Get Squiered

I think this video speaks for itself, but I do want to mention a couple of things. When I was a kid, this video was always on TBS's "Night Tracks," a Friday and Saturday night all-night music video show that I watched every week, filling the hole in my MTV-less, small-town cable world. Anyone out there ever watch "Night Tracks"? It was on cable, but nearly everyone I've ever asked has never heard of the show. Anyway, when I was a little boy, I thought everything was filmed on location. (Don't know where I thought "Star Wars" was filmed.) I'd heard the term "movie studio," but never paid any attention to what it meant. When I found out that many movies, TV shows, music videos, etc. were often filmed on fake replicas of towns, houses, streets, etc., my mind was blown. It seemed so weird and fantastical to me. So, when I was exposed to this Billy Squier video, I assumed it was filmed in Squier's apartment. I remember thinking how I'd like an apartment just like it, on the top of a skyscraper in a huge city. Good thing I was paying more attention to what I thought was a perfectly desirable home for a future grown man such as myself than to Mr. Squier's dance moves. Say what you will of Squier's dance routine, a repertoire I've dubbed The Closeted Kangaroo, but you've gotta admit he is not lacking in self-confidence.

I have been remiss in my duties as a blogger

I haven't posted in a long time. To remedy this, here is a picture of some clowns. Also, go see The Host. It's good.

Caption contest winner

I tried to post this hours ago, but the site was down. Anyway, thank you to all the contestants. The winter cap has spoken. This month's winner is AM. Congratulations, AM!

Hall of Fame/Hall of Shame

Good and bad album covers from the Dr. Mystery music library

Hall of Shame #4
Silkworm - Italian Platinum
I love this band to pieces, but for this particular album's cover, they decided "fuck it, we're not doing one this year."



















Hall of Fame #4a
Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley
























#4b The Clash - London Calling

Hall of Fame/Hall of Shame

Good and bad album covers from the Dr. Mystery music library

Hall of Shame #3
Prince - Diamonds & Pearls
Never put a hologram on the cover.


















Hall of Fame #3
Melvins - Colossus of Destiny

Talkin' Bear Mountain Saddle Creek Picnic Massacre Blues

March caption contest

Here is the photo for this month's caption contest. Click here for the rules. I also wanted to offer some words of encouragement from Randy Newman. I unwittingly set off a firestorm of Newman debate when I picked one of his album covers for my Hall of Fame. Regardless of his worth, the post was about the album covers, not the music contained therein. But keep it up anyway. I enjoyed it. Good luck, contest entrants.

"I will carry her across the threshold
I will make dim the light
I will attempt to spend my love within her
But though I try with all my might
She will laugh at my Mighty Sword
She will laugh at my Mighty Sword
Why must everybody laugh at my Mighty Sword?"
--Randy Newman, "A Wedding in Cherokee County"

Hall of Fame/Hall of Shame

Good and bad album covers from the Dr. Mystery music library

Hall of Shame #2: The Police - "Zenyatta Mondatta"
The Police were too busy rocking to come up with decent album covers (or album titles). Gaze into the shitty pyramid as Sting contemplates his future as a humorless twat. Andy Summers meets your gaze head-on, daring you to challenge the art direction and design of Michael Ross and Simon Ryan (I did not have this memorized. I looked at the liner notes. Please believe me.) Stewart Copeland, badass that he is, looks away, thinking only of the kickass drumming he will throw down later that afternoon.



















Hall of Fame #2: Randy Newman - "Good Old Boys"