I suppose I should have posted this early in the summer, when Kasey Kasem finally (!) retired, but then again there were a great great many things I never got around to posting here. But hey, considering that radio stations are currently playing old "American Top 40" shows from the 70s and 80s, it is clear the format hasn't gone out of style.
Gotta say, I loved that show when I was in Middle School, when KK was on top of his game and the Top 40 still mattered in pop culture. Always thought it would have been great to hear an ATF of my own picks, and can even hear Kasey Kasem reading the lead in to some of them.
So, to take us to the top of the hour, and off to another blog, here is my own All-time Top 40. Take it away Kasey!
40. Talk to You Later ... The Tubes
39. Convoy ... C.B. McCall
38. Texarkana ... R.E.M.
37. Baker Street ... Gerry Rafferty
36. Total Eclipse of the Heart ... Bonnie Tyler
35. The Pink Panther Theme ... Henry Mancini
34. The Battle of Evermore ... Led Zeppelin
33. Head Like A Hole ... Nine Inch Nails
32. Hold Me Now ... The Thompson Twins
31. The Dreaming ... Kate Bush
30. Snapshot The Art Of Noise
29. Barracuda ... Heart
28. Heaven & Hell Vangelis
27. What A Fool Believes ... The Doobie Brothers
26. Just Like U Said It Would B ... Sinéad O'Connor
25. I Before E Except After C ... Yaz
24. Word Up! ... Cameo
23. Jump ... Aztec Camera
22. I Must Be Dreamin' ... Cheap Trick
21. I Did It Just The Same ... Eurythmics
20. I Wanna Be Sedated ... The Ramones
19. The Right Profile ... The Clash
18. Sexual Healing ... Marvin Gaye
17. Beautiful Girl ... Peter Droge & the Sinners
16. I Ran ... A Flock Of Seagulls
15. Heart Of Glass ... Blondie
14. Watermark ... Enya
13. Cannonball ... The Breeders
12. Bohemian Rhapsody ... Queen
11. Dance Along the Edge ... Concrete Blonde
10. Once in a Lifetime ... Talking Heads
9. There She Goes ... The La's
8. September ... Earth Wind & Fire
7. More Than This ... Roxy Music
6. No New Tale To Tell ... Love & Rockets
5. Fat Bottomed Girls ... Queen
4. No Myth ... Michael Penn
3. Solace ... Scott Joplin
2. Mercyfuck ... Mary Prankster
(Can you just imagine Kasey Kasem reading the intro to THAT tune? Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha)
Finally, before we get to #1, let me just say -- yes, I know this is a cheat, as it is actually 3 songs occupying the top slot. However, on the album, all 3 fold into each other and are meant to be played together, so we are therefore considering them one long tune. So here it is, your Jape All-time #1 hit, from The Cars!
1. Double Life/Shoo Be Do/Candy-O ... The Cars
... in addition to Woodstock and the Moon Walk (and the cancellation of Star Trek, which paved the way to modern fandom), you also had the epic meeting of Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson at GenCon II, that paved the way for modern gaming. Oh yeah, and I started kindergarten.
UPDATE: Wow, also the beginning of Monty Pyhton's Flying Circus AND Sesame Street.
So essentially, my entire conscious life started 40 years ago. Woot.
Fall is the season of change
More to come
Soon I hope
Bank of America will never, ever get my money. Not after what they pulled on this guy:
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/how_theresa_hatt_caused_the_financial_crisis.php
Last month, Theresa Hatt died at 52, after a brief struggle with cancer. [S]hortly after her death, Hatt's son, Paul Kelleher, began the sad task of calling his mother's creditors, to inform them of her passing. The calls were uneventful, if depressing, until Kelleher got to Bank of America. Here is how he says his conversation with a representative of the company's estates unit went:
Paul Kelleher: Yes, I'm calling to inform you that my mom died on the 24th of January.
Bank of America Estates representative: I'm sorry. Oh, it looks like she never even missed a payment. That's too bad. Well, how are you planning to take care of her balance?
PK: I'm not going to. She has no estate to speak of, but you should feel free to just go through the standard probate procedure. I'm certainly not legally obligated to pay for her.
BOA: You mean you're not going to help her out?
PK: I wouldn't be helping her out -- she's dead. I'd be helping you out.
BOA: Oh, that's really not the way to look at it. I know that if it were my mother, I'd pay it. That's why we're in the banking crisis we're in: banks having to write off defaulted loans.
"I lost it there," Kelleher, ... told TPMMuckraker. When pressed, he said, the estates rep backed off that last claim, but only a little, continuing to suggest that cases like his mothers had played a role in the financial crisis.
HOW much did B of A lose on their bone-headed purchase of Countrywide Financial, when everyone knew real estate was about to tank?? HOW many hundreds of millions of dollars (if not billions) did these suits piss away on greedy, shortsighted or just plain incompetent spending? And they have the fucking gall to pull shit like this?
I'll stick my money in a rabid squirrel's nest before handing over to these morally-bankrupt twits. The squirrel's nest pays a higher return.
Here is the finale of the Legacy installation:
My 24-hour installation marking Bush's last day in office is now up
Update: Wow, the smell from the port-a-john really helps put the whole piece in context
My farewell Bush cartoon is now up. Let the shoes fly
To mark the final day of George W. Bush in the White House, I'm premiering a unique work of art on Monday, January 19.
"Legacy" is a black and silver monoprint of Bush which will be installed on a construction dumpster outside the Venable Center in Durham. When Bush leaves office the next day, the print will be stripped off and tossed in with the rest of the debris.
This piece will only exist for 24 hours (if that), so come on down to the corner of Roxboro and Pettigrew Streets -- and bring extra shoes in case you get the urge throw something at Bush's "Legacy."
JP Trostle: "Legacy", 2009
Black toner on adhesive foil, 11" x 5"
on the south end of a metal dumpster, 7' x 20'
(The construction bin is located in between the two buildings that make up the Venable Center, and just outside of the offices of The Independent Weekly. Parking is available at a a small lot off of Roxboro or a larger lot off of Pettigrew.)
Well, for Turkish shoe manufacturers that is...
Turns out sales for the brand that was thrown at Bush are going through the roof and the company has hired a hundred people to help make more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=auI050ptHyPg
