Thursday afternoon I’m getting ready to take an afternoon nap. It’s a daily activity while we are under quarantine conditions. Okay…I’m not fooling anyone…it’s a daily activity under normal conditions.

I got under the covers and decided to have some background music. I  found a classic rock station and started my rest period. There was music from The Who, Doobie Brothers, The Beatles, and I drifted off to sleep. I awoke about an hour later to a live version of “Light My Fire” by The Doors.

While listening to the song, I was wondering what the members of the band were up to so I started to Google. I knew Jim Morrison had died close to fifty years ago. Keyboardist Ray Manzarek died from cancer in 2013. I was checking up on drummer John Densmore, when I came across this article, written by music critic Mikal Woods, in the Los Angeles Times.

The gist of the piece is he hates The Doors, but is willing to give them another opportunity to change his mind while he’s under quarantined conditions.

My thoughts were this is a cool idea. I wonder if I have any bands like this? Could my mind be changed?

I really don’t have any musical artists that I would describe with the word hate.  I came up with three whose music does nothing for me and most people seem to like. Journey, Van Halen and Dave Mathews Band top my list.

You would think that Journey and Van Halen would be at the top of my play list. Journey was formed by two members of Santana, a band that I loved. Van Halen is extremely guitar-centric and so am I. You’d think that would be right in my wheelhouse of music. I just could never get into either of them. Their music leaves me cold. Whenever I hear it, I’m looking another station. I guess I’m just not belivin’ in either of them.

DMB is a little different. I’m not as familiar with their catalog as I am with the first two bands. Howwever, when I hear them, it leaves me blah. Don’t like em…don’t hate em…just a blah nothing. Music shouldn’t be like that. You hear a piece and you should feel something. Even if that something is disgust, at least you’re feeling. Better that than nothing at all.

I’m willing to do the challenge on these three bands, that Mikal Woods is doing with The Doors. I’m going to give them a chance to change my mind. Over the next three weeks, I’l be listening to their music. Each band gets a week. We’ll start with Journey because they’ve been around the longest. The next three Saturdays, I’ll report my findings. Sounds fair, doesn’t it?

I’m hoping at least one of these bands can change my opinion of them. If nothing else it’ll kill some time while being stuck inside the house. We’re all looking for that!

So….let’s get the party and the music started. I’m ready to “Jump” into this assignment. Might as well jump.

Related Post: Once were brothers:Robbie Robertson and The Band-A one sided look at music history

Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.

Finally, both The Strokes and Local H have released their full-length albums. The New Abnormal and LIFERS, respectively, are both available on Spotify for your enjoyment.

Local H celebrated 30 years in the music industry, and the release of their 9th album LIFERS, by live-streaming a record release party from their rehearsal space in Chicago. The new songs they debuted sounded rich and powerful. Songwriter Scott Lucas wrote a concept album that was produced by local legend Steve Albini. Hard to believe this was the first time Lucas and Albini have worked together. Check out “Winter Western” and see if you can hear Juliana Hatfield singing?

[embedded content]

The Strokes chose Rick Ruban to produce The New Abnormal, their first release in seven years, and 6th album overall. I would say it works on about half the album, while the other half is slow to get off the ground, if at all. Not sure which party is responsible for the direction they’ve taken, but this one will definitely take some getting used to. Maybe that’s a good thing?

[embedded content]

Hey now, The Kooks release a new EP called Unshelved: Pt.1. Well, this is exciting!

[embedded content]

Butch Walker releases the second single from his upcoming rock opera, AMERICAN LOVE STORY (out May 8th) and “Gridlock,” might be better than it’s predecessor, “Pretty Crazy?” Yes, that is pretty crazy. I think this album is going to be great!?

[embedded content]

It’s so good to hear Damon singing on the new Gorillaz song, “Aries,” I miss his voice. JR JR releases another fun single called “The Way I Do,” and Rogue Wave returns with new music, “Aesop Rock.”

[embedded content]

Now I had no idea that rapper Aesop Rock had a new single out called “Rogue Wave?” Apparently, this is their answer.

[embedded content]

Washed Out’s “Too Late” is nice and lush, while Juliana Hatfield’s Police cover, “Truth Hits Everybody,” is too sparse and could stand to be a little more rich and layered.

Sinatra in his younger days? Yes, “The Nearness Of You” sounds pleasant as Frank gets remastered. Big B records a drinking song that will help you through this #ShelterInPlace.

[embedded content]

I’ll be damned if we didn’t wake up to an Active Child LP? WTF? I heard nothing about this ten-song drop called In Another Life.

[embedded content]

[embedded content]

A nice surprise this week is the pretty and eloquent, “Love Song For The Haters,” from Fleece. The Dropkick Murphy’s release a banger called “Mick Jones Knicked My Pudding, ” which was also a treat. Pop and punk, what else do we need?

[embedded content]

A little jazz? Well, Henrik Janson’s “Chopin’s House,” is both classical and jazz, so meditate on this for a few minutes.

[embedded content]

Subscribe to my blog below.

TROLLS WORLD TOUR

Genre: Animation

Rating: PG

Running Time: 9o mins.

Where Can You See It?: On Demand (Rent for $19.99)

Premise: Poppy (Anna Kendrick) discovers that the Troll World is bigger than just her Pop kingdom. There are other musical troll kingdoms, like Country, Classical, EDM, Funk, and Rock. When Queen Barb (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s Rachel Bloom) of the Rock kingdom tries to assert world domination by collecting the magical musical string from each kingdom, Poppy and Branch (Justin Timberlake) set off on a road trip to try and stop her.

Behind-the-Scenes: Originally set for theatrical release on April 10, Universal decided to keep the date in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, and release the movie for rental on the same date. Universal recently did the same for other theatrical flicks like The Invisible Man, Emma, and The Hunt. This is a pretty big departure from other studios, who have shifted release dates for their big tentpole pictures like Black Widow and Fast and Furious 9, and could signal a new method of skip-the-theater distribution if it’s successful.

The Good: Like the first Trolls, the music is catchy and the animation is brightly colored with a lot of excellent texturing. The voice work by its starry cast works like a charm, with Anna Kendrick and Kenan Thompson (as Tiny Diamond) being particularly funny standouts. The script is “just good enough” with a handful of sight gags and jokes that actually stick the landing. It moves quickly, and at 90 minutes, doesn’t overstay its welcome. Dreamworks’ animated flicks are usually pretty reliable family entertainments, and World Tour is no different in that respect. The opening 10 minutes are probably the best, a barrage of music and neon colors that tickle the ears and delight the eyes.

The Bad: It’s a standard sequel in terms of delivering a lot of the same elements that made the first film work and expanding the world, without ever being able to match the fun or freshness of the original. Despite the promise of five new Troll worlds, the screenwriters don’t really flesh out those worlds or the different characters in them, skipping over that stuff in favor of the next musical moment. Speaking of musical moments, the filmmakers had a wide array of pop songs to choose to use here – and to represent the best that pop has to offer, they go with “Gangham Style” and “Who Let the Dogs Out?” 

Should You See It?: Sure. What else are you going to do while sheltering in place? Grab the family, make some popcorn, and shell out the $20 for an in-home theatrical experience. I love the convenience of it, but I sure do hope this isn’t the new normal. We still need movie theaters!

Star Rating: *** out of 5 stars

Better Than: Sonic the Hedgehog

Worse Than: Trolls, Onward

* * *

For more movie/TV commentary and other mischief, follow me on Twitter: @Hammervision and on Letterboxd: @Hammervision

Best Songs by the Solo Beatles, or Worst Theater Experiences. You Make the Choice.

Things come together; things come apart. The most infamous break-up in the music world was the end of the Beatles. I know that I can’t pick any one song as my favorite Beatle hit, but can I pick a bestie from each of John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s solo careers?

Let’s get the easiest one out of the way first. Mr. Starr has recorded a few numbers that have stayed with me. It Don’t Come Easy is a song that sends out a message in these trying times. Oh My My and No No Song are nice and whimsical. So is Bang on the Drum. What, you say? That isn’t Ringo, that’s Todd Rundgren? Well,  shouldn’t it be a Ringo tune?

What wins the Ringo Round-Up for me? Hands down, it’s Photograph, a warm-but-sad ode to a lost lover. George Harrison helped write and produce, but this is Ringo’s shining moment.

Speaking of George, what’s my favorite song from the guy who always seemed like the most morose Beatle? What is Life? Too questiony. Bangladesh? Too rooted in the 70s. My Sweet Lord? Bingo. Despite issues with the lyrics (too religious) and the melody (too much of a Chiffon’s rip-off,) I’ll always stop and listen when this comes up on my Pandora stream. Hallelujah, Hare Hare, Hare Krishna!

Then there is John. Yeah, most of you would vote for Imagine. Greatest song of all time and all that crap.  I’m sorry, it is just too preachy and solemn for me. Even in COVID-19 times. When I want to hear Lennon get in people’s faces, I’ll make my pick Instant Karma. It’s gonna get you! Gotta love the real John, the snarky John.

Paul. The longest solo career, the most hits. The basic question? Is the song solo if it was with Linda? Or if it was with Wings? Sure–any post-Beatle Paul is Solo Paul. So I could choose something from McCartney or from Ram but I am going to give my favorite nod to the title song from the Wings album Band on the Run. Honorable mentions go to Live and Let Die and Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. I’ve always wanted to know what a butter pie tastes like.

I’m sure you disagree with some, or likely all, of my choices. Send me your favorites and I’ll take another listen. Now is the time to share.

---

For the “Worst” part of today’s double feature click here.

---

Like what you read here? Add your name to our subscription list below. No spam, I promise!
___

———————————–

Best Songs by the Solo Beatles, or Worst Theater Experiences. You Make the Choice.

I wrote about my favorite theater experiences long ago. But sometimes writing “Best Of” lists get boring. Sometimes I’ve got to let the other flag fly. Can I remember my 10 worst theater experiences? Here’s a shot at it. ((Confession: although most of these shows have played Broadway, we saw most as local productions.)

Ten Theater Take-Downs and Disappointments

10.  Spring Awakening. Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre. 2016. Based on an old German play. It should have stayed there!

9.  Big Fish. Nederlander Theatre. 2013. If I could have stayed awake it might have made more sense to me.

8.  The Merchant of Venice. Bank of America Theatre. 2011. Starring F. Murray Abraham, I was so looking forward to this. But the air-conditioning failed on an unusually hot early spring day, and we felt as if we were broiling under a Venetian sun in mid-summer.

7.  Godspell. Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre. 2014. We left at intermission. At least half the audience left before we did.

6.  The Pirate Queen. Cadillac Palace Theatre. 2006. Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg wrote Les Misérables. We loved it. They wrote Miss Saigon. We tolerated it. They wrote The Pirate Queen. We detested it.

5. Next to Normal. Bank of America Theatre. 2011. On Broadway, Pulitzer Prizes and Tony Awards. For the Broadway in Chicago production., not even a Jeff Award.

4. Into the Woods. Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre. 2006. I know I am supposed to like Sondheim. I try. I really try.

3. In the Sick Bay of The Santa Maria. Goodman Theatre New Stages Festival. 2019. It was short, it was experimental. The tickets were free and still over-priced.

2. Chess. Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre. 1990. Evita meets ABBA in this Tim Rice-Benny Andersson-Björn Ulvaeus mish-mash. My mother was babysitting for the kids and called us during intermission to tell us our son had a fever. We were overjoyed to have such a good reason to leave the theater.

1. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Belasco Theatre. 2010. Patti LuPone, Sheree Renee Scott, Laura Benanti, Brian Stokes Mitchell. Too many stars, too much of a hot-hot-mess.

Did you like some of these shows? Or maybe you have even worse theater memories. Tell me about it!

---

Click here for the “Bests” in today’s double feature.

---

Like what you read here? Add your name to our subscription list below. No spam, I promise!
___

———————————–

In one Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s  most staggering promises, she has ruled out layoffs in city government because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Sun-Times reported:

“We are not expecting to do any layoffs,” the mayor told a news conference hours before Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s stay-at-home order was extended for another month.

“Our economy in this region is incredibly diverse. And if you look at how we have fared in other economic downturns — whether it was 9/11, the Great Recession of 2008 or 2009 — we’ve had some impact, of course. But, we rebounded back very, very strong and well.”

Wow, talk about President Donald Trump being disconnected from reality. That would make Chicago unlike every other city in America whose  budgets are getting torpedoed by the pandemic’s higher costs and lower revenues.

In just three weeks, jobless claims have roared in the tune of 16 million but if Lightfoot is right, none of the city’s 34,000 are included. Meanwhile, Chicago taxpayers will continue to get squeezed, but only tighter.

No one wants to see anyone get fired, but the exclusive club of Chicago employees reeks of dysfunction, at best. Or blind incompetence and the Way of Chicago.

Consider: The New York Times reported that ten percent of American workers filed for unemployment in the past three weeks; never, not even in the Great Depression, has the nation suffered such a rapid collapse of the labor market.

Millions more are struggling to submit unemployment claims to overwhelmed state agencies. And still more face the loss of their jobs in the coming weeks.

The scale of the economic damage is breathtaking. In one recent poll, more than half of all Americans under the age of 45 said that they had lost their jobs or suffered a loss of hours.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports: 

But that mammoth effort [the federal rescue package] is still likely to leave millions of additional Americans unemployed for an extended time, according to new economic forecasts that see U.S. unemployment not just spiking to Depression-era levels in coming weeks, but remaining above a relatively high rate of 6% through the end of 2021.

But not Chicago city workers. Did I hear someone say, “We’re all in this together?”

[email protected]

www.dennisbyrne.net 

My historical novel: Madness: The War of 1812

Feel free to call me names, but I cry every year during the NFL Draft. The idea that we get to watch kids (A. I’m old, B. College aged is a kid!) lives change in front of our eyes, and for the most part, the lives of their families as well, just gets to me. Then there are the kids that against all odds and everything seemingly stacked against them get to live their dream? Tears. There is a new initiative that try that people be more efficient at work, in this case the technique is a little different consists in have the pets at the office. Having pets in the office has been shown to reduce stress and make employees feel more relaxed and comfortable. A pet-friendly workplace tends to increase employee satisfaction and to improve morale.

The Chicago Bears seasons lately have also been reason enough to cry, but can the new draft picks change that? After hours and hours poring over whatever tape I could find, and reading up on our picks for all hours of the night, I’m ready to share my thoughts on our picks.

WR Kevin White: While we watched Ryan Pace pick some players to develop, I believe (you heard it here first) White will be a starter this season. Can he fill Brandon Marshall’s shoes? As a huge Marshall fan, I’d love to say no one can, but White seems like he can come close. He’s got the size and speed for the position. If he can work on his consistency of play, which I believe is possible through more time on field, he has the potential to become the Bears #1 receiver. He’s a riot to watch in interviews, his character and enthusiasm just shine through.

DT Eddie Goldman: We could use Goldman in the middle at nose tackle. While we’ve already got Ego Feruson and Jeremiah Ratliffe (who Goldman has mentioned is his favorite player), those two may see some competition with the addition of Goldman. He’s a strong, fast and consistent player. Even better? He’s got his idol to learn from. If the Bears keep him at DT, I think we could see him take the field this season.

C Hroniss Grasu: Without a doubt the Bears needed a Center, but I was surprised we took one in just the third round. (If you’ve read any of my other articles, you know I would have been infinitely happier to watch us draft a new QB). On the upside, Grasu has experience playing with Kyle Long, and is a capable replacement for Roberto Garza.

RB Jeremy Langford: The addition of Langford gives Chicago a pretty hearty running back group. Well stacked. He won’t give Matt Forte any worries of losing the starting position, but Langford could see field time perhaps late in games to give Forte some relief. Langford has a lot of experience, he’s rushed, he’s carried and he’s scored touchdowns. Possessing the ability to be a versatile player will help the Bears.

FS Adrian Amos: Amos has played both corner and safety, and that should help him in the future, but I don’t predict Amos seeing the field much this season. While he is big (which is needed at this position) and fast, I think Pace took him as a developmental player.

OT Tayo Fabuluje: This guys is MASSIVE. He’s huge. He’s strong, but I’ll be watching to see if the Bears make him drop weight, or if he really can be as quick on his feet as he will need to be, at his current size. If I had to guess, I’d say we will see him on the field this season, after watching our O-line lost plenty of players to injury.

This was Ryan Pace’s first draft with the Bears, and perhaps it was lucky for him that there were so many holes to fill. All in all, I’m pretty happy with who he chose – are you? Tweet me @lucyrk78 and let me know your thoughts!