Oil Can Boyd

I am actually enjoying this more than I thought. I am one of those people who read it (more than once) in high school and really liked it, but I haven't read it since. I was worried that after all that time, I wouldn't enjoy it but I still do.

I think we are saying the same thing here and it is just semantics. I may not see the word "derivative" as having the negative connotations that you might. Yes, they wear their influences boldly and proudly on their sleeves and they do a nice job at mixing them together and crating their own thing. I remember Wareham once saying that the Velvets 1969 Live album was his favorite album of all time. And it shows ...

It is a memoir, covering mostly his musical life, starting in high school and going through the end of Luna.

I don't quite get your second point. Are you saying you are lucky because that means you get to see those bands in smaller venues? If so, I agree with you to a certain extent but I feel selfish in doing so. And Wareham talks about this in the movie. He discusses being in two cult bands (Galaxie 500 before Luna) and how that is fine when you are getting going and in your 20s, but when you are in your 40s and married and have a kid and you are playing the same clubs you have been playing for 20 years, it gets old. He also talks about the pressure of feeling like he was responsible for the w

Despite how derivative they are, I really like Luna. I always felt like Dean Wareham and I have the exact same record collection. The clip that Dude linked above is certainly one of the highlights of the movie and of Luna's live set. I liked the movie but it was a little depressing. So many bands that I like achieved about that same level of success - enough to keep going as a band but not enough to really make it.

You bet!

Took the wife to see this on the big screen last night for Valentine's Day. We met 20 years ago seeing that same movie in the same theater.

Saw the show last night in Boston and it was really really good. They played stuff from their entire career, closing with a nice version of their first single, 100,000 Fireflies. As hoped, I liked the new stuff more live than I do on CD. Except for Claudia Gonson's plugged in keyboard it was all acoustic. And, as always, there was a lot of funny banter between Merritt and Claudia.

I've got that single; it's a good one. I actually wrote Grubbs (or really Squirrel Bait as a whole) a fan letter in about 1987 and he wrote me a nice letter back, telling me what all of the SB band members were up to. And he also told me to track down the Motorola Cloudburst single. Ah, the Pope. That was a great mag.

Although Grubbs was part of two bands that I really like: Squirrel Bait - 1980s melodic hardcore band from Louisville who put out two great albums Wingdale Community Singers - folky group that he started with the author Rick Moody and vocalist Hannah Marcus

I have seen everything except Season One and I just noticed that it is now playing on HBO on Demand. My only dilemna is whether to have a few marathon sessions or spread it out over a couple of weeks ...

I'll agree and disagree with both of you on this. I'm with Pop Todd on Meat Puppets. I heard Meat Puppets II first and when I went back and got the first one I couldn't believe it was the same band. But I agree with Lammycat on Monsters. I like that one. And while we are talking Meat Puppets, I think Forbidden Places is their great, overlooked album.

Agreed.

It has its own wikipedia entry: "Wagon Wheel" is a song by Bob Dylan and later completed by Old Crow Medicine Show. "Wagon Wheel" is a song composed of two different parts. The chorus for the song comes from a Bob Dylan outtake from the soundtrack for the film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Although never officially released, the Dylan song was released on a bootleg and is usually named after the chorus and its refrain of "Rock Me Mama." Although Dylan left the song an unfinished sketch, Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show wrote verses for the song around Dylan's original chorus. Secor

That was a good one. For me he epitomizes the very thin margin between success and failure in major league baseball. There were times early in his career where he really was unhittable, and, as we all saw, there were times when he was really really hittable.

I mentioned this in the NP thread but so far I like - but don't love - the album. And it is growing on me the more I listen to it. It definitely has some great melodies mixed in and some classic Merritt clever lyrics, but some of it just seems like filler. I am seeing them next week so I'll report back. I remember liking the stuff from Distortion more live than on disc so maybe the same will eb true for this one.

I got a little head start on both of you. First saw the Jerry Garcia Band in July 1980 and the Dead in Providence on 9/4/80. The show in Boston in the spring of '81 was really good. I remember being blown away by Bird Song ...

December 10, 1971: Traded by the New York Mets with Frank Estrada, Don Rose and Leroy Stanton to the California Angels for Jim Fregosi.

Me too, and I gotta say, I'm not loving it. There are some great Stephen Merritt melodies and lyrics but overall I'd say it is good but not great. (And maybe I should stop assuming that they are going to put out something that I love as much as I love 69 Love Songs.)

This story is a little weird. According to the Palm Beach Post, homes and schools close to Dolphins Stadium are receiving “sex offender advisory” postcards this week warning residents to watch out for The Who’s Pete Townshend.

Seeing the Feelies there in 1987 was one of my favorite shows of all time.

Dawes - North Hills I am really liking this album.

Dawson to wear Expos' hat. Andre Dawson to enter Hall of Fame as Expo, prefers Cubs By Associated Press | Wednesday, January 27, 2010 | CHICAGO - Andre Dawson will be inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Montreal Expo, despite his preference to go in as a Chicago Cub. The hall announced its decision Wednesday. Dawson told WMVP-AM in Chicago that he thought hall officials would discuss the issue with him in detail before the decision was made. He said he wanted a chance to tell them "what really catapulted me to Hall of Fame status and pretty much what my preference was but I think th

And some tour dates: MARCH 26-28 MARCH: KNOXVILLE, TN - BIG EARS FESTIVAL 2010 / TENNESSEE THEATRE // Tickets APRIL 22 APRIL: RICHMOND, VA - THE NATIONAL // Pre-Sale Tickets** 23 APRIL: RICHMOND, VA - THE NATIONAL // Pre-Sale Tickets** MAY 06 MAY: LONDON, UK - ROYAL ALBERT HALL // Pre-Sale Tickets** 07 MAY: PARIS, FRANCE - LE ZENITH w/ PAVEMENT // FNAC / Digitick 09 MAY: BERLIN, GERMANY - ASTRA // Pre-Sale Tickets** 22 MAY: LOS ANGELES, CA - THE WILTERN // Pre-Sale Tickets** 23 MAY: SAN DIEGO, CA - SPRECKELS THEATRE // Pre-Sale Tickets** 27 MAY: OAKLAND, CA - FOX THEATRE // Pre-Sale Tick