10/2018
Row L, Seat 25 (leftmost “center section” seat)
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
This is certainly true of Lyle Lovett & His Large Band. You can
count on impeccable musicianship in a wide variety of styles. (The Wolf Trap
program blurb listed “country, swing, jazz, folk, gospel, and blues”.) Most of
the players remain the same; some have been with him for over 20 years. The
basic structure of the lengthy, intermission-free set (about 2 ½ hours) is
pretty standard: an instrumental intro (typically “Blues Walk”) that allows all
of the band members to stretch out before Lyle takes the stage, a mostly upbeat
sequence featuring the full band, a more acoustic/introspective mini-set in the
middle that includes headlining takes by fiddler Luke Bulla and guitarist Keith
Sewell, and a rousing final sequence (ending this night, as is often the case,
with “Church”), and an encore or two. Classics such as “If I Had A Boat”, “Here
I Am”, and “That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas)” find their way into almost
every show.
The changes, of course, are what makes the experience so rewarding over
the years. When compared to the previous time I saw them two summers ago,
“Penguins” found its way to the beginning of the show, right after Lyle came
on, while Francine Reed’s “Wild Women Don’t Have The Blues” moved to near the
end. A couple of non-Lyle songs that he had contributed to movies, “Gee, Baby,
Ain’t I Good To You” and “Straighten Up And Fly Right”, appeared. And Lyle and
Francine broke out some dance steps on both “Gee Baby” and “Penguins”. I don’t
recall hearing “Choke My Chicken” before either live or recorded, and I don’t
think I’d heard him do “Cute As A Bug” or “San Antonio Girl” live before. Those
two are both from the stellar My Baby
Don’t Tolerate album; an extended version of the title cut was one of the
evening’s highlights.
Thursday, August 9, 2018
Shuffle #108 (August 9, 2018)
Going Mobile
– The Who
Big Train
(From Memphis) – John Fogerty
For Her Love
– Marshall Crenshaw
Need To
Belong – Jerry Butler
Why Walk When
You Can Fly – Mary Chapin Carpenter
Workin’ On A
Groovy Thing – The 5th Dimension
Marie Marie –
The Blasters
Judy’s Turn
To Cry – Lesley Gore
Take Me To
The River – Talking Heads
Don’t Worry
Baby – Los Lobos
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
August 5, 2018 – Nats 2, Reds 1 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 33,486
Duration: 2:39
Weather: 90 degrees, Partly Cloudy
Wind: 5 MPH, L to R
Umpires: HP: Jeff Nelson. 1B: Chad Whitson. 2B: Manny Gonzalez. 3B:
Andy Fletcher.
Game notes – the Nats scored their only runs early, on a second-inning
HR by Matt Wieters and a two-out RBI double by Harper an inning later … Tanner
Roark had another strong outing, lasting 7 innings after surviving a 4th
inning that started with 4 straight singles … Madson and Herrera finished
things off by retiring all 6 batters they faced
Other – the actual crowd appeared to be significantly smaller than the
announced attendance on an extremely hot, humid afternoon … our old go-to
parking area was fenced off due to impending demolition/construction, so
apparently we will need to find somewhere else
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