brainsplotch

First it was Bowie, then Lemmy, then Merle, and finally on to Prince. Now we have received word that Gord Downie has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. 2016 officially sucks. Now, I know that Gord Downie isn't nearly as famous as aforementioned quartet of iconic musicians, and thankfully Gord is still living, but the news--for the Tragically Hip's biggest fans--is equally as terrible and unthinkable. I've decided that I need to finally follow through on my little essays about all of the Hip's albums, a project I started several years ago on this blog but only made it through the band's first self-titled EP. I've taken some notes on the Hip's debut full-length album Up To Here and hope to post it soon. "Courage, it couldn't come at a worse time"

"I write to my mortality."--Sherman Alexie, A Tiny Sense of Accomplishment podcast episode 25. Although I'd never compare myself to an accomplished author like Sherman Alexie, or most accomplished authors out there for that matter, I'd say at least half of my compulsion to write is based on what Alexie says. Maybe it's egotistical on my part, but I'd like my ramblings to possibly outlive me, so I guess I write for some sense of "immortality." Alexie and co-host Jess Walter also talk about Go Set a Watchman and how they weren't bothered that Atticus Finch is not the paragon of virtuousness from To Kill a Mockingbird . I agree. I wasn't bothered by this characterization of Atticus. It seemed fitting for the time period and setting portrayed in the book. I'm a little saddened and disturbed by the fact that I sometimes dream that I'm on Facebook. The Michigan State Senate is terrible and Governor Snyder is a crook. Just sayin...

As anyone who wastes too much time on Facebook knows, every day something called "Your Memories" pops up. Facebook reminded me that seven years ago, a fellow FB friend posted an "album face-off" between Michael Jackson's Off the Wall and Prince's Dirty Mind. Here are a few comments I made. I don't know that there's anything earth-shattering in these comments, but I still hold true to what I wrote in 2009. By the way, keep in mind that both Michael Jackson and Prince were still living at this point. Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall vs. Prince’s Dirty Mind (May 12, 2009) Both of these albums are near and dear to my heart, as I still have both of them on vinyl. My mom gave me "Off the Wall" for my birthday in March '80. It's hard to conceive of a time when MJ was the coolest person on the planet, but he was at the peak of his powers in '79''80 (and up through "Thriller"). He'd just turned 21, had left Mo...

The following is an slightly edited version of an email I recently sent to a music podcast about an Alejandro Escovedo concert I attended on Wednesday, May 4: I wanted to tell you about a recent "Dad Rock experience" I had, but first some back story. (Please bear with me--I'll try and not get too long winded): About a year ago, I reconnected with one of my old college roommates, Paul. We hadn't talked to each other in well over 20 years, but it was as if we'd never lost contact--and one interest we continue to share all these years later is a love of music. Paul now lives in Lubbock, Texas and is deeply into music from the Lone Star State. In the last few months, he's turned me on to Dallas, Texas-based Alejandro Escovedo. As you guys may already know, Escovedo has a music career dating all the way back to the punk scene of the 1970s when he was a member of the Nuns, then on to Rank and File in the '80s, finally starting his solo career in...

Thinking quite a bit about Prince's death. Coincidentally, I'm currently reading Trouble Boys , the recent biography of those other Twin Cities icons, The Replacements. I have Minneapolis on my mind. Just a warning: This is not the story of a cool kid who was hip to the 1980s music scene in Minneapolis, but a somewhat dorky teen who had little idea of what was happening but could definitely feel the vibe of a hip city. Though I didn't know about the Replacements and Husker Du until 1986, I had the sense that Minneapolis had it going on like few other places I'd ever been to before. Now a little backstory... I may have mentioned this before, but I took trips to Minneapolis in the summers of 1981, '82, '84, and '85. My uncle Jim worked for the chief of the Baraga (MI) Ojibwa Tribal Community and made business trips to Minneapolis. I don't know if this was coincidence, but almost every time I went up north to visit my aunt, uncle, and cousins ...

I recently unearthed these postcards I brought home from my various trips to Minneapolis. There is the City Center, where I purchased my copy of Purple Rain in July 1984, the Minnesota Zoo (that I visited in 1985) and a few others that I probably took from the lobby of the Normandy Inn. 

Alright, this has to stop. Enough with every great musician dying recently. It's getting ridiculous. I don't even know where to start with this one. It blindsided me. I knew that Prince had a health scare last week, but I never expected him to frickin' DIE a week later. Do you remember how, after Bowie died, I wrote about how his Let's Dance album penetrated the hinterlands of rural Michigan? It was exactly the same deal with Prince when 1999 was released, and then the doors blew off their hinges two years later when Purple Rain exploded. Prince introduced R&B and funk to quite a few small town, Midwestern white kids. And it's safe to say that if you came of age in the 1980s, Prince was a major part of your life's soundtrack. It was in a van heading home from a high school golf tournament when I first remember hearing about Prince. The year was 1982. I remember that the Brewers were playing the Cardinals in the World Series. Conversation went from...