Sunday Morning Tuneage & Weekly TV (8/11/13)

It's that time, folks.  Graduation nights on Friday and Saturday meant a few extra long days - 13 hours yesterday.  And now the store is moving locations - so it's a 12 hour day of work today and the same for the beginning of next week.  No time to do much else this morning but eat last night's leftovers and get back on the road.  Baseball practice for Caleb all week - Christian starts his last year of football - and Dee gets ready to start school next Monday.  Sorting through my change for quarters to wash the car and listening to some tuneage . . . 

SUNDAY MORNING TUNEAGE

CHAKA KAHN - THS IS MY NIGHT.   This is from the 1984 "I Feel For You" album.  It's the lead track and a great dance song.  I may have heard the single "I Feel For You" first but this was one that I played over and over on my cassette of the album.  It later had an awesome dance mix.  But just listen to the strength of Chaka's voice - perfect start to the day.

MOODY BLUES - BLUE WORLD.  This was the end of 1983 or maybe early 1984.  It was from the first album after the great "Long Distance Voyager".  I didn't like too many songs on the album except for this single.  It was the only song that recalled some of their earlier sounds.  From this point forward, their sound became too canned for me.  But it's nice to hear this again today.

PHIL COLLINS - ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE.  This 1989 song reminds me of my days working at the UCI Bookstore in Irvine, CA.  It seemed to play on the radio stations we listened to at work all the time in those early years.  It was a huge hit in the day and Phil hasn't had another #1 hit since this one.  Trivia from the day - that's David Crosby on backing vocals.  To me it sounds more Genesis-like - and oft confused with "Man On the Corner".

SOMETHING RANDOM . . . next time.

DEADLIGHTS OF 2013. . . Shawn Burr came up with the Detroit Red Wings and was practically my age. Scary to think he passed away from a fall in his home last week . . . George Duke was one of the first Jazz keyboard players I was aware of.   "Dukey Stick" is a funk track worth researching . . . I didn't know Art Donovan as a player for the Colts - I knew him as the teller of great stories on NFL Films presentations . . . 

QUICK LIST (a random, uninformed list off the top of Shawn's head)

BEST BRIT COMEDY SHOWS SINCE 2000

10.  THE MIGHTY BOOSH.  It's not for everyone.  I find that some people are just annoyed with the craziness of the show.  Other people think it's one of the most brilliant shows ever to come out of Britain.

9.  BLACK BOOKS.  I feel like I should be way more into this show but I guess because it took me a long time to discover it and then still haven't finished it.  Some great one-line humor.

8.  AN IDIOT ABROAD.  This could just be a Gervais-verse greatest hits list.  But this show, disguised as a travelogue with Karl is the best of the non-Ricky shows.

7.  THAT MITCHELL AND WEBB LOOK.  Guaranteed laughs.  It's a bit crazy to sustain over marathon viewings but it's extremely funny.

6.  THE INBETWEENERS.  These four lads have a chemistry that is instantly likable.  Their experiences are crazy and laugh out loud funny but the cast is what keeps this from just being annoying.

5.  LITTLE BRITAIN.  I discovered this sketch comedy by accident.  Some of the best characters of the past 13 years have come out of this show.  I don't even know where to start.  The Only Gay In The Village is a great place to start the list.  Or Vicky Pollard.  

4.  EXTRAS.  Ricky Gervais has a magic touch.  He didn't invent the "uncomfortable humor" sitcom but he helped perfect it.  This show deserves another run through, I think.  "What's ET short for?" / "Because he's only got little legs."

3.  THE OFFICE.  It would be #1 if it had lasted just a little bit longer.  This was a game changer for me and British comedies - it got me back into them for the first time since "The Young Ones".  And to think how this one show has influenced the current generation of American TV shows is amazing.

2.  THE IT CROWD.  It's a low brow type of comedy that does what the best comedies do - it doesn't insult the intelligence of the viewer.  It forces you to pay attention to details, doesn't explain references and recalls details from previous episodes.  I only wish there had been more.  Brilliant cast.  And a little crush on Jen.

1.  PEEP SHOW.  The adventures of Mark and Jez came into my life through a good friend.  I feel like I need to pass it on to others and they should pass it on to their friends.  Maybe I identify with Mark way too much too.  It's a brilliantly written series that also pays off for viewers who watch it in order.  This seems like a show that should appeal to every college age student ever.

I'm a huge fan of British Comedies - going way back.  But there's been a huge gult of great shows coming out of England in the past 13 years.  It's hard to even keep on top of the great ones - thanks goes to HBO, Hulu, Netflix and Cartoon Network among others for exposing us to them.

There are some that fall just off the list because they just didn't make it - like "Coupling".  Some I've never seen - like "Ideal" or "Green Wing".  And some that don't make the list because of the post-2000 requirement - "Fawlty Towers", "Mr. Bean" and "The League of Gentlemen".  The worst?  More like ones I didn't get - that I started and stopped early on - "Nighty Night" and "Benidorm".  

NETFLIX PLAY NOW OF THE WEEK . . . I missed this Fincher flick - ZODIAC, but I hear it's pretty good -Jake Gyllenhaal too. . . ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO is one of those Kevin Smith movies that I've seen in parts here and there on cable but I should probably see it from top to bottom (so to speak) on Netflix. . . SADAKO seems to have some connection to the Ringu series - not sure but even the middling type of reviews don't "scare" me away from wanting to check it out.

Shawn's fave movies according to FLICKCHART

#356 - LA Confidential

#484 - Intolerable Cruelty

#882 - Last American Virgin

RANDOM PROJECT UPDATE -   The DOCTOR WHO project.  My chronological trip back through the Doctor Who adventures has been hit and miss.  I've started and stopped a number of times.  I get excited and find a few stories to watch at once.  And then go months without one.  I just finished the "Abominable Snowmen" story from 1967 - still on the 2nd Doctor - this is one of the better stories and I'd love to see this one get found.  Jamie and Victoria are such charming companions - I think they make the show more than any other duo to this point.  This is important to watch to know The Great Intelligence that reappears this past season.

SHAWN'S TOP ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME (a tribute to the art of the album)

#28  The Clash - London Calling (1979)

There's something about a third album.  And in 1979, The Clash figured it all out.  This took punk rock to another level - it's pure punk but it works also as one of the best rock albums of the year.  The 70s ended with a bang and this was a shot that told us that the 80s would be quite different.  I've loved this album from the beginning - it blends rock and punk and ska and funk and it draws plenty of influence from Elvis - including the iconic cover.  I first knew "Train in Vain" but not I fall back on classics that work with great lyrics and great music like "Guns Of Brixton" and "Lost in the Supermarket".  The title song still plays on radio daily.  It's hard to imagine people today understand the importance of the lyrics without knowing the horrors of 3 Mile Island back in those days.  It's not a celebration of London, it's an indictment.  This album just doesn't ever disappoint.

"Lost In The Supermarket"

"London Calling"

"Guns of Brixton"

Previous Rankings

#29 - Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988)

#30 - New Order - Power, Corruption, Lies (1983)

#31 - Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

#32 - Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)

#33 - Parliament - Mothership Connection (1975)

THIS WEEK IN TELEVISION

MONDAY - no time for TV this week, so I'm not even looking.  Trust in your Tivo . . . 

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR . . .  the Twix civil wars started here a year ago . . .

And now a merger . . .

They used to have these clever "need a moment" ads . . 

"Oh anything I want he gives it to me
Anything I want he give it but not for free
It's hateful and it's paid for and I'm so grateful to be nowhere
I killed all my nerves."  - The Clash

 Don't be hateful.  Stay hard.

sb