PopTodd

One of my favorite lyrics of the past 10 years: "THERE WILL BE SNACKS!!!" (From the song "Tables & Chairs")

I like Kanye. No, he doesn't have Rakim's flow, and many of his hooks have fairly obvious sources. However, complaining about the hooks is pretty much besides the point, as his albums are densely layered enough to bear repeated listenings. Also, the stories he tells are strong enough and compelling enough, IMO, to make up for any perceived lack of flow. Repeat: I like Kanye.

Radiohead. I mean, I can appreciate them and all. And I can enjoy them here and there, maybe. But if I never hear them again, that would be okay. They just don't move me. Oh yeah, and I hate The Doors. Ponderous. Pompous. Boring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaOghBFxg5M

For the most part, yeah. But you still have to love his version of "My Way". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIXg9KUiy00

Oh, and you called The Jam "punk"? Going strictly by genre/sound definitions, I would disagree; there was far too much Motown in their sound. Maybe the first album or 2, but even there, they had a soul sound that set them apart. So, no. And, even The Clash, with their reggae leanings, had many very non-punk moments, even on their first album. (A Junior Murvin cover?)

Grinderman. Yeah. Great idea, not as appealing in execution.

I guess it just defines how you define "punk." Is it a sound, or is it an approach to making music? All those CBGB bands certainly shook it up and did it their own way. None of them sounded anything alike; so in that sense, you really can't pin any label on any of them. Only The Ramones, as you pointed out, sounded anything like what we've come to agree upon as punk. And Hell pretty much invented the Punk look. Malcolm MacLaren admitted to stealing The Sex Pistols' look from him. But I still think that all those NYC bands were punk. They all had their own kind of menace, and their own aestheti

Not that it will change you opinion of where to lump their music, but did you know that the guys in Television actually BUILT the stage at CBGBs? Literally. They were there with hammer and nails, building the stage there on the Bowery. I learned that little nugget when I interviewed Richard Lloyd when I was in college. And, this isn't punk? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBbuPnfG0Vo&feature=related

Richard Hell & The Voidoids The Jim Carroll Band But, in regards to Cleveland's punk scene: Who else besides The Dead Boys, Rocket From the Tombs, and Pere Ubu (or any other Laughner-related band)? Oh, and there are some that would question Pere Ubu in the same way that you question Television and Blondie.

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions I think that the songwriting is pretty good, but the production is always so dated, it ruins the experience for me. That said, I am still trying, because it is my type of thing. But... ugh!

Anal leakage?

Thanks! That's an excellent tab. It's not the guitar that I'm having issues with so much as the singing, though. I mean, I've sung along with the song hundreds of times, but when I'm trying to do it justice on my own, I've come to realize just what a hard song it is to sing. And just how good a singer Alex Chilton was.

Okay, so that is pretty great.

I love when it ends.

There are lots of places that we won't take our son, because with a hamburger you really need fries. He can get his hamburger with no bun, but when they have only one fryer. And they use it for both fries, and breaded items (onion rings, chicken fingers, etc.), he just can't do it. So, I hear you on that one. It's a pain in the ass, but it's getting more common, so folks are starting to pay more attention to that kind of thing.

My son is allergic to a lot of things: Peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, and wheat. (Those last 2 are really hard ones.) He just outgrew a soy allergy, so we have hope for some of the others to go away. But, yeah it is really hard. I can absolutely empathize with you; food allergies are hard. But, please look on the bright side, as those things are relatively easy to avoid (unlike wheat or eggs). Get used to reading lots of labels and asking lots of questions. That said, I do wish you best of luck. And, i want you to know, that, even if you are allergic, you can still find a lot of GOOD things

It could really have been any number of Hollies songs, but this one is probably more Perfect Pop than any of the rest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgA4-bLcoN8

Shuffling all day. Last 15: ✓ Trouble - Frederick Knight ✓ Postcard - Atlas Sound ✓ Hot Burrito No. 1 - The Flying Burrito Brothers ✓ Sombras Di Distino - Cesaria Evora ✓ R.S.V.P. - Circle C ✓ As We Go Up, We Go Down - Guided By Voices ✓ Plan A - The Dandy Warhols ✓ Grace - Jeff Buckley ✓ When It Comes To Your Love - The Beau Brummels ✓ Fix Me For Today - Pugwash ✓ Does She Talk? - Matthew Sweet ✓ You're My Drug - The Dukes Of Stratosphear ✓ City Drops Into The Night [Live] - The Jim Carroll Band ✓ The Back Of Your Hand - Dwight Yoakam ✓ Wild Situation - Dennis Wilson

I think that I'm having the hardest time with "Thank You Friends", surprisingly enough.