Sean Daily is an English major from New Jersey now living in Las Vegas, the Other City of Lights. "I consider 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' to be comfort reading, I like the al pastor tacos at Tacos Mexico and I count among my literary influences the Chainsaw from 'Doom'. 'RRRRRR! You don't like that, do you, Mr. Undead Marine! RRRRRR!'"
Shanoah Alkire is our Discordian at large. "Born in Santa Cruz, I grew up in Grass Valley and the Bay Area, and now lurk in Las Vegas. My literary influences include Ray Bradbury,
Lewis Carroll, and Douglas Adams. I also program as a hobby,
and currently maintain the Gtk port of Angband. You can find
a rather old bio of me here."
I’ll see your acid rock and raise you one sick demented motherfucker, Shanoah.
The sick demented motherfucker in question, as you’ve probably guessed, is Tiny Tim. I heard his The Other Side, of of 1968’s God Bless Tiny Tim, for the first time today on Irwin’s WFMU show and I was…
Well, let’s put it this way. Scubyndo found footage of Tiny Tim singing The Other Side on a kid’s TV show. (Children’s TV was WAY cooler back in the 1960s) Sez Scubyndo: “I can only imagine what the kids were thinking.” Probably the same thing I was thinking the first time I saw Eraserhead.
I can only guess at the administrative malfunctions that led to Tiny Tim being let loose in a studio full of unsuspecting kids. The guy who booked the acts for this show was either:
Really cool,
Fucking insane,
Or, most probable, knew absolutely nothing about Tiny Tim.
Well, Bert and Ernie and the day the music died could easily be a cue for another Sesame Street / Muppet show marathon, but I think we’ve already played a lot of the good ones. So that leaves me without a theme. So, when in doubt… let’s play Grace Slick…
All The Machines – Grace Slick
This has a Max Max: Beyond thunderdome feel to it that I like. And it’s Grace Slick. I’d say more, but I’m rather tired right now…
Today is an auspicious occasion, as well. Do you know why? Besides it being my sister’s birthday (Happy Birthday Lynn!).
This is the fiftieth anniversary of the Day the Music Died, when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. “Big Bopper” Richardson died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa [1].
I’m not going to torture you with any Holly, Valens or Big Bopper in this post. Nor am I going to torture you with The Song That Should Have Ended Five Hours Ago, Don McLean’s American Pie, which is where “The Day the Music Died” comes from (I think). If you’ve been anywhere near a radio today, you’ve probably heard enough Holly, Valens, Big Bopper and Rode My Chevy To The Levy But The Levy Was Dry to last you a lifetime [2].
Instead, I think I’m going to fulfill my family obligations (you know, for a change of pace) and wish my sister a Happy Birthday… with the help of Ernie from Sesame Street, of course. [3]
[1] Three dead rock stars in a plane, it turns out, is not the best birthday present you can give to your sister.
[2] I actually like Joe Belock’s idea for his Three Chord Monte show on WFMU today – “The Day the Music Lived,” with nothing but music from rock musicians who are still alive.
[3] Oh God, not another three month Sesame Street Blog Death March…
