The Yellow Stripe

We got cable at the end of 1988. Around the time I was prepping for my Bar Mitzvah - I was more likely to distract myself with Mike Tyson's Punch-Out than MTV. I mostly only watched the mainstream videos.

Every so often, as I got a little more mature as a listener, I would stay up later to watch 120 mins... and not just the headbanger stuff. One of the bands I really liked was Concrete Blonde...

Concrete Blonde - Joey

Concrete Blonde - Everybody Knows

"Joey" was their biggest hit, a song about singer Johnette Napolitano's relationship with an alcoholic. "Everybody Knows" a cover of the Leonard Cohen song, from the movie "Pump Up the Volume". I find Napolitano a compelling vocalist, with both her voice and ability to manipulate it. Comparing Cohen's spare arrangement to Concrete Blonde's lush version - I much prefer the Cover. I imagine Cohen intended a flat effect, but I find Napolitano's interpretation far more compelling.

I don't feel like they have an especially deep catalog, but I think these two songs in particular are pretty timeless (though the Joey video is pretty hackneyed) Given the national news these days, "Everybody Knows" doesn't sound more than a week old, does it...

I've been lax in posting again. Blah, blah, softball-cakes, yeah. Far more important things are afoot - even more important than health care, more important than Skip Gates, more important than the possible de-funding of the F-22.

I'm talking about, perhaps, the greatest Foreign Policy blog theme ever.

Jay-Z vs the Game: Lessons for the American Primacy Debate

This is what happens when serious Foreign Policy intellectuals happen to also be big-time fans of hip-hop and rap. They combine the two issues in the most deliciously geeky/nerdy way. And then they really run with the metaphors... (The Game = Hugo Chavez = Priceless)

Now, I do like Mark Lynch's work, but this takes him to a new level of awesome. Spencer Ackerman, OTOH, I always knew was cool.

So, seriously. If you are a Foreign Policy wonk, and super nerdy about your hip-hop, I wholeheartedly encourage you to check out the following...

I mean... it even made NPR.

So, death of Michael Jackson. Prodigious Talent. Extraordinary Weirdness. We were touched by his concern for children. We were concerned by his touching of children.

(Note: all links point to YouTube. Enjoy them.)

( Discussing the Jackson 5, and video clips )

As a special treat, the brothers popping & locking with Dom DeLuise.

Tonight, we mourn the passing of singing legend, Robert Goulet. Wonderful showman, with a great style and sense of humor... as seen in these sixteen commercials he did for ESPN College Basketball back in the 1990s.

Links to Index of Clips

#	Topic	Song
1	Kentucky Wildcats	Come On, Get Happy
2	Kansas Jayhawks	Give My Regards To Broadway
3	Dean Smith	Bad Bad Leroy Brown
4	UCLA	YMCA
5	Bobby Knight	Oh Susanna
6	Big Monday	Happy Days are Here Again
7	Arkansas	Home on the Range
8	Championship Week	High Hopes
9	Dick Vitale	Yankee Doodle Dandy
10	Three Point Shots	Downtown
11	Utah Utes	Old MacDonald Had a Farm
12	Wake Forest	Green Acres
13	Big Monday	That's Amore
14	Big East - ACC	Addams Family
15	Freshman	Flintstones
16	College Basketball on ESPN	YMCA

Updated 11/01 at 1800