Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not all heroes wear capes.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

When I was faster i was always behind.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Books are my comfort food!

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Come on, man.

You are here: Home / Music / Monday Morning Open Thread: Readership Capture

Monday Morning Open Thread: Readership Capture

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BLISS! It’s Monday, it’s February, and I assume I’m not alone in filtering my Grammy news through social media…

Mandatory messiness for the global audience… (honestly: listen to her speech starting at the 2:30m mark!)

All love to Billy Joel, but I was not impressed by his performance last night:


(To be fair, IMO, the best version of this particular song was Alvin Seville’s cover.)

Further readership capture, since this wasn’t televised…

Aaaand, Kids: These Days (Goddess bless Little Princess Froggie Dimples, she knows her audience & what will set them off):

Mandatory politic content (nope, Sprinsteen wasn’t there last night):

Reader Interactions

121Comments

  2. 2.

    satby

    I see on Xitter I wasn’t the only one moved to tears seeing Tracy Chapman performing. And what an ageless beauty she is. Haven’t seen Joni’s performance yet. That’s next.

  3. 3.

    Suzanne

    Tracy Chapman is a GD icon. She sounded so great last night.

    I didn’t get to watch all of the performances, so I have some things to catch up on today.

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: As best I recall, I’ve never watched the Grammys, no memory of ever watching the Emmys either but maybe I did as a kid once or twice. I do have memories of watching the Academy Awards, but they are ancient and faded.

    I do read about the Best Picture nominees and try to see all of them.

  11. 11.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Suzanne: I don’t listen to music much anymore, except for sometimes when I am on the computer I will plug in youtube and let the algorithm randomly play my tastes. It has to do with a number of things/changes in my life. It starts with when I moved out here and could no longer listen to KDHX (the signal didn’t travel this far) and dropped my membership (from what I hear from folks I knew to be involved there most are abandoning ship because of asshole politics) I do miss them. Nowadays my truck does not have a working radio and I’ve learned to appreciate the “quiet” time.

    @Princess: Heh, I loved that about her. She was having as much fun singing it as TC and LC.

    eta: And live music is all but nonexistent out here.

  14. 14.

    randy khan

    Swift has won her Super Bowl, so now her boyfriend has to match her.

    Anyway, that was a great speech.

  15. 15.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Ken: ​Then the Oscars have achieved their (one and only) true purpose, selling tickets.

    Not to me they don’t, I haven’t been in a movie theatre in over 14 yrs (while waiting for my first granddaughter to be born) and before that not since the dinosaurs wandered the earth (when the Tivoli Theatre in U-City was still going). And while we now (finally) have streaming we don’t watch stuff that costs money. I can wait a few years.

    Of course I don’t remember all the nominees after a few years, but that’s why I say “I try to watch them all.”

    If after seeing one and liking it, I will buy the DVD once it hits the $10 shelf or the $5 bin at Wally World, so there is that.

  16. 16.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @randy khan: Did you notice he wasn’t there for her big moment??? I’ll bet he told her he had to practice for the big game! Typical man!

    s//

  17. 17.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    The Grammys and the Tonys have easily been the tightest, best produced electrical teevee device awards shows for quite some time.  They do a great job catering to people who don’t necessarily watch awards shows nor are up on the latest in pop music or theater.

  18. 18.

    Jeffro

    Grammy performances ranked best to worst, per the Post, which would know about such things (eye roll)

    I have to admit, it was quite the learning experience for me and Mrs. Fro.  I knew of most all the artists but had only heard the music of half of them.  (Mrs. Fro, on the other hand: “who ARE these people?” =)

    (also: “what IS that Sphere-thing?”)

    (also: “did U2 get a new drummer?”)

    In fairness, she’s a busy person and now she’s all caught up!

    Major props to Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs, and in that order.   ;)

  21. 21.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Nowadays my truck does not have a working radio and I’ve learned to appreciate the “quiet” time.

    Back in my yoot, I had big-assed speakers on the deck in the back of the car blasting like mad (from an 8-track player).  I blew speakers in my first new car (85 Prelude) within 3 years of owning it.  Basically, the car was a mobile *loud*speaker.

    But as I got older, that started to change.  I listened to a lot of Totebagger Radio, particularly after the move to Misery and the resultant cultural and news wasteland it represented.

    Then, at some point during Obama’s second term, I stopped listening to that because I got tired of screaming at the radio on the 30-minute drive to/from work every day.  And I didn’t go back to blasting music…I came to appreciate the Quiet Time in the car.

    The only exception would be on bidness trips from Jeff City to Ames, Lincoln, Topeka, OK City.  Then, I’d channel surf.  It’s amazing how classic rock playlists rotate over time but at the same time are always the same.  I could be guaranteed of hearing the same song at least 3 times on a 5-hour car trip to Lincoln if I constantly station surfed the entire way.

  24. 24.

    randy khan

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    LOL.

    I was thinking he probably wouldn’t be able to be there.  Even relatively loosey-goosey Andy Reid probably wouldn’t have let him go, since the team traveled to Vegas on Sunday.

  26. 26.

    Jager

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    I found a box of old CDs a few weeks ago. I downloaded a few onto my Jeep’s “Infotainment system”. You should hear Lynrd Skynrd’s “Gimme Three Steps” over 9 speakers at 11. “I was cuttin a rug, at a place called the jug with a girl named Linda Lou…”

  28. 28.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Jager:

    Heh heh, my wife called the HS I went to in WV back in the late 70s “Lynrd Skynrd HS” for reasons like that.

    I’m sure your setup sounds a helluva lot better than my 8-track with two speakers (each with 20oz magnets!).

  30. 30.

    Jager

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    When I was in HS in the 60s my 57 Belair 2 door had a state-of-the-art system, Delco Wonder Bar AM with 3 speakers and a REVERB!!!

    The Power Pack 283 with broken-in glass packs was sweet music to my ears, and the Crager wheels were eye candy.

  31. 31.

    rusty

    For anyone that grew up in the 80’s (for me both high school and college) that Tracy Chapman performance was a shot through the heart.  My Facebook feed has completely blown up with friends posting the video and expressing their emotions.  It was beautiful (even Taylor Swift was singing and dancing along).

  33. 33.

    S Cerevisiae

    I installed a Pioneer under dash Supertuner in my first little Ford Courier and have been putting in stereos ever since (thanks Crutchfield!), I just upgraded the speakers in my current old rig with some Morels and it sounds great cranking up Highway Star cruising down I-35.

  34. 34.

    mali muso

    @Jeffro: I believe that Larry Mullen Jr (U2’s drummer) had some kind of surgery recently for carpal tunnel, so if he wasn’t performing with them, it’s because he’s still recovering.

    Fun fact, when I was in Peace Corps, I found that Tracy Chapman was immensely popular in West Africa.  You could hear her music played anywhere and everywhere.  Nothing quite like listening to Fast Car while barreling along a dusty road in the Sahel.

  35. 35.

    Brachiator

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage:

    The Grammys and the Tonys have easily been the tightest, best produced electrical teevee device awards shows for quite some time.  They do a great job catering to people who don’t necessarily watch awards shows nor are up on the latest in pop music or theater.

    Agree that the Tony’s are usually spectacular. Theater people know how to make the most of their moment on the stage. Even when I know little about the nominated shows, I enjoy the performances.

    The Grammys are sometimes a sprawling mess if the show is not well produced. I think I read that this years show was 4 hours. I hope that was a typo.

  36. 36.

    Baud

    I’m not a fan of the Luke Combs version, but I’m glad it gave Tracy Chapman a chance to be seen by the public again.

  37. 37.

    Jager

    @raven:

    An ancient friend of mine restored a 50 Chevy 5 window, same set up as you have in your 66. He promised his granddaughter she could pick the paint color, It’s Barney purple. He gets some shit from the Chevy purists…

  39. 39.

    raven

    @Jager:  I love those 5 window Chev’s. Mine is painted flat black, I used John Deere Blitz Black that is used to paint the wheel wells of tractors. Some folks will say “It’ll look great when it’s done”!! It is done Dawg!

  41. 41.

    geg6

    I love Joni, but Tracy Chapman is iconic for my cohort, the tail end of Boomers. That song was an anthem among me and my friends at the time. She sounded absolutely fantastic last night and seemed to have a blast doing it.

    Happy to see all the women getting love last night. Miley was her usual Miley self and I love the sentiment of “Flowers.” It could have been written by me at her age, if I’d had any talent in that direction. I thought Olivia Rodrigo was great, too.

    I’m super happy that Midnights won for Album of the Year. It really is great stuff and I’m just so happy for her. No man ever has done what she has done and I’m here for it.

  44. 44.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @comrade scotts agenda of rage: Hah. I remember when I decided it was time to go shopping for my dream car, in my twenties; I found the right model with all the right trimmings, but the guy selling it had put in one of those massive bass amps that took up the entire hatchback. I managed to get him to knock something like $700 off the asking price by letting him keep the amp for his next vehicle (I wanted the storage space under the liftback).

  45. 45.

    satby

    @Baud: I wasn’t either, but Yutsano linked to Coombs’ story about how meaningful the song was to him (maybe on FB, not here), and their duet last night certainly demonstrated she was ok with it.  It really was spectacular.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    @satby:

    Glad to hear the song had meaning for him and was not just about selling records. But it doesn’t make it sound better to my ears.  I don’t think it’s bad, but as he sings it, it’s just another song.

  49. 49.

    Jager

    @raven:

    I took my wife to lunch in Santa Monica before Christmas, parked next to a Mercedes AMG GT with a flat black wrap. When I was a kid half of my pal’s cars were primered, I went to my 35th HS reunion, and one of my old pals still had his primered 50 Merc.

    One of the old boys restored a 37 Chevy 2-door sedan, silver gray, black fenders, original engine with era-correct speed parts.

  50. 50.

    Roberto el oso

    Not exactly a quibble, but just to point out that the tweet regarding Joni Mitchell’s use of open and alternate tunings is dead wrong. Her innovative techniques were being remarked on as early as her 2nd LP, and David Crosby (to name just one) always went out of his way to note how much she influenced him in that regard.

  52. 52.

    geg6

    @Baud: ​
     
    Totally agree. I pretty much hate all country music and acts, with a very few important exceptions. But kudos to him for introducing her work to a new generation.

  60. 60.

    TBone

    @NotMax: hahaha the Rambler!  A neighborhood friend once stole his dad’s Rambler and, while tearing around a neighborhood corner at top speed, the battery was flung off its post.  He was forced to push that Rambler home 🤣

  62. 62.

    Redshift

    A teacher at our local high school won the Music Educator Grammy!

    As a music teacher at Annandale High School, Ray worked to establish both the Crescendo Orchestra for students with developmental and intellectual disabilities and the FCPS Parent Orchestra, which allows parents to learn instruments along with their children

  67. 67.

    TBone

    @sab: 😆I once lost a wheel off my VW Golf.  It crossed two lanes of traffic and a median before coming to rest.  I sang “You picked a fine time to leave me, Loose Wheel!” I had just exited the PA Turnpike and felt pretty lucky at the timing.

    The cheesiness factor abounds 🤣

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xY0WZWGco_0

  70. 70.

    Marcopolo

    @Baud: This.  And to reap a very nice financial reward for the renewed interest in the song and attention to her music.  What a lovely gift from out of the blue.

  72. 72.

    Steve in the ATL

    @NotMax: when I lived in France, every day was Nutella on a fresh, warm baguette day!  But that was many years and a very different metabolism ago….

  73. 73.

    catclub

    @TBone: 1. I am amazed that you had the presence of mind to think of that song after your wheel came off. And as you said, it could have picked a much worse time.

    2. It is my understanding that hubcaps are useful  because  you can hear when a lug nut has come off  and is rattling around in them. One hopes it is the first one to come off.

  76. 76.

    Steve in the ATL

    Controversial opinion: “Give Me One Reason” is a better song.  Certainly less depressing!

  77. 77.

    NotMax

    @catclub

    Know someone who was tooling down the left lane of the Schuylkill Expressway when the steering wheel detached from the column.

    As he told it, he applied the brakes and as people behind started honking he rolled down the window and held out the steering wheel in his left hand.

  79. 79.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @TBone: This happened to me last May with our Subaru Impreza. Was driving home from Diamond Bar at noon and car started feeling wobbly then all of a sudden I fad a serious flat.  As I was getting into the breakdown lane the tire came totally off and rolled another hundred yards down the freeway.  What really sucked is that I was about an hour from home and AAA could only tow me to a Just Tires nearby.  It was a very long and frustrating day.  I didn’t get home until 7 pm.

  80. 80.

    TBone

    @catclub: the hubs were plastic 🤣 and I prolly had the radio up too loud to hear any warning.  I loved that little car but it was unrequited!

  85. 85.

    TBone

    Joy-Ann Reid is on The View today, might be worth a watch.  Please don’t at me, I don’t watch on a regular basis but her new book sounds interesting.

  87. 87.

    geg6

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​
     
    I’m sure I’ve discussed my hatred of the country genre here at least once, if not multiple times. Country music grates on my nerves like almost nothing else. I’d rather listen to someone scraping their nails on a blackboard for hours than be subjected to almost all country music. I do make exceptions for Dolly and Willie. Maybe some old Patsy Cline stuff. That’s about it.

  88. 88.

    Soprano2

    @sab: One of my music professors had a ’63 Rambler station wagon where the windshield wipers only worked part of the time. He’d wait until a day it was raining to get it inspected, then drive around until the wipers started working, then drive it into the garage where he got it inspected and leave the wipers on. He said that worked to get it to pass inspection every time.

  89. 89.

    frosty

    Fun fact. One of Billy Joel’s first gig was playing piano on the Shangri-La’s (Remember) Walkin’ In The Sand. George “Shadow” Morton, the producer, hollered to the band “I want it more PURPLE!” Joel leaned over to the guitar player and said what’s that. He answered “Just play louder.”

    Joel was the same age as the lead singer, Mary Weiss (RIP). They were 15.

  91. 91.

    Soprano2

    @NotMax: OMG, that’s funny! My mother was driving our ’68 Ford pickup once when the shifter handle came out of the column! She cussed up a storm about it, and I’m sure my dad got an earful when he got home.

  94. 94.

    Soprano2

    @geg6: Come sit by me, I don’t like country music either. Now I’m subjected to it most weeks at karaoke, because that’s a popular genre for karaoke around here. Most of the country I know now is because of karaoke.

  96. 96.

    TBone

    When I was a yute, we used to drag race down Front Street in Philly. One of my friends had a jet propulsion canister he could deploy. CO2? That fucker literally threw me into the backseat.  Young AND dumb = fearless. Glad I lived to tell the tale.

  97. 97.

    oldster

    Welp, I’m a puddle of tears. Chapman and Mitchell, a one-two punch.

    Neither one of them makes aging look effortless or easy. But both of them make it look like it brings its own rewards. And I’m glad that the Grammies gave them some of the superficial rewards of fame, money, and an audience to go along with the deeper rewards of acceptance and reconciliation.

    I sort of wanted Joni to end by saying, “I really don’t know life, at all — but now at 80 I don’t know it at all in a richer and more profound way than when I didn’t know life at all as a 26-year old!” But that doesn’t scan so good.

  98. 98.

    geg6

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Dude, you’re talking to someone who was a punk back in the late 70s.  If there was anything more diametrically opposed to country music, it would be punk.

    If I really want to rile up the BJ commentariat, I can discuss my utter disdain for British/European mysteries and procedurals and pretty much all science fiction with the exception of the OG Star Wars and all of Star Trek (with the exception of DS9, which I found depressing and, horrors, boring).

  107. 107.

    Paul in KY

    @Roberto el oso: As soon as she hit the states, she was known for her one-of-a-kind guitarmanship/tunings. Crosby mentioned a party in 68 or so, where she’s doing her thing and 2 or 3 pro guitarists are crowded around watching her and trying to figure out how she got her sounds, etc.

  108. 108.

    Paul in KY

    @Chigail: Rented it for my son & have now seen it 3 or 4 times. Good movie, if you like musicals.  Much more singing than in original Wilder one. Mr. Chalamet does a fine job as a young & idealistic Wonka. Can carry a tune. Only 1 Oompa Loompa (with a speaking part) in move. Hugh Grant does a pretty good job, IMO. He’s a very posh Oompa Loompa. Some unbelievable stuff (sciencewise) in movie. My son loved it and that’s what matters!

  110. 110.

    Jager

    @Paul in KY:

    A guy I worked with in the ’70s, said ‘”Three Steps” was the story of his life, he was from Crystal Springs, MS. Pint of whiskey under the seat and a pistol in the glove box country.

  111. 111.

    Warren Senders

    Joni is completely heartrending.  Her sitting in that big armchair is also channeling Mabel Mercer, who gave absolutely riveting performances without moving a muscle.  MM’s version of “Both Sides Now” is another classic.

  112. 112.

    Facebones

    This puts Michelle Obama halfway to an EGOT, right? The Obamas produced an Oscar willing documentary a couple years ago. We just need her to produce The Obamas: The Musical on Broadway.

  114. 114.

    Paul in KY

    @Jager: I can believe that! I spent 8 months in MS (in civilized Biloxi) and I couldn’t wait to get the Hell out of there (and I was whitey white). In almost every case, the black citizens I encountered were really cool.

  115. 115.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @geg6:

    Dude, you’re talking to someone who was a punk back in the late 70s.  If there was anything more diametrically opposed to country music, it would be punk.

    Reminds of the Vandals’ “Urban Struggle” song, inspired by true events — the Cuckoo’s Nest was one of the seminal OC punk bar, which shared a parking lot with an urban cowboy bar. The cowboys did start shit with the punks, usually to their detriment.

    “Find out who all fights the best
    We start fights with them punks at the Cuckoo’s Nest
    Those damn punks are crazy (though)
    and meaner than a bull at a rodeo”

    Ah the glorious days of a misspent youth.

  116. 116.

    TBone

    @Paul in KY: why I love ALL music, ya never know what you could miss!  There’s pearls of wisdom everywhere AND hearts of gold to be found along the way, in the oddest places.

  117. 117.

    Paul in KY

    @TBone: I love all music (except what I call ‘Bro Country’ , Jazz and most of what I call ‘East Coast Hip Hop’, plus fuckin EDM!).

  120. 120.

    evodevo

    @TBone: ​
      LOL yeah…we had one when we were young and poor…went through so much motor oil we carried a case on the back seat, but the gas mileage was terrific. The ball joints also left a lot to be desired..it jumped off the front axle one time and we had to bailing wire it back together. Lasted till we traded it in on a Ford pickup …

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