There’s Something About Jonathan Richman’s Shitty Car

Once you get past the 2-minute intro to this Modern Lovers song there is a paradise awaiting you. As grating as Richman's slacker toned one-sided conversation can be at times, I think it’s worth it for you to resist fast forwarding on your first listen for two reasons: (1) It provides a context for the song’s hilarious subject matter and (2) heaven is all the sweeter if you’ve been scorched by the flames of hell. Maybe that’s a bit dramatic. Anyways, enjoy the tune. And if you like it, get more like it here.

Dodge Veg-O-Matic

Early 90’s Ramones

Even though their hey day was 15 or so years before Mondo Bizarro hit the flip racks, The Ramones proved that they’d never really lost a sense of what made their music so great: infectious hooks with simple memorable lyrics that burrow themselves way down passed the cerebral cortex and into the corpus callosum area (see diagram). The songs on this album have to fight early 90’s production values that suffocate that raw Ramones power under glimmering guitar and washed up drums, but they usually overcome. None more so than on today’s song, a sweet little ditty that owes more than a little to “I Should Have Known Better” by The Beatles.

I Won't Let It Happen

Unicorns Are Also Forever

As much as Nick Diamonds & J'aime Tambeur band Islands occupies the place in my heart set aside for really great and quirky music created by Canadians, the void left by their former band was far too big for any other band to completely fill. The Unicorns lone album, Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? had so many strange thematic and musical choices that worked so brilliantly that the album sounds fresh with every play. Enjoy this track, it’s one of three songs about ghosts on the album.

Ghost Mountain

Shuffle

I apologize to anyone who popped in today to read and/or listen to some actual music, but the Bears played so great last night I can’t believe it. I know it’s only 4 games into the season and I shouldn’t be thinking about the Super Bowl, and yet that’s exactly where my head is. So, for your listening (and viewing) pleasure, here is the cockiest football team in the history of the NFL, the 1985 Chicago Bears with a little ditty they like to call, The Super Bowl Shuffle. They actually made this video BEFORE the Super Bowl. Also, I love that they let Steve Fuller (their backup QB) have a verse. At least Kyle Orton has that going for him.

Super Bowl Shuffle