Serendipity #36

When The Morning Comes – Hall & Oates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okLj1nfGG0s

Heard 5/22/2015 around 11:45, at Potbelly (Rockville)

LP #12 The Kane Gang – Miracle (1987)

While the Kane Gang wasn’t the best 1980s blue-eyed British soul outfit (think Style Council), and certainly not the most successful (think Simply Red), their second and final album stands out for both its music and lyrics, despite production that’s a bit on the slick side. Their Thatcher-era social consciousness is most obvious on “A Finer Place” (which could have made a great anthem for a variety of marches/demonstrations), but it comes out one way or another in the lyrics to most of the tracks here, from the boy and girl in “Closest Thing To Heaven” (“Lonely with no money to spend”) through the motifs in “King Street Rain” (“Good luck is just passing through on the way to somewhere else”) and “Looking For Gold” (“The place I was born in is fading from the map”). My personal favorite, though, is from “Motortown”, which is the closest they had to a hit in the U.S. (reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100):

 

The cash may have gone

But there’s hope on loan.

 

Favorite tracks:

Motortown

Closest Thing To Heaven

Looking For Gold

A Finer Place

King Street Rain

LP #13 Graham Parker – Howlin’ Wind (1976)

From an excellent 2012 New York Times column by Bruce Headlam:

 

“Before Elvis Costello, the Sex Pistols or the Clash there was Graham Parker and the Rumour, who anticipated the energy of punk and set the bar for smart, literate lyrics married to a danceable beat. Critics in the United States compared the band impact to Bruce Springsteen’s, but American record buyers didn’t follow suit, possibly because they couldn’t surrender Mr. Springsteen’s thrill of the open road for Mr. Parker’s desperation in an English cul-de-sac.”

 

Parker’s wonderful debut album shows his mastery of a variety of styles, from the ominous power of the title track and the all-time classic “Don’t Ask Me Questions” to the lighter approach of “Soul Shoes”. The acoustic “Between You And Me” (which I think is the first of his songs I ever heard) sounds almost mellow until you listen a little more closely to the lyrics. And with all due respect to Pink Floyd, I’ll take “Back To Schooldays” over “Another Brick In The Wall” any day of the week.

 

Favorite tracks:

Don’t Ask Me Questions

Between You And Me

Howlin’ Wind

Back To Schooldays

Soul Shoes

Serendipity #35

Hold On – KT Tunstall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsCi5cdm2tw

Heard 5/18/2015 around 12:15, at the Montgomery Mall food court

May 15, 2015 – Nationals 10, Padres 0 – Petco Park (San Diego)

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/124620866/bryce-harper-hits-13th-homer-as-nationals-rout-padres

 

Umpires: HP: Pat Hoberg. 1B: Gerry Davis. 2B: Phil Cuzzi. 3B: Tony Randazzo.

Weather: 64 degrees, clear.

Wind: 17 mph, L to R.

T: 2:43.

Att: 26,166.

Section FI108, Row 32, Seat 1 – not nearly as close as last night (Friday nights are more expensive), but certainly not bad (lower level, about halfway between home and third base)

Seventh-inning stretch song: Twist & Shout – The Beatles

 

Highlights – rain finally stopped mid-afternoon, so had a much more pleasant (although somewhat chilly) evening … first inning started with 4 consecutive singles and a bases-loaded walk to Zimmerman … added two more first-inning runs on a double-play grounder and then a Desmond single … widened lead to 7-0 before anyone was retired in the top of the third on 3 singles and a 2-run Espinosa double … added single runs in the 4^th (Harper homer), 6^th, and 7^th … 10 different Nats had hits, including all 9 starters … JZimm blanked the Padres for the first 6 innings, and rookie A. J. Cole allowed only one hit over the final 3 frames to “save” the 10-run lead

Other – Jayson Werth had to leave the game in the second inning after being hit by a pitch on his left wrist
 

May 14, 2015 – Padres 8, Nationals 3 – Petco Park (San Diego)

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/124455786/after-rain-delay-padres-derek-norris-has-five-rbis-in-win-over-nationals

 

Umpires: HP: Tony Randazzo. 1B: Pat Hoberg. 2B: Gerry Davis. 3B: Phil Cuzzi.

Weather: 60 degrees, drizzle.

Wind: 4 mph, Varies.

T: 2:44 (1:56 delay).

Att: 22,710.

Section FV101, Row 11, Seat 15 – just a bit down the first base line, just a few rows behind the 4-5 rows of “Lexus Home Plate Club” super-premium seats – great location (and one that would be unaffordable in Nationals Park), but no particular perks (sitting in one of the “Field VIP” sections, I had at least expected an usher to offer to wipe off my seat)

Personal choice for song of the day: It Never Rains In Southern California – Albert Hammond

 

Highlights – no rain on the one-mile walk through the Gaslamp Quarter to the park, either coming or going … the rain that started once I got to the stadium stopped in time for them to remove the tarp around 6:30, and there was some blue sky for the next half-hour … after 3 innings of nonexistent offense, Nats broke through against Padres starter Tyson Ross for single runs in the 4^th and 5^th … strong relief work by Treinen and Grace held San Diego to just one run over the last 6 frames

 

Other – rain resumed as the game started, and play was halted after Ross struck out Nats leadoff hitter Denard Span … the ensuing almost 2-hour rain delay was the first at Petco since April 2011, and only the fifth since the park opened in 2004 … after retiring the first two Padres batters in the bottom of the first, Fister yielded 3 runs on two singles and a Derek Norris homer … San Diego struck for 4 more runs in the second, capped by a two-run Norris triple … started raining again in the bottom of the 4^th; I held out until the Nats were finally retired in the top of the 5^th, making it an official game

B. B. King

The Thrill Is Gone

 

From this morning’s New York Times: “B. B. King, whose world-weary voice and wailing guitar lifted him from the cotton fields of Mississippi to a global stage and the apex of American blues, died on Thursday at his home in Las Vegas. He was 89. …”

May 10, 2015 – Nationals 5, Braves 4 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/123524096/wilson-ramos-caps-nationals-rally-in-8th-to-edge-braves

 

Umpires: HP: Jim Reynolds. 1B: Manny Gonzalez. 2B: Paul Schrieber. 3B: Fieldin Culbreth.

Weather: 80 degrees, cloudy.

Wind: 4 mph, Out to CF.

T: 2:51.

Att: 31,938.

Seventh-inning stretch song: I Can’t Help Myself – The Four Tops

 

Highlights – 3-run Nats first inning, featuring a mere double to deep center by Bryce Harper … 2-run game-winning rally by Nats in bottom of the eighth (Desmond single, Werth walk, Zimmerman single, Ramos double) … scoreless top of the eighth by Sammy Solis to get his first major-league win … 1-2-3 ninth by Storen to save it and win everyone Chick-Fil-A sandwiches

 

Other – Nats (Uggla, Werth, Ramos) made 3 unnecessary outs on the bases … Jordan Zimmermann struggled with his command all day, making the Nats 3-run lead vanish by the middle of the third, and giving up 3 hits to Atlanta starter Alex Wood (matching his previous career hit total) … despite Zimmermann’s problems, Matt Williams let him lead off the bottom of the fifth, despite being at the 90-pitch mark

Playlist for Tom Brady

Today’s project – a playlist dedicated to New England Patriots QB Tom Brady. (I know this is almost too easy, but I just couldn’t resist.)

 

You Cheated (You Lied) – The Shields

Your Cheatin’ Heart – Hank Williams

Lips Are Movin’ – Meghan Trainor

Liar – Three Dog Night

You’ve Been Cheatin’ – The Impressions

Lyin’ Eyes – The Eagles

The Cheater – Bob Kuban And The In-Men

Lies – The Knickerbockers

The Great Pretender – The Platters

Little Lies – Fleetwood Mac

 

And finally …

 

Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who

Serendipity #34

Tempted – Squeeze

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmlCJFaUnKI

 

Heard 5/4/2015 around noon, at Jerry’s Subs (Shady Grove)