There are way better Bob's to listen to :).

I'm ok w/ the Eagles though they seem to be way overplayed.

The Eagles?? Bob Seger??

Michale.....

Nnnnnnoooooooo!!! I would rather pour rock salt over my burning flesh!

:)

Pretty soon I'll have you singing WEEKEND IN NEW ENGLAND or LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT or I WRITE THE SONGS..... :D

Michale.....

I just remembered that Rolling Stone had to include The Clashes' "London Calling" in the 80s when they were looking for most significant albums of the decade even though it came out in England in '79.

A-ha! I think you may have found where we differ. Though I'm a U2 fan, I don't think they ever had a better album than War.

I thought Emo ... heheh, Freudian slip ... almost destroyed them on The Unforgettable Fire.

He took a raw, edgy powerful band and, as you say, smoothed them out. The result: "In the name of luuuuuuuuvvvvvv ..."

Bleh.

Pre-Eno U2 and Post-Eno U2 are very different indeed, and the post-Eno U2 is the band that made it big on the world stage. I rest my case.

So Eno popularized them?

I rest mine. LOL.

Ok, sorry, the ranting about something other than politics is fun. I love to talk music.

Led Zeppelin. Hendrix. Some King Crimson. I can agree on all of them!

Any T.Rex, Badfinger, or Clash fans out there? I guess I lean towards raw pop. Probably why I like Nirvana so much.

When it comes down to it, I think people in general tend to like music that reminds them of a certain time. For me it's seems to be about 1983 and 1991 :)

-David

p.s. I'm with 'ya, Michale. REO is much closer to Air Supply!

Really?? I have always thought of REO as a love song soupy ballad song group, as I mentioned, a'la Air Supply... Not that THAT is a bad thing.. I lost my....er.. well, moving on.. :D

Anyways, I have always thought of Journey as a hard rock type band ala KISS and GUNZnROSES...

Granted Journey does have some ballad type love songs, but so do KISS and GnR...

Ahhhh... the 80s... when MTV actually played music videos! Heh.

I agree with THAT sentiment 1000%!! :D

I mean, The Knack? Seriously? Hrrmph.

Ma Ma Ma MY SHARONA!!!! :D ehehehehehhehehe

Let's see, what else... Jimi Hendrix was God's gift to the electric guitar, can we all at least agree on that?

No doubt...

Michale.....

But I DO know a little about politics. And I know that, had the Democrats not been shellacked in the last election, they would be crowing about how they have helped the Unemployment rate go down. :D

So, what's good for the goose.......

Oh, OK. Well, I can't disagree. I've always said that business cycles are fairly independent of political cycles, but that hasn't ever stopped either party from claiming credit (or assigning blame), so I would have to say, on general principles, I agree with what you're saying here.

My general feeling on the unemployment rate is mystification (and some rage) at the MSM for continually reporting good news as bad. It's not political, in other words, it's a media thing.

Oh, come on... REO is almost indistinguishable from Journey. I mean, really.

I'll comment later on my general music ideology, just had to say that. I actually saw the "Journey reunion" which happened at Bill Graham's wake (in Golden Gate Park, look it up), and it was kind of cool -- not that I'd ever shell out money to see them, or anything. That was a pretty interesting show all around, with Bobby McFerrin, the Grateful Dead, Joe Satriani, and Robin Williams (not your usual lineup, in other words).

And everybody knows that Jethro Tull was a 17th/18th century argicultural inventor, right? Ian Anderson's the guy with the flute, fronting the band. As Anderson said in an interview: "we were so bad when we started that we kept changing the band's name every week so we could get booked at the same clubs again... Jethro Tull just happened to be the name we were using when we hit it big..."

:-)

Jethro Tull is why I can always remember the guy who didn't make it down to the surface of the moon with Neil and Buzz, because they had a song called: "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey, And Me."

David -

Also, see below for musical rant. But do check out the Byrne/Eno thing.

And, if you really want a treat, Google "Crack The Sky" and find a copy of the song "Nuclear Apathy" as it is quite possibly the best "garage band level" song I've ever heard.

Michale -

Boy, Commodore 64, that takes me back... as does the Trash-80. Heh.

As for both of you, in [21] and [22], I fear Obama has fallen into the Clintonian idea of "triangulation" where you try to not piss your base off just enough so they'll vote for you, and then impress the centrists just enough so that they'll also vote for you. Which isn't all that stupid, considering his stable polling at 45-50 percent, but it's still disappointing.

OK, on to music.

I'm not a big fan of the 1980s, even though I "came of age" then. I am much more in tune with the 1970s and even the 1960s, music-wise. I mean, The Knack? Seriously? Hrrmph.

Give me Led Zeppelin, or even Uriah Heep or King Crimson any day.

The 80s, to me, had a scant handful of original bands. U2, for one. The Talking Heads, for another (although it took me a long while to appreciate them, I have to say). Peter Gabriel's solo career, as well, was both amazing as well as launching the entire "music video" scene (trivia: the guy behind some of PG's most amazing videos in the 80s and early 90s went on to become the "Wallace and Gromit" guy...).

Ahhhh... the 80s... when MTV actually played music videos! Heh.

Mostly, though, I ignored the 1980s musically. No great loss, as far as I can tell.

:-)

Eno, however, is a genius. He's the one who smoothed out the whole U2 sound, in fact, due to his work as a producer. Pre-Eno U2 and Post-Eno U2 are very different indeed, and the post-Eno U2 is the band that made it big on the world stage. I rest my case.

Oh, and Mike Oldfield, he also did some interesting things in the 1980s. Saw him live in Paris, one of the best concerts I've ever been to.

Let's see, what else... Jimi Hendrix was God's gift to the electric guitar, can we all at least agree on that?

:-)

-CW

The New Commodore 64
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/06/the-new-commodore-64-updated-with-its-old-exterior/?partner=rss&emc=rss

For those of you who have been with computers since the TRS80/VIC 20 days, this is awesome!!! :D

Michale.....

CW, if ya want, I can post this directly to a Banter Media commentary.. That is, if they unban me. :D hjehehehehehehehe

Michale.....

Michale

It IS an interesting question. Why does Democratic Party leadership think it's good politics to kick the Party base.

I think the answer is because, by and large the Center and the Right hate the Left. Now, "hate" may be too strong a word but I can't come up with something that would adequately convey what I am thinking..

And, just for the record, I don't "Hate" the Left.. I dislike some of what the Left stands for, just as I dislike some of what the Right stands for...

My point is, I think that when Obama wants to please the Center and the Right in an effort to curry favor, then all they have to do is kick the Left...

Now, while this may work for the Right, I don't think that the Independents will buy it for long.

Who is he pleasing?

Well, as his poll numbers go down, it's clear that Obama ain't pleasing much of anyone. :D

The Left is not pleased because Obama is violating the integrity of the Left...

The Right is not pleased because Obama is not doing everything the Right wants him to do.

The Center is not pleased because they recognize that Obama is just trying to kiss their asses in an attempt to curry political favor.

Like I have said before, Obama is creating himself a perfect Lose Lose situation..

If the GOP can't field a decent alternative, I am praying that Hillary will mount a primary challenge to Obama, because THAT is the only thing that can save this country from another 4 years of Obama...

And yes, I join you in disbelief that I am actually HOPING that Hillary runs.. :D

Michale.....

Glenn Greenwald sums up my feelings exactly with the Democrats and their base.

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/04/05/democrats/index.html

Here's my question. If Obama's not pleasing me by constantly trying to appease the "middle". And he's not pleasing you even though he's doing what you want him to do.

Who is he pleasing?

Now, Obama may very well win because the Republicans seem completely incapable to this date of finding a candidate who can win. But that seems like a helluva way to win an election. And worse, Obama has turned off a generation of people who voted for him because he sure doesn't seem to be acting on any principles.

Yours in frustration,
David

*ouch* It wounds me that you lump Cheap Trick and the Cars in with REO and Journey. I think Cheap Trick and the Cars have more in common with bands like Big Star or the Knack.

Heartbeat City might have gotten a little schlocky, but early Cars, especially w/ Benjamin Orr singing, is some of my favorite music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbXzAAXOBsY

Ok, I'm over it now :)
-David

Nope, I can't..

I don't know enough about economics to know one way or the other..

But I DO know a little about politics. And I know that, had the Democrats not been shellacked in the last election, they would be crowing about how they have helped the Unemployment rate go down. :D

So, what's good for the goose.......

"What's good for the goose is nobody's business by the ganders!!"
-Mr Furley, THREES COMPANY

I didn't like a lot of early 80s stuff (Cheap Trick, REO Speedwagon, Journey, Cars, etc.),

I dunno if I would put REO in the same class as Journey or Cheap Trick. REO was more of a ballad song group, a la Air Supply...

Give me Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull, or Crack The Sky

"I tell you one thing that really drives me nuts, is people who think that Jethro Tull is just a person in a band."
-Oscar, ARMAGEDDON

:D

Hey, c'mon, I thought you'd approve! "Only thing he's done right since he shot those pirates" is more what I expected from you...

Yer absotively right. In addition to commenting on the flip-flop, I SHOULD have given credit to Obama for finally doing the right thing..

I stand corrected. :D

But I also must add that it's a strange way to fire up his base... :D

Michale.....

Actually, the private sector's been adding jobs for 13 months now... since Obama's stimulus plan kicked in, in other words.

Heh. :-)

Name me ONE THING Republicans have done to improve the economy (one thing they've actually DONE, not just grandstanded on) since the election, and I'll eat my words, how's that? I bet you can't...

Kevin -

AOL/HuffPost does their own thing without input from me. Just wanted to say that, up front. They seem to have a problem with timely posts, that's for sure. I post at the same time I always have, but there seems to be no editor home on the weekends and evenings these days. If you'd like to complain, please do so -- to the HuffPost editors. It certainly is annoying, I agree with you fully.

For instance, this article finally posted on Monday:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/friday-talking-points-161_b_843901.html

No comments, though, which isn't too surprising (given the delay).

akadjian -

I didn't like a lot of early 80s stuff (Cheap Trick, REO Speedwagon, Journey, Cars, etc.), so this is a personal preference, I guess. That sort of "anthem rock" thing didn't do a whole lot for me, mostly because it was all so overplayed on the radio at the time. Give me Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull, or Crack The Sky (obscure Baltimore band, but quite excellent, really) any day.

As for Eno/Byrne, you really need to check out "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts" as it is fantastic. It was an experimental album (no surprise, given those two), and used instead of lyrics random bits recorded off the radio. They even got sued because they used some famous guy and only listed him as "unidentified radio evangelist," as I recall. Anyway, it is somewhere between the Talking Heads and Eno musically, but with the weird lyrics is one-of-a-kind. If you liked Eno (my favorite is still Another Green World), you'll love this, I guarantee it.

Michale [16] -

Hey, c'mon, I thought you'd approve! "Only thing he's done right since he shot those pirates" is more what I expected from you...

Heh.

-CW

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/9134304/obama-uturn-us-to-try-911-accused-at-guantanamo/

Such 180 degree shifts in policy simply cannot be good for the skeletal structure.....

Michale.....

Ya know, I am hard pressed to figure out which are the bigger morons...

The guy who does something so blatantly provocative??

Or the moron Muslims whose actions prove that everything the first moron says about them is true...

Jeeesh.. What a world...

Michale.....

hehehehehehehe Too funny!!! :D

Michale.....

Now that's just uncalled for!

:)

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/04/hillary-clinton-obama-john-phillips.html

Depending on who the GOP fields, *I* could be persuaded to vote for Hillary..

That's how much Obama has disappointed me...

And I doubt that I am the only Independent/NPA who feels that way...

Michale.....

I'm w/Michale on this one! One of the best power pop live bands ever. Endlessly duplicated. Rarely matched.

Does this mean yer a Barry Manilow fan too?? :D ehhehehehehehehehehe

Michale.....

But that constant reverbing booom de de de boom booom de de de boooom booom de de de boooom booom de de de boooom from TREASURE JEWEL Online Game needs to be sent to Gitmo because it will extract confessions from terrorists in 30 seconds flat!!

On another note....

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef014e872effbf970d-300wi

THAT right there is funny as hell!! :D

Michale.....

I'm w/Michale on this one! One of the best power pop live bands ever. Endlessly duplicated. Rarely matched.

p.s. Brian Eno hasn't done much I've liked since "Here Come the Warm Jets" ... :) But I'm intrigued by the David Byrne collaboration.

Hmmmmmmmm

Interesting, iddn't it?? :D

Michale.....

And then a VERY loud, VERY repetitive and VERY annoying TREASURE JEWEL GAME ad....

Did I say VERY??? :D

Michale.....

Brings back a LOT of good memories. hehehehehehe

For the record, heard another AD right now. AIR WICK

Michale......

Hey, I was up late at night and had to deal with the sound-enabled ads waking up my wife, so I can relate.

I had to gingerly use the word "tool," as it has a more sinster meaning, but I'm glad you got the gist of what I was saying.

OK, I can't resist. Here is my critique of your musical styles: Meatloaf, well, we agree on that one. Kansas, wonderful keyboards, and wonderful "Bleeding Kansas" album cover. "Father Padilla Meets The Perfect Gnat" has always been a favorite of mine, personally... to say nothing of "Portrait: He Knew," "Closet Chronicles," or "Nobody's Home," for that matter. The rest of that lineup (Cheap Trick? Really?) I will pass on commenting on, for our mutual benefit (Barry Freakin' Mainlow? You have GOT to be kidding...).

Search Google for an audio track of "The Jezebel Spirit" by Brian Eno and David Byrne... that's what I'm listeing to, currently....

-CW

Why it's.... It's..... Positively REPUBLICAN!!!! :D

Some on the Left decry the use of talking points altogether. The very concept is supposed to be bad, somehow. This is balderdash. Can a hammer be "bad"? Can a pair of pliers? No! They cannot! They can be used in "good" or "bad" ways, but they are merely tools in a toolbox. The same holds true for this political tool.

It always gave me a good laugh when I hear the Hysterical Left (you know who you are!! :D) slam and attack the use of Talking Points..

As you say, it's a tool...

I think the Hysterical Left has done the Left a grave disservice by trying to demonize Talking Points...

This is really kind of a "Program Note" for everyone. Recently, ads have appeared here with sound. This is not supposed to happen, and we at ChrisWeigant.com apologize. Here is a message from Banter Media Group, which asks for your help in tracking them down:

I am VERY happy this was mentioned as it has been a REAL pain in the arse of late.. Normally when I am perusing CW I have either music playing in the background (Meatloaf, Kansas, Cheap Trick, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson and Barry Manilow... YES THAT Barry Manilow... :D) or it's early (like now) and I have no sound on.. But then the ads start blaring and I have to switch thru 8-12 different web pages I have up to find the one that's producing the sound...

I am not sure who to contact but, if you can pass it on, the two ads I have heard most often was for BOUNCE and RESOLVE....

Make sure they know that it was MICHALE who passed on this info.. That oughta get their knickers in a bunch!!! :D

Michale.....

We've recently been hit with a spate of audio ads - we have a strict no sound policy at BMG so obviously this is not acceptable. If you or your readers spot one, could you please inform me and give me as much information about the ad as possible? We've been busy tracking down the ad and it appears to be coming from multiple sources. The more we know about it the better.

Apologies for any inconvenience, and I hope you all have a great weekend!

-CW