Although I’ve
never been a Deadhead, I’ve always liked a number of the band’s songs (“Truckin’”,
“Uncle John’s Band”, “Hell In A Bucket”, among others). For me, “Shakedown
Street” is to the Dead what “Nighttime In The Switching Yard” is to Warren
Zevon: probably not their greatest work from an artistic standpoint, but with
hooks and a beat that refuse to leave your brain. (Not that you would want them
to.)
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
#184 Rock With You – Michael Jackson (1979)
The one
where Michael absolutely nails one of the best songs by the late, great Rod Temperton. The Off The Wall album
produced three other great singles; while it lacks the record sales and
cultural significance of Thriller, it
represents a Jackson who has reached a high level of musical maturity, before
starting to show signs of the naked ambition that led to his “King of Pop”
self-anointment and ultimately contributed to his downfall.
#183 Ask The Lonely – The Four Tops (1965)
In its
mid-60s heyday, Motown Records was almost as famous for its songwriters (Smokey
Robinson, Norman Whitfield / Barrett Strong, Holland-Dozier-Holland) as for its
groups and solo performers. This record, one of the best ballads of its time,
was written by William “Mickey” Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter. Although not
nearly as well-known as these big names, the two of them did collaborate on a
number of other Motown tracks, such as “Wild One”, “My Baby Loves Me”, “You’ve
Been In Love Too Long”, and “Dancing In The Street” – all by Martha and the
Vandellas – in addition to quite a bit of production work. Stevenson also
showed his versatility by co-writing “Devil with a Blue Dress On” with Shorty
Long; Long’s original version on Motown disappeared without a trace, but it
became a big hit for Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels and still remains a
staple of Bruce Springsteen’s live “Detroit Medley”.
#182 I'll Walk Away – James Hunter (2006)
I’ve sung
the praises of James Hunter and his band many times, so I won’t repeat myself
here. This ballad, with a wonderfully understated accompaniment, tells the tale
of a man who pledges to make a graceful exit when (not if) his lady finally has
had enough of him. It’s the best track on his People Gonna Talk album, which is saying a lot. (He actually
released an earlier version of the song on Believe
What I Say about a decade earlier, but the later arrangement is
considerably better.)
#181 Since I Fell for You – Lenny Welch (1963)
Lenny Welch,
to the extent that he’s remembered at all, was primarily known as a ballad
singer; he had his one big hit with this unexpectedly soulful version of a
big-band standard from the 1940s. I don’t know where he got the idea to revive
it, but we can certainly be glad that he did.
Monday, April 16, 2018
April 15, 2018 – Rockies 6, Nats 5 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 25,462
Duration: 3:14
Weather: 52 degrees, Rain
Wind: 12 MPH In From Right
Umpires: HP: Jerry Meals. 1B: Ben May. 2B: Ron Kulpa. 3B: Gabe Morales.
Back to miserable weather, and a weird and miserable finish to the Nats’
3-7 home stand.
Game notes – Nats drew 10 walks, but stranded 8 and went 0-8 with
runners in scoring position … 2 of their runs came on solo homers (Harper in
the 1st, Wieters in the 6th) … with the bases loaded via
walks and 2 out in the bottom of the 5th, Rockies catcher Chris
Iannetta missed a pitch to Ryan Zimmerman and then threw the ball past the
Rockies’ pitcher, allowing 2 runs to score … in the 8th, after
Wieters inexplicably (and unsuccessfully) attempted to steal second, Taylor
doubled with 2 outs, easily stole 3rd, and scored on a wild pitch …
Strasburg retired the first 11 batters before serving up a homer to Charlie
Blackmon … after Washington’s 2-run fifth, Colorado took the lead on Blackmon’s
2-run, 2-out double, followed by a Gonzalez single … they got solo HRs in the 8th
(LeMahieu off Kelley) and 9th (former Nat Ian Desmond off Doolittle)
for the final margin
Other – after great weather Friday and Saturday, Sunday felt even
colder and windier than predicted and announced … spent most of my day in the
elevator lounge out of the cold, wind, and off-and-on rain, watching the game
on the video screen … did go down to our seats for the bottom of the 5th,
6th, and 7th … good traffic both ways, as we successfully
navigated a new path from the GW Parkway to the 14th Street Bridge
Saturday, April 14, 2018
April 13, 2018 – Rockies 2, Nats 1 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 32,702
Duration: 3:04
Weather: 81 degrees, Clear
Wind: 15 MPH Out to Left
Umpires: HP: Ron Kulpa. 1B: Gabe Morales. 2B: Jerry Meals. 3B: Ben May.
Section 315, Row C, Seats 11-13 – on the first base side, not quite
directly behind home plate but close
Weather finally changes for the better. Nationals offense does not, as
they fall 6 games behind the resurgent Mets.
Game notes – Nats stranded two runners in the first and third innings, failing
to score each time … the Rockies opened the scoring on a Carlos Gonzalez HR in
the top of the fourth … Nats loaded the bases with one out in the fifth,
scoring the tying run on a Harper sac fly … Colorado scored the final run of
the game immediately thereafter, when LeMahieu reached on a Turner error and
eventually crossed the plate on a Gonzalez sac fly … Rendon left after the
sixth after fouling a ball off his left big toe … Nats went down 1-2-3 in each
of the last 3 innings, with 6 Ks
Other – perfect baseball weather, as we were comfortable in short
sleeves throughout the game … Metro was uneventful (but crowded) both coming
and going, and we got there in plenty of time to get our Sean Doolittle
bobbleheads
Straight No Chaser – Weinberg Center for the Arts (Frederick MD), 4/12/2018
Row K, seats 2 and 4 (right side, on the aisle)
The SNC guys put on another top-notch performance in front of a
sold-out crowd Thursday evening. No Christmas songs this time, and not a lot of
overlap from the last time we saw them (the Beyonce and Blues Brothers medleys,
“Creep”, and the usual mic-less “Make You Feel My Love” as the final encore). A
couple of the new mashups were quite good, notably “Sweet Dreams” / “Hand Clap”
to open the show, and “Come As You Are” leading into “While My Guitar Gently
Weeps” near the beginning of the post-intermission set. Everyone in the crew
had a chance to shine, although as usual Jerome Collins managed to steal the
show most often.
Highlights:
Hi-De-Ho
Twistin’ The Night Away
Creep
Billie Jean / Poison (first encore)
Monday, April 9, 2018
April 8, 2018 – Mets 6, Nats 5 (12 innings) – Nationals Park
Attendance: 21,579
Duration: 4:03
Weather: 47 degrees, Clear
Wind: 10 MPH Left to Right
Umpires: HP: Mark Ripperger. 1B: Joe West. 2B: Doug Eddings. 3B: Marty
Foster.
Section 311, Row C, Seats 17-19 – our regular seats for the season are
a definite improvement: on the aisle, and one section closer to home plate
Game notes – Nats jumped off to an early lead on Rendon’s first-inning
single and Harper’s 6th HR of the season, but once again couldn’t
hold it … with two out in the 3rd, Roark walked the bases loaded and
surrendered a grand slam to Adrian Gonzalez … Nats cut the lead in half in the
4th when Severino doubled in Kendrick with 2 outs, but Tanner gave
the run back the next inning on a dinger by Asdrubal Cabrera, again with 2 down
… Nats battled back to finally tie on a 5th-inning RBI single by
Trea and a 7th-inning RBI single by Michael A., although they missed
numerous other scoring chances throughout the game (14 LOB) … after 6 innings
of scoreless relief work by Kelley, Grace, Madson, Doolittle, and Solis,
Brandon Kintzler completed his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad series by
allowing the winning run to score for the second straight day, after giving up
Bruce’s grand slam in the opener … it’s early, but Washington’s losing streak
now stands at 5, longer than any they had last season, and they’re 3½ games in
back of the first-place Mets
Other – ESPN Sunday Night game with an 8:08 starting time … relatively heavy
traffic getting onto and across the bridge going down, but light traffic on the
way back … did get to the area in time for a leisurely, warm pre-game dinner at
Nando’s … actual crowd was considerably smaller than the number of tickets
sold, on a chilly night made worse by the persistent breeze (we lasted until
the end of regulation)
Friday, April 6, 2018
April 5, 2018 – Mets 8, Nats 2 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 42,477
Duration: 2:57
Weather: 42 degrees, Mildly Cloudy
Wind: 12 MPH Left to Right
Umpires: HP: Doug Eddings. 1B: Marty Foster. 2B: Mark Ripperger. 3B:
Joe West.
Section 131, Row Y, Seats 11-13 – just beyond first base, in the sun
(barely)
Game notes – baseball-wise, the highlight of the day came in the
morning, when the team announced a two-year extension for GM Mike Rizzo … the
Nats continued to have early-game offensive success, as Eaton led off with a
double and scored when New York RF Jay Bruce bobbled Rendon’s single … Mets answered
in the top of the 2nd on a two-out balk by Strasburg with runners on
first and third … Nats regained the lead with a 2-out rally in the 3rd,
when Eaton walked and scored on Rendon’s double … again the Mets came right
back to tie, this time on a long leadoff homer by Yoenis Cespedes … the New
Yorkers took the lead for good an inning later with 2 outs and a man on base,
when Michael Conforto hit a long fly to left that was initially called a
ground-rule double but was ruled to have left the yard after review … the Nats
had their best chance of the day in the bottom of the 6th, but
failed to score after loading the bases on a single and two walks with none out
and the heart of the order up … Turner was ejected after being called out on
strikes to end the inning … the visitors removed any doubt half an inning later
off Brandon Kintzler on a grand slam by Bruce … Eaton left the game after
tweaking his ankle while sliding to score the Nats second run
Other – chilly and breezy day, although being in the sun helped some,
and it was reasonably comfortable by the time the game ended … decided (wisely)
to take Metro, with a comfortable trip down but a crowded trip back (packed in
like sardines on the Green Line segment, and had to stand most of the way back
to Shady Grove) … Nats raised prices on hot dogs and pizza, and the old stands
where we could get soft pretzels and pretzel bites have been replaced by carts
where a pretzel “braid” with dip is a hefty $8.00
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