Coming up on SadNo!
Just some highlights from our action-packed coming week, which we’ve been preparing for with busy fingers and many vacated Steel Reserve cans.
- Zambonis in Hell: Pastor Swank turns against the Iraq war?
- Outering: Harder Than It Seems!
- Retardo, having finally had enough, destroys Jeff Goldstein and strews his fields with salt.
- …Plus the dramatic return of W_ngn_ts in P_rty H_ts.
(Excelsior!)
In the meantime, ripping a link from TBogg to the marvelous Charles Pierce at the American Prospect:
I liked it so much better when conservatives weren’t trying to be cool. I liked their stern, iron-jawed parental disapproval of everything that happened since Calvin Coolidge blew town. I liked it when they thought it was all devil music sent by Khrushchev to take advantage of a young populace already weakened by fluoride in the water and Elvis on the electric television set. Becoming a young conservative meant you made a conscious choice to be the least cool person in your immediate social circle. You made a principled, rational decision to be a humorless little prig, and you were proud of it. People knew where they stood then. Now, though, we have boomer conservatives playing with popular culture and hurting themselves. Trust us, when you refer to some of the songs on your list as “little-known gems,â€? you’re already pretty much blown what little cred you may accidentally have picked up on your shoe.
Welp, here are some little-known gems.
The Rezillos – ‘Flying Saucer Attack’/’2000 AD’ (5:20)
The Mekons – ‘Ghosts of American Astronauts’ (3:52)
Joy Division – ‘The Charleston’ (0:57)
Also apropos the 50 Conservative Songs nonsense: Pete Townshend has been cruising around this segment of the left-blogoroni lately, so if someone turns up saying he’s Pete Townshend, don’t automatically be like, ‘Oh yeah, right.’ And also don’t be all pretending you’re Pete Townshend, eh?
I would never do that–he doesn’t sleep with nearly enough men!
I am Pete Townsend
Cripes, you guys are relentless.
I am Keith Moon. Booooooo!
Boris the Spider now there’s a song for you. I just adore The Who.
“I’m your Uncle Rummy, and I welcome you to Gitmo Holiday Camp!”
“The camp with the difference, never mind the weather,”
“When you come to Gitmo, you’re gonna stay forever; ah ha ha ha ha!”
No, I’m Pete Townshend.
I won’t get fooled again.
The fuckers tried to claim me as well.
Avenge me!
I remember in 2001 when George Harrison died and some wingnut Alberta Conservative MP stood up in the Canadian House of Commons and tearfully called for a moment of silence.
This hommage seemed really odd until I relected upon the fact that George Harrison was a guy who had composed and sung songs about a) taxes and b) God.
Perhaps George Harrison is the only rock star the right can rightfully lay clain to… well, other than Pat Boone and Milli Vanilli.
He was giving out autographed copies of his newest release to the 1st 100 commenters on his blog, too! He was over at Blue Girl’s place not long ago.
Townshend did, of course, blog about being #1.
Well, Townshend does math like a w_ngn_t:
“One and one don’t make two; one and one make one.”
Jesus, it’s like these wannabe-boomers (who, like me are in fact the gen-x’ers Douglas Coupland was talking about) never read Brave New World for comprehension and irony. One of the key themes in that book was the society’s trivialising old age and death. It happens but it’s no big deal, it’s hardly worth worrying about…it should never concern you. I think the boomers embraced this at some point and never let up. So what we’re seeing now is a panicked, pathetic and embarrassing clutching to youth and coolness as if that’s appropriate for people even my age. What we’re seeing is the opposite of cool…clownish and graceless aging and the rejection of wisdom (if any of the sad sacks at the NRO are even capable of such a thing.)
I am no longer cool, and I at my coolest, I was always pretty tame. My tastes in music and fashion were developed during the 80’s and ended with Grunge. I don’t worry about it; it doesn’t prevent me from rejecting newer trends I don’t care for (excessive piercing, thong underwear, extreme sports and…sass mouth!) while liking the things I’ve always liked (a re-invogorated sense of the absurd and critical and humourous non-conformity among younger people and…l33t…I never get tired of it.).
Now, if I’m able to resist the temptation to have half my arse liposuctioned away and really convince myself I’ll look OK when my hair is completely gray, I’ll stop finding these ridiculous boomers irritating and expect that in 10 years, if they don’t manage to recruit a whole new generation among these pathetic neo-cons, it’ll all just be a bad memory.
You’ll have to up the KP content to get Pete here.
Also, that charleston clip is really fucking funny.
The Mekons fuckin’ ROCK. Just in case you didn’t know that already.
The Rezillos – ‘Flying Saucer Attack’/’2000 AD’ (5:20)
This one isn’t all that little-known. It is a gem, though.
This one isn’t all that little-known. It is a gem, though.
Yeah, I fiddled with that one for awhile. It used to be a Tenpole Tudor song, then an Adicts song, but I figured no one would like those.
Fun indie rock fact: The title of Guided By Voices’ classic 1995 album “Bee Thousand” is a reference to what it sounds like when a drunk says “Pete Townshend.”
A video of the Rez/Rev/illos? Wow. Youtube doesn’t work on my dial-up but thanks for the memories.
Rezillos!
Somebody’s gonna get their head kicked in tonight.
We need them now more than ever…
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
I am also Pete Townshend.
Also, I am Tiger Woods.
WPE: This hommage seemed really odd until I relected upon the fact that George Harrison was a guy who had composed and sung songs about a) taxes and b) God.
It was Harrison who funded Python’s Life of Brian. He even does a cameo appearance. So I don’t think the religious conservatives will like Harrison if they knew about this.
Second what the Wolf says about the Mekes.
Thankyouthankyouthankyou for that Mekons video. I always forget how gooooooood that album is.
And if those conservatives ever try to lay claim to the Mekons, I’m gonna go right down to the National Review, and give ’em all swirlies.
And Doughy Pantload gets a wedgie.
Poseurs.
One of us! One of us!
I realize I’m late to the party, but….. there will be retribution for doing that to JoyDiv. (Just what Ian needed, more things to spin about…)