You're browing the archives for the month of July 2008

1988 Countdown #88: Michael Bolton, “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay”

Back from the commercial break, we are joined again by Kevin Seal, wearing a black jacket over a black t-shirt. “This is the top funky one hundred of 1988,” he says, and then hypes the “Big Bang ’89” New Year’s Eve event later that night on MTV: “We’ll count down the minutes to midnight, in […]

posted 17 July 2008 in 1988. 2 comments

The Gavin Report

Flipping through radio stations in the car yesterday, I heard Gavin Rossdale’s solo single, “Love Remains the Same,” which has not been a monster hit, but evidently is getting some airplay. In the ’90s, I wrote about Gavin (and his band Bush) often enough that Gavin and I called each other “my namesake.” This article […]

posted 16 July 2008 in Archives, Articles. 1 comment

1988 Countdown: Commercial Break #5

“Time to visit the Duke,” former Sex Pistol Steve Jones often says on his (excellent) Los Angeles radio show when heading into a commercial break. I had been listening for months before any guest asked him what “the Duke” meant; I had assumed it was a euphemism for the bathroom, but it turns out Jones […]

posted 15 July 2008 in 1988. 6 comments

Portishead of the Class

One of my favorite albums this year is Portishead’s third studio album, creatively titled Third. It’s been over a decade since Portishead’s last studio album (the equally creatively titled Portishead), but as far as I can tell from their recent press clippings, they haven’t changed a bit. (Their music certainly hasn’t: they still make exquisite […]

posted 14 July 2008 in Archives, Articles. 3 comments

Friday Foto: Flipwalk #31

I’ve added flipwalk #31 to the 48 Hours from Ground Zero section. A teaser image: A tip of the hat to artist Julian Opie, who’s done some of my favorite public artworks of the past few years. I’m also pleased (and a little surprised) to say that I’ve found my missing notes, and have accordingly […]

posted 11 July 2008 in Photos. no comments yet

1988 Countdown #89: The Traveling Wilburys, “Handle With Care”

Very little happens in this video. But then again, very little needs to. Somebody clearly made the calculation that having George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Orbison in one room would provide enough entertainment value by itself, and they were right. Twenty years later, the appeal of the Traveling Wilburys and […]

posted 10 July 2008 in 1988. 7 comments

Not That Type of Cougar

John (Cougar) Mellencamp has a new album out next week, called Life Death Love and Freedom (a title in the tradition of the BoDeans’ Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams and the Godfathers’ Birth, School, Work, Death). So the latest addition to the archives is a profile I wrote of him back in 2004, […]

posted 9 July 2008 in Archives, Articles. 4 comments

1988 Countdown #90: Natalie Cole, “Pink Cadillac”

Top of the hour: MTV does a 30-second station ID. The network had retired the classic astronaut footage by 1988, but kept the theme song. This spot is a nifty piece of animation featuring the MTV logo in a gyroscope, with close-ups on doors and windows opening up all over the logo, revealing naked bicycle […]

posted 8 July 2008 in 1988. 4 comments

Another Unlikely Lyric

I’ve been listening to U2’s “I Will Follow” for over 25 years (not continuously). But only recently did I pay attention to this lyric: Your eyes make a circle Two eyes, of course, make a line. So I am forced to conclude that the person whom Bono is addressing has more than two eyes. Actually, […]

posted 7 July 2008 in Tasty Bits. 1 comment

Friday Foto: Celebrating America

The entire staff of Rule Forty-Two HQ wishes you a happy Fourth of July. From those benches, you can see the Statue of Liberty.

posted 4 July 2008 in Photos. no comments yet