Howlin’ Wind

Jesus of Cool

Imaginary Television

Right from the opening of the first track, “Weather Report,” you know this is going to be more in line with expectations — Parker’s gruff voice surprisingly intact and the melody firmly fixed in the pop-rock milieu. All of this came as a comfort, for as much as I enjoy the directions taken by the artists I previously mentioned, I also slide into the camp that wonders why they don’t do more of what they do well. Parker has always been on the fringes, filling albums with a lot of good ideas and a handful of questionable ones, but thankfully the only glaring misstep on Imaginary Television is the ill-advised riff off the Leslie Gore golden oldie “It’s My Party.”  “It’s My Party (But I Won’t Cry)” is stuck in easy, somewhat predictable rhymes and the occasional eye-rolling verse, but it’s relatively brief and surrounded by stronger material.

“Broken Skin,” to my surprise, may become one of my all-time Parker favorites. It’s earnest but it’s easy on the ears; a lovely, jangly acoustic ballad that commands you to sing along. “More Questions Than Answers” dares to take into account that the singer is not the angry young know-it-all he used to be, tied to a reggae bounce and a desire not to grind deep meanings in too hard. The closing “1st Responder” is a silly love song, but it’s fun so you don’t really mind that it is a bit fluffy. If there is a unifying theme to the album, it is the bridge between a glimpse of Parker’s past without trying to foolishly wallow in it, understanding that rather than coming off as a young lout full of piss and vinegar, he has things to say from his current vantage point. He just chooses to act his age without needing to sound like it. It isn’t a perfect album, nor is it the type of disc that triggers obsessive listening, but Imaginary Television reminds the listener why Graham Parker was lumped into the company he kept and doesn’t make you wish the new material had been done any other way.

So pour yourself a double.

This recession is different from the usual post-World War II because it was brought on by a financial system crisis, not by a downturn in the business cycle. Because of that, it’s difficult to say what a recovery will look like. Maybe Don Peck of The Atlantic is nuts and employers will have to add tons of new employees to meet demand as soon as it picks up. Maybe.

When the business cycle is functioning normally, there is a tradeoff between inflation and employment. When inflation is high, so is employment, and vice-versa. And, of course, our high levels of unemployment right now are accompanied by extremely low inflation, bordering on deflation. A key number in macroeconomics is the natural rate of unemployment, also called the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (known by the nifty nickname of NAIRU). It acknowledges that there will always be some people looking for work. No matter how good the economy is, some people will be in the wrong job and will be fired for incompetence. Students will graduate and look for jobs. Someone who took a break to travel or to care for a family member will decide to return to work. Some businesses will go under, leaving the workers unemployed. This baseline level of unemployment, thought to be about 5%, is the rate of employment that has no effect on inflation.

Inflation and employment are linked because wages are a big driver for prices. If there is a shortage of workers, employers will increase pay in order to keep staffers from jumping ship. That pay will be passed on to customers. Likewise, if employers have hundreds of applicants for a job, then they don’t need to pay very much. And if they have too many workers, they will let some go, driving those workers’ wages down to zero.

If we don’t have workers, then we don’t have wages. Without wages, people won’t spend money. If people don’t spend money, businesses can’t expand. It all goes back to employment.

Even when businesses do start to expand, it’s unclear if they can grow at the rate they did before this recession. One reason that the financial system collapsed is that too many people had too much debt, and the issuers of it didn’t understand the risk they had taken. The ability to people to spend money that they did not have is going away, and that will shrink the economy a bit, too.

There’s another long-term implication that is not in The Atlantic article, but that is that people are going to realize that they don’t have enough money saved to retire. Social Security was never designed to be a person’s only source of retirement funds, but rather to be a supplement to personal savings and pensions. Very few private sector companies have pensions these days, and personal savings won’t be enough for most people.

So what’s going to happen? We’re all going to form big extended families who eat a lot of rice and beans, that’s what. The youngsters can’t afford to move out, and the grandparents won’t be able to live on their own. This may not be a terrible thing; some may like having that extended multigenerational support in their lives. But it will represent a huge change in the way that Americans live. Huge.

And here’s how we’ll know if this scenario proves to be wrong: employment will pick up, we’ll get some inflation, and the financial markets will improve. And it will have to happen in the next year, because the longer that it takes for a broad recovery to happen, the more people will see their lives become very, very different.

A whole new letter — and all in one week, as we start hitting the home stretch towards the final Bottom Feeders post. Here’s songs from the bottom of the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the ’80s from artists starting with the letter U.

Tracey Ullman
“Breakaway” — 1984, #70 (download)

I think the most amazing thing about Tracey Ullman’s debut album You Broke My Heart in 17 Places is that it’s not a comedy record. It’s a covers record of songs that I’ve never particularly cared for, but the thing is, it isn’t bad. Tracey had a decent voice and the album, while probably still considered a novelty, wasn’t the worst thing in the world. “Breakaway” is a cover of an Irma Thomas song co-written by Jackie DeShannon, while she took Kristy MacColl’s “They Don’t Know” all the way to #8.

Ultravox
“Reap the Wild Wind” — 1983, #71 (download)

“Reap the Wild Wind” was the only Ultravox track that charted on the Hot 100. The group had three records in the ‘70s with original lead singer John Foxx that went nowhere, but when Foxx was replaced in ’79 with Midge Ure, the band ended up getting some airplay outside of the US and became somewhat of a cult act here. They released five records with Ure as the vocalist until they broke up in 1988. A new lineup got back together in 1993 and recorded two albums, each with a different vocalist. And they seem to be back together again, having re-formed for a tour last year.

Underworld
“Underneath the Radar” — 1988, #74 (download)
“Stand Up” — 1989, #67 (download)

It’s interesting to look at Underworld when they first began in 1988. Both of their first two releases, Underneath the Radar and Change the Weather, are pretty fun, catchy pop records. Radar was recorded and performed live in one take and Weather was a pop gem marking the end of the first phase of the band. Both albums are panned by critics especially after comparing them to later albums when they made a stylistic switch into a trance group (albeit with a lot of pop stylings). Their biggest song is “Born Slippy” from the Trainspotting soundtrack though nothing from them cracked the Hot 100 besides these two.

Unipop
“What If (I Said I Love You)” — 1982, #71 (download)

Unipop’s “What If” is one of those tracks on every ‘80s collector’s want list. I know very little about the band as info is pretty scarce. What I do know is that they were a husband and wife team Manny and Phyllis Loiacono and they released at least one record called Unilove on Kat Family records. I have no idea if this track is on it or not, but the 45 of this just doesn’t show up very often. The strangest thing is that I have an autographed picture of the two of them hanging up in my record room. It’s actually the only thing on the wall if you can believe that. The autograph reads:

To Greg + Bev,

Keep those dingleberries rolling! Thanks for your help.

All our best,
Phyllis + Manny
Unipop

I have to admit I’m a little scared by that, as I don’t know what this meant back in 1982, but the only thing I know dingleberries as are the little balls of poop that hang behind, if you get what I’m puttin’ down.

Uptown
“(I Know) I’m Losing You” — 1986, #87 (download)

Here’s another track that’s on the want list of many ‘80s collectors as well. Uptown (also known as the Uptown Girls) were from Dallas and released this single on local label Oak Lawn records. It’s a cover of a song originally done by the Temptations in 1966.

Midge Ure
“Dear God” — 1989, #95 (download)

We’ve talked about Ultravox and now we get lead singer Midge Ure in the same post. “Dear God” is a favorite of mine and I prefer it over anything I’ve heard from Ultravox. It was from his first solo record after the breakup of the group – Answers To Nothing.

Urgent
“Running Back” — 1985, #79 (download)

Urgent was a short lived rock group founded by brothers Michael, Don and Steve Kehr. “Running Back” was off their first of two records called Cast the First Stone. They formed in 1985 and broke up after their second unsuccessful record in 1987. “Running Back” isn’t a bad arena rock song but sounds like any random couple dozen songs from the era.

UTFO
“Roxanne, Roxanne” — 1985, #77 (download)

The Roxanne wars is one of the greatest stories in the history of hip-hop. UTFO (Untouchable Force Organization) created this song as a dis to a girl who wouldn’t hook up with them. Then one day UTFO failed to show up for a radio promotion and all hell broke loose. A girl decided she would make an answer record for UTFO standing her up now and thus Roxanne Shante’s “Roxanne’s Revenge” was born. Then UTFO countered by creating an answer to the answer with another girl going by the name of The Real Roxanne and from that point on every MC came out of the woodwork with records dissing UTFO and/or one or both of the Roxannes. It got to the point where the hip-hop community finally said they’d had enough of the answer records and put a cease and desist out on recording anymore and the new tracks became limited to just the original participants. I’ve read claims there are over 100 answer records to this track.

Utopia
“The Very Last Time” — 1980, #76 (download)
“Feet Don’t Fail Me Now” 1983, #82 (download)

I was never a big fan of Utopia, so I’ll take the easy way out and direct you back a ways to the Popdose Guide to Utopia, which tells you everything you need to know.

U2
“New Year’s Day” — 1983, #53 (download)
“I Will Follow [Live]” — 1984, #81 (download)
“In God’s Country” — 1987, #44 (download)
“When Love Comes to Town” — 1989, #68 (download)
“All I Want Is You” — 1989, #83 (download)

I almost feel dirty even calling U2 “Bottom Feeders” – I mean, we’re talking about one of the biggest bands in the world here. Hard to imagine that none of these songs made a major impact on radio as they are all excellent, but mainstream radio didn’t really pick up on them too much until The Joshua Tree (1987). I mean something like “Sunday Bloody Sunday” didn’t even hit the Hot 100. Once “With Or Without You” hit #1 in ’87, U2 started really blowing up.

QUICK HITS
Best song: U2, “New Year’s Day”
Worst song: Unipop, “What If (I Said I Loved You)”

TOP 40 ONLY
UB40 (3), USA for Africa (1)

Next week, V is for vagina — that is, if you’re counting all the ladies David Lee Roth got.

Gentlemen Broncos

Angarano stars as Benjamin Purvis, a budding young science fiction writer who lives with his widowed mother (Coolidge). Benjamin attends a writing camp where he meets his idol, Ronald Chevalier (Clement), a pretentious hack whose idea for enhancing stories is to add suffixes “onius” to the end of the name (as in “Haronius” or “Dunphyonius”). Chevalier announces a writing contest for the participants at the camp and Benjamin eagerly submits his novella, “Yeast Wars-The Bronco Years,” a futuristic adventure about a longhaired hero named “Bronco” who saves the world from a Cyclops army and a madman with robot deer fly through the air and shoot lasers out of their asses. Benjamin is only expecting feedback; he never expects Chevalier to steal his story and adapt it into his next bestseller.

While Chevalier goes about his plagiarism, Benjamin returns to life with his mom, who designs atrocious clothing and works at a second rate department store (where Benjamin also works) and his new friendship with a fellow writer, Tabitha (Helley Feiffer). She has read “Yeast Wars,” liked it, and convinces Benjamin to allow her “filmmaker” friend, Lonnie (Hector Jimenez) to make a home-made, low budget movie based on the novella. The naïve and continuously bewilders Benjamin gives them permission.

Throughout the film, passages from the book come to life in scenes purposely shot like a low budget sci-fi flick, like you might find playing on the local channel during a lazy Sunday afternoon. In these sequences, Rockwell takes on the guise of the hero. Bronco in Benjamin’s version, and Brutus when we’re seeing what Chevalier has written. Bronco is one bad ass dude, so tough that he sews his own gonad back on to his body. Brutus, on the other hand, is a screaming queen who is more bitchy than bad ass.

These parts of the movie were more inspired and enjoyable than the rest. Rockwell always seems to invest everything he has an actor into his roles, no matter how outrageous. This film is no exception.  If I could have seen an entire movie of “Yeast Wars” starring Rockwell, I may have enjoyed Gentlemen Broncos a whole lot more.

The biggest problem the film has is that it’s too self aware of its quirkiness, especially Coolidge, who seems to be going out of her way to being wacky, trying to hard to garner laughs from the audience. Most of her actions (and improvising) fall flat. Furthermore, Angarano goes through the film like such a sad sack and void of any personality, it’s hard to root for Benjamin. Sure, we feel sorry for Benjamin, but like everything else in the movie, his sad sack, put upon act grows old.

Somewhere between shooting the film and postproduction this movie lost its way. When you watch the deleted scenes and especially the short documentary on the making of the movie, there was a good movie somewhere in the works. However, whether it was studio executives putting their fingers in the mix or woeful editing choices, Gentlemen Broncos crashed and burned like rocket powered deer crashing to earth.

Looking at Elvis some 30 years after its release, besides the film stock looking a little grainy, the story and plot structure don’t feel dated. In fact, in Elvis you see many of the same story devices and themes that have become cliché in practically every musical biography since Elvis, from Coal Miner’s Daughter to La Bamba to What’s Love Got to Do With It to Ray. These same clichés were sent up hilariously in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. I’m talking about the tragic or poverty stricken childhood, the drive and desire to be an artist, the rise to fame, the fall from grace, and of course the big comeback.

The film was directed by John Carpenter, yes that John Carpenter, the same guy who scared the shit out of us in Halloween, The Fog and the Thing and whose career has primarily been in genre movies. Yet in 1978, he impressed the producers of this movie so much, that they took a chance with the then up and coming director. Carpenter’s star was Kurt Russell, then a young actor trying to establish his career after having made some Disney films as a kid.

Russell becomes Pressley in this movie. I know you read that comment a lot, that an actor gets so deep into the character that they are no longer an actor but they are the character. This is especially difficult when an actor is being asked to portray a legendary person. How daunting a task it must have been to have to play one of the most beloved people in pop culture history. Yet, after the first ten minutes of watching Russell walk with a strut, play with his hair, and curl his upper lip into the famous snarl/smile, you forget about Kurt Russell and you are only watching Elvis. It’s not just his mannerisms, but Russell inhabits Pressley’s pain, desire and rage superbly. Russell was nominated for an Emmy for this role, as well he should have.

There’s a lot of ground to cover in this movie and the filmmakers decided to skip the 70’s and Pressley’s death and focus on his humble upbringing up through to his Vegas comeback in 1969. That’s where the film opens, in ‘69 Vegas, just before Elvis is supposed to take the stage. While his father, Vernon (played by Russell’s real life father, Bing) tries to negotiate with a would-be assassin, Elvis sits in a hotel room watching the TV news. With him is his longtime friend and confidant, Red West (Robert Gray). The two men listen to a news anchor question if Elvis is a has-been. Angered and frustrated, Elvis shoots out the television and we begin a flashback of his life.

The boyhood scenes of Elvis’s life are simple and poignant. Elvis frequently talks to the ghost of his dead twin brother (who died at childbirth) and gets mocked for it. Comforting him is his mother, Gladys, played with peculiar charm by Shelly Winters. In all of her later roles, Winters always seemed a little loopy to me. In this film, her strangeness lends itself to the role.

When the film jumps to the high school years, Russell takes over. These early sequences are fun and have a lightness to them that recall some of the films from that time period. As cash rolls in, the only thing that hurts Elvis is when his high school sweetheart decides to move on because he hasn’t been around. But darkness is just around the corner once Colonel Tom Parker comes on the scene.

As played by Pat Hingle, there’s no doubt that the Colonel doesn’t always have the King’s best interest in mind. Whether this was actually the case in real life, I’m not sure, but the way Hingle acts and the way he is shot from low angles, you always get the sense that this guy is a snake.  However, the Colonel makes Elvis a millionaire and even makes sure that Elvis’s career doesn’t stall when he’s drafted into the Army. The biggest tragedy in Elvis’s life occurs when Gladys dies. Elvis is devastated by the loss of the most important woman in his life and struggles to carry on.

As the entire film is episodic (which would be easier with commercial breaks, but seem more glaring when string together as one long film), we see Elvis stationed in Germany and meeting his future wife, Priscilla (then a 14 year old girl). Pretty soon, he’s out of the Army, back in Graceland and begging Priscilla’s father to let her come live in his house so that he can take care of her and eventually marry her. Man, the 60’s were a crazy time, because sure enough, the father consents to his daughter going to live with the rock and roll star.

The relationship between Elvis and Priscilla takes up that last third of the film, with Pressley becoming more paranoid about his career (music sales are down and his cheesy movies aren’t as popular) and Priscilla getting pissed because he’s never around to be with her and their infant daughter, Lisa Marie. The tension in the Pressley house is well played, with some nicely framed scenes that really build up Priscilla’s feeling of isolation and her inability to have her own life.  Season Hubley portrayed Priscilla; she matures before our eyes from the sweet little 14 year old to the bitter, heartbroken wife and mother who shows up at the end of the movie. Russell and Hubley both created some heat in the film, heat so real that the two actors married soon after the movie ended.

At nearly 170 minutes, there’s a lot of material in this film, including many full musical sequences featuring the singing voice of Ronnie McDowell, who performed all of the Elvis singing vocals in the movie. With so many details covered, I was surprised that there were two aspects of Pressley’s life not really featured in the movie. The first is Pressley’s 1968 Comeback Special that essentially reestablished Pressley’s relevance in the world of rock and roll. The special is barely mentioned. This could be because the special aired on NBC and this movie was an ABC production. That seems kind of petty me, but it was a different era; there were only three major networks and they were cutthroat and possessive.

The other aspect missing is any mention that Elvis growing dependency on prescription drugs. Not that we needed to see him becoming a junkie like we saw Ray Charles do in Ray or Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, but in omitting this dark part of Pressley’s life, it makes him come off more as a tragic figure, as if the world was against him and that his downfall had nothing to do with his own actions. However, I doubt the Presley family would have allowed the film to be made if he came off it too bad of a light.

When you watch the movie, you’ll be surprised at how nicely Carpenter composed the film. Working with a tighter TV budget and a limited amount of time, Carpenter, who was an independent filmmaker at the time, was a good choice because he was able to work fast and still make Elvis look more interesting than your average movie of the week. The camera is constantly moving, keeping you involved. Long single takes are not stuck on the tripod. The camera graciously dollies around actors or gradually zooms in during pivotal scenes, giving this movie a contemporary look and feel. I was never bored while watching Elvis, unlike so many TV movies or TV series from the 70’s and 80’s that wind up on DVD.

The DVD contains a brief making of documentary that was shot during the film’s production. It’s fascinating to see Russell before he was a star and a young John Carpenter talk on camera about the making of the movie. It should be noted that this was the first time Carpenter and Russell worked together. Soon thereafter they went on to make the classic films Escape from New York, The Thing, and Big Trouble in Little China. The DVD also has commentary by Ronnie McDowell and author Edie Hand, rare clips from American Bandstand (the film was produced by Dick Clark, by the way) and a photo gallery.

SMILE
Script/Art: Raina Telgemeier
Scholastic/Graphix Books, $10.99

Many of the reviews I’ve seen have taken this to task for a perceived lack of conflict, or dramatic tension, or some something that the critic was looking for — some standard they usually apply to the sort of comics stories that they’re used to reading. Me, I think they’re looking for something that doesn’t need to be there, and are missing the forest for the trees, to coin a cliche.

This is no hyped-up saga of personal rediscovery and coming-of-age and struggling with inner and outer demons, a la Blankets (to cite, perhaps unfairly, one example). It is a quiet, unassuming account of a handful of years in the life of its (I assume, I’ve never met her) likable and unassuming author, and to dismiss it because it isn’t gripping drama isn’t really fair. Preteen Raina, already preparing to get braces, falls in her front yard one evening after returning from a Girl Scouts activity, knocks out one tooth and drives another up into her gums…and embarks on a six-year ordeal of orthodontics and dental work, as well as learning to cope with junior high and high school and all the attendant problems that many young girls and boys face.

And therein lies the rub for many; there aren’t really too many highs and lows, unless you count earthquakes in San Francisco circa 1989…but geez, are we that jaded that we can’t take a nice little story, well told, at face value, and find enjoyment in little things — things that made me laugh out loud at times, such as when her temporary fake front teeth fell out as she was showing them to her friends…one which also sneaks in a subtle little message about self-image and self-esteem and overcoming negative in both in order to find happiness and a sense of place as well as belonging? Maybe my standards just aren’t high enough, who knows.

I think Miss Telgemeier, who’s main gig is illustrating a new series of Babysitters’ Club graphic novels for Scholastic/Graphix, is an engaging storyteller, with a pleasing drawing style that makes me think of a cross between (admitted influence and preface writer) Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse, of which this is a kindred spirit) and Hate’s Peter Bagge. Maybe it’s because I’ve been through my share of dental hygiene dilemmas (hee, Zappa ref) in my life as well, and that makes me more receptive. Regardless, and especially if you have kids or younger siblings that might be receptive to this sort of message, you could do worse than to check this out. You won’t be jolted or shocked or overstimulated, but you might be entertained and maybe even moved just a little. It only seems like yesterday since I was reading this online at Girl-a-Matic; now here’s little Raina all growed up. I hope she has more where this came from. (A copy was provided for review purposes by the publisher)

COPPER
Script/Art: Kazu Kibuishi
Scholastic/Graphix, $12.99

Here we have another new collection of strips that originally were published serially online. I became aware of Kibuishi mostly through his lead role in getting the Flight anthologies off the ground; I has seen Copper panels and pages here and there, but hadn’t really been moved to investigate further. Having done so with this collection, it reads to me like a mix of Calvin and Hobbes and Little Nemo in Wonderland, as the titular boy has many surreal adventures (often while asleep), all the while accompanied by his dog, who functions as the darker, more pessimistic (and some would say “realistic”) side of his personality. They usually always come to some little epiphany as they’re confronted with this and that, and it’s often pleasant, sometimes downbeat, for variety’s sake if nothing else.

It doesn’t quite have the depth of feeling and sense of wonder that Watterson often brought to Calvin, but that’s a hard trick to pull off successfully so this gets by. Kibuishi, like Telgemeier, has a loose, cartoony, ready-to-be-animated, please style which adds to the eye-pleasing overall impression and his coloring is absolutely gorgeous, with many rich, saturated hues and shades providing contrast and mood. Another good read which isn’t so long that it overstays its welcome, and Kazu’s production notes which make up the last few pages are interesting and informative as well. I could see some young would-be artist finding this quite inspiring. (A copy was provided for review purposes by the publisher)

GIRL COMICS #1
Script/Art: Various
Marvel Comics, $

Ew! Girl Comics! Boys, I hope you’ve had your cootie shots! The latest of Marvel’s attempts to ingratiate themselves with female comics readers (and those who serve as advocates for females who create comics) bears a whiff of a paternalistic, condescending “You want more comics by female creators? Well, here! Now go away, I have to concentrate on the fifty-seven varieties of X-Men and Avengers comics” sort of vibe, and while that may or may not be true, and this was launched with the best of intentions, releases like always going to be regarded with a skeptical eye — simply because there are so many agendas on both sides and rare the twain do meet.

So, looking at it objectively, as I try so hard to do at all times, I must say that, as with most anthology-style titles, it’s awfully hit and miss. Many of its delights are visual, and by that I mean right off the bat we get a nicely designed logo over the top of a typically clever and well-drawn Amanda Conner cover. Colleen Coover contributes a panoply of Marvel female characters delivering a girl-power manifesto, her work is always a joy to behold. We hit choppy waters next with a story which features the very male Nightcrawler of X-Men fame, coming to the rescue of a fraulein-in-distress backstage of some German cabaret; I suppose Willow Wilson meant it to show that they aren’t going to toe the expected “empowered females represent” line, but it does kinda diffuse the whole point of the collection. I’ve seen much better work from Ming Doyle on the Net as well; for every great panel or sequence we get one that looks rushed and awkward. She’s a talent to watch, though, and this will be a footnote in her career.

My favorite in the set is next, a story of the original Atlas/Marvel Venus, a longtime favorite character of mine. This picks up where the original series left off, as a bored Goddess of Love decides to leave Olympus again and resume her duties at Beauty magazine, where she worked in the late 40s and early 50s. Of course, complications ensue, but it’s a lighthearted and entertaining romp as written by cartoonist and comics historian Trina Robbins, an old hand at this sort of thing (and WHEN is her Eclipse Rohmer adaptation Dope gonna get collected?), and illustrated by Stephanie Buscema, daughter of Big John of ’60s-’70s Marvel Bullpen fame, who renders it all in a proto-Scott Morse style reminiscent of children’s books illustrations of the ’50s and early ’60s or Hanna-Barbera cartoons. I liked this a lot, (unsurprisingly) thought it the best of show.

Valerie D’Orazio and Nikki Cook are next up, with a short neither-here-nor-there Punisher tale that unfolds in rote fashion. I’ve read better, but I’ve read worse, call it a warm-up for D’orazio’s Punisher series which is coming soon, if it hasn’t already. Cook’s style puts me in mind of a blend of Paul Pope, Becky Cloonan, and probably a dozen artists I’m unfamiliar with; it’s sloppy, but she knows how to pace a story well. Lucy Knisley, who does some of the best autobio comics out there on her LiveJournal, contributes a cute Doc Octopus two-pager (Doc Ock gets mad when people dis octopi, like the Geico Cavemen with…well, cavemen slights). Next up, Agnes Garbowska brings her charming supers-as-little kids style to bear on Robin Furth (with whom I’m completely unfamiliar)’s oddball text-heavy clockwork take on Hansel and Gretel, starring Franklin and Valeria Richards (I don’t read Fantastic Four, so I had no clue who Valeria was for a long while), featuring tons of mechanical animals and of course a wicked witch — it’s somewhat rambling, or maybe that’s just the effects of all the text, but Garbowska makes it work.

Finally, ’90s DC vet Devin Grayson and up-and-coming Emma (Strange) Rios collaborate on an X-Men story that deals with the eternal love triangle that matters so much to so many fanfic writers, Scott/Cyclops, Jean Grey (whatever they call her these days), and Wolverine. It’s good, and I’m in the tank for Rios, but it, like many of these stories, scans like a tryout script in the hope that they’ll get more work down the road. A couple of heartfelt tribute pages to longtime Marvel vets Flo Steinberg and Marie Severin round out the package. There’s a lot to like about this issue — it does spotlight some great talent that deserves recognition…even if they’re not always at their best. Hopefully future issues in the series will offer as much.

FIRST WAVE #1
Script: Brian Azzarello, Art: Rags Morales
DC Comics, $3.99

This is the first full issue of DC’s latest attempt to throw some 1930s and 1940s-vintage poop against the wall, in the fervent hope that it will stick. Good news? Some of it does.

The conceit here is the adventures of Doc Savage, The Spirit, and a still-green, gun-in-hand Batman, all running around (often literally) and eventually, I’m sure, teaming up in a world in which superheroes do not exist. Azzarello, who’s only really hit me where I felt it on his magnum opus 100 Bullets, does a really nice job of giving us a sort of high-octane pulp fiction here from the Raiders of the Lost Ark-inspired intro, featuring ancillary Fabulous Five member “Johnny” Littlejohn — nice move, spotlighting one of the least-used of the group — through a dramatically valid funeral scene which will seem Watchmen-inspired to many but actually extrapolates events from the first Savage pulp novel, The Man of Bronze, with the kind of dialogue that Azzarello excels in.

The feel that Eisner and his assistants brought to The Spirit is a difficult thing to pull off, too, and while Azzarello doesn’t quite manage that he gives us a decent enough facsimile, especially in the relationship between Commissioner Dolan and The Spirit, not as warm as the canonical version, of course, but featuring some enjoyable back-and-forth banter. Azz does well by John Sunlight, the only reoccurring Savage pulp foe, playing up his Russian heritage without overdoing it. No Batman yet, but don’t worry, he’s coming. Rags Morales is an artist whose style, so hyperexaggerated, rubbery and kinetic, obviously inspired by Frazetta and Wrightson but with troubling shades of people like Bart Sears and Jackson Guice as well, gets on my nerves at first glance…but the more I look at it, I tend to come to appreciate the nuances in expressions and staging he uses. He’s a pro’s pro, and I can think of a dozen artists I like better…but he does OK here.

DC recently wrapped a so-so Spirit revival attempt, and the company never has really gotten a handle on Doc Savage (in all fairness, Marvel wasn’t much better though Ross Andru’s art really suited the characters back in the 70s), and so I wasn’t terribly optimistic about this…but at least after one issue, I’d like to see more. We’ll see if it has legs.

And now, what I hope will be the dynamite sensation of 2010 and beyond: RATE-O-RAMA, which will see me rating and briefly summing up other four-color endeavors that crossed my optical scanners in the previous week. All seriousness aside, I do read a lot more books than I’ve been writing about, so this is a way for me to cover them as well. A sentence, a letter grade, a slap, a tickle. And it goes like this:

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #24 : Appropriately tense finale of the most recent arc, marred somewhat by the hoary old cliche of the bad guy gloating and talk talk talking and not kill kill killing, and thus giving our Tony’s friends and allies time to protect him.  A-

SCALPED #35 : They used to call them “inventory stories”, done by fill-in artists, put on the shelf, and whipped out when the artist or writer was behind. They were never as good as this issue, a tale of an aged and isolated Sioux couple. Regular scripter Jason Aaron writes, and Vertigo stalwart Daniel Zezelj fills in. I’ll write more about this series someday. A+

UNDERGROUND #5: Jeff Parker is a writing fiend these days, truly a man among men or a writer among writers or something like that…and this 5-issue series is the best thing he’s done since The Interman. He’s also fortunate to have Steve Lieber on art at the top of his game helping out. The best adventure story about Kentucky caves and park rangers that maintain same that I’ve ever read, and seriously, the guys nail the verisimilitude…believe me, I know. A

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: CRY FOR JUSTICE #7: This has been getting slammed throughout the Net, and for good reason. The absolute wretched worst of overwrought melodramatic superheroics these days…and if this makes you curious, take my advice and resist the urge. It’s not Ed Wood or even Fletcher Hanks good, it’s just reprehensible. F

NOLA #4: Remember this one? Well, it finished in predictable fashion. That said, it could easily be coming  to a USA Network or Spike TV near you someday. C+

See you next Tuesday!

Love letters and correspondence: johnnybacardi AT gmail

My CD copy of The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night (Jagjaguwar) came complete with an eight page booklet full of publicity releases, reprints of old magazine articles, and reviews of the second album by the Montreal band. I’m going to tell you which artists these writers want us to know that the band sounds like, but only because I want to demonstrate what I’m ranting about. As you will see, it gets pretty damn specific:

The Beach Boys (more Dennis Wilson than Brian)
Fleetwood Mac (more Peter Green than Lindsey Buckingham)
Fleetwood Mac (Stevie Nicks-led)
The Alan Parsons Project
ELO
Roy Orbison
Mazzy Star
Queen
Julee Cruise
Spiritualized

Whew! That’s a lot to live up to, right? I should note that the Beach Boys were referenced in nearly every story, and Christ, talk about bludgeoning you over the head with the obvious, that influence is obvious from the beginning of the first song. Do these writers feel special because they think they hear something others don’t? Forget it.

Ah, maybe I’m just in a mood. It’s a really cool album, full of gritty electric guitars, some nice group harmony, pretty melodies, ethereal atmospherics, and just plain old good song writing. The record company says that there is some kind of war-inspired theme afoot here, something about spies and coded messages. Could be. I guess I just wasn’t able to break the code. But the songs are cool.

I really like “Albatross”. Now it does feature Olga Goreas singing the lead vocal, so I guess that means your Fleetwood Mac alert should sound. And there are those harmonies, although to me they sound more Brian than Dennis Wilson. But maybe you can just accept it for what it is, which is a really good song, part of a very solid second album, from a very good young band. And if you catch me defining one artist in terms of another, and you probably will (that’s what music writers do when we’re out of ideas), please call me on it. In the meantime, enjoy some cool new music.

Here’s what you stand to win: Not only are we giving away a copy of the new Preservation album, our lucky contest winner will also receive the latest releases from some of the many guest artists who make an appearance. Here’s the rest of the prize package:

Andrew Bird, Noble Beast

My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges

Jason Isbell, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Cory Chisel and The Wandering Sons, Death Won’t Send a Letter

The Del McCoury Band, Family Circle

Buddy and Julie Miller, Written in Chalk

Steve Earle, Townes

How’s that for one hell of a prize? And here’s the best part: You don’t even have to leave the comfort of your computer to win. All you’ve gotta do is send an e-mail to our friend Jeff Vrabel containing at least one YouTube clip from a Burt Reynolds movie. Jeff lives in South Carolina, so it’ll be helpful if the subject line includes a “y’all” or two, but all you really need to do is include a link to a clip. Vrabel loves him some Burt Reynolds, y’all!

Good luck, everyone!

What possesses an artist to revisit his or her recordings years later and decide to remake the song?  Sometimes it’s money, sometimes it’s about a label being a big butt-head, and sometimes it’s just about revisiting a song to see what new wine can be wrought out of old wine skins.  Whatever the case, this week I’m going lay on you the good, the bad, and the ugly of remakes.  Oh sure, some of these don’t even sound like remakes at all, and others you may wonder: “Why the hell did they do that?”  But one thing’s for sure, you’ll probably be scrambling to hear the originals – just for comparison’s sake if nothing else. Okay, let’s get it started, shall we?

“Lady ’95,” Styx (Download)

Now here’s a case of a label being a big butt-head about a song the band wanted feature on a compilation album  The Styx corporation reunited in 1995 to put together a greatest hits collection to, well, make some money, and when assembling their song list they found out that “Lady” (recorded back in 1973 with their first label, Wooden Nickel Records) wasn’t available due to some legal back and forth the band had the good fortune to endure back in mid-‘70s. So, what to do?  They really wanted “Lady” on their latest greatest hit records, so they did what any corporation would do: create a knock-off and hope the fans wouldn’t mind.  This version is pretty close to the original, but if you’ve heard the song for as many years as I have (I remember hearing it when was a little kid in 1974), you get used all the subtle thing going on in the song with the vocals. And just hearing the intro, it’s clear that whatever guide vocals DeYoung was listening to when recording this, he just had to go and add a little flourish here and there and kind of ruin the whole thing.

“25 or 6 to 4,” Chicago (Download)

I know, you’re probably saying “Why?  Why did you take an otherwise novel mix and throw this proverbial turd in the punchbowl?”  It’s really to goad Jeff Giles.  You see, secretly he loves this version more than the original, but he can’t admit this to anyone openly because it would violate a clause in his membership agreement with Club Mellow Gold. Anyway, when this version was released back in 1986, I was enjoying my first paying gig as a radio DJ. One day, this single shows up in the mail, and I was immediately skeptical when I saw the title.  The program director (who is still a friend of mine) took it out of the envelope, and cued it up on the turntable.  At first, he had this quizzical look on his face when the music started, and then he started cranking up the volume and proclaimed to me that the song was “An amazing remake that’s going to introduce Chicago to a whole new generation.”  Now this was during the days of hush-hush payola, and I don’t recall seeing any money or blow in that envelope from the record company, but damn if this wasn’t in high rotation for about two weeks. When it was relegated to the “recurrent” file, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and happily passed over when it came up on their shift.

“After Midnight (Alternate Mix),” Eric Clapton (Download)

Okay, this is not a Clapton song, but rather it’s a song that belongs to J.J. Cale – who recorded a demo of it in the ‘60s.  However, Clapton popularized the song, so it’s kind of fitting to see what he decided to do with it 18 years after it was released. Now for those children of the ‘70s and ‘80s, you’ll remember this version was used to sell a lot of beer for Michelob, and it kind of raised some eyebrows among guys like me who smelled “sell out” when the commercial aired. But by then, many icons of the ‘60s were lending their songs and images to sell products other than their own music, so I guess Clapton saw another way to beef up his bank account and reached for the green.  As a remake of his original cover (how’s that for a weird sentence), it’s a pretty good one.  I could do without the moody intro, but the guitar work and the whole medium tempo groove is simply smokin’!

“De Do Do Do De Da Da Da (1986),” the Police (Download)

First off, let me apologize for the crappy quality of this recording. It’s unfortunately a very low quality rip, but it’s the only one I could find.  Yes, if you’re a fan of the Police, you know the band was planning on re-recording all of their hits for a greatest hits album in 1986.  But Stewart Copeland had a rather nasty fall off a horse and broke his shoulder and couldn’t complete the recording sessions. But before the band called it a career (‘til their reunion in 2008), they were able to remake “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” and “De Do Do Do…”  It’s hard to find this version because it was only released on Every Breath You Take: The Classics (the DTS CD). Now if you have that hard to find pressing, may the music gods bless you because you have, in this day and age of everything seemingly being available on the Internet, a rare recording.  I’m not sure what I really think of this version, because while I don’t hate it, I’m not really feeling it.  One thing I’m really happy about, though: that the band was never able to realize their goal of completely remaking all their old hits.

“Carpet Crawlers 1999,” Genesis (Download)

Now here’s a remake I really love.  The production is lush, full, and the band’s maturity demonstrates that they were able to create a version of “Carpet Crawlers” that could feature both Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins – but do so in a way that made me want the band to regroup and record some new songs. Sadly, I don’t think that’s ever going to happen, but if it did, I for one would be ecstatic.

“Prayer ’94,” Bon Jovi (Download)

I hear the original version of this song every day at work, and yes, I’m sick of it, but I gotta hand it to Bon Jovi for breathing new life into a song that’s been very, very good to him.  I’m not sure what possessed him to go semi-acoustic on this song, but maybe it was a desire to demonstrate that he was more than just a guy with girlish good looks and hair. I’m not sure the lyrical content warrants an unplugged version, but do we really listen to Bon Jovi songs for their lyrical insight?

The 34-year-old Jaa is a world-class practitioner of the Muay Thai style of martial arts, which I admit means little to me. I’m not a purist about these things, and neither is Jaa; the DVD extras of his latest, Ong Bak 2: The Beginning, show him mixing in Hong Kong-type moves and whatever else makes for exciting action choreography. And that’s what I love about martial arts movies. There are pitifully few new dance musicals to satisfy me, and way too many CGI-built action movies. While the period setting of the new film is digitally enhanced, Jaa and company are the real deal, reveling in the grace and power of the human body. Not for nothing did Gene Kelly inspire Jackie Chan, and the lithe and lethal Jaa kicks it up a few notches. That’s entertainment.

The title needs a little explanation. Jaa burst onto the scene in 2003’s Ong-Bak (“Mean Spirit”), a film set largely in contemporary Bangkok, where he established his persona as a principled kickboxing rustic let loose among the wicked city folk. Retitled and reedited the film, where Jaa is in hot pursuit of a stolen giant Buddha head that guards his village, was a hit here under the title Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior in 2005. That year Jaa returned in Tom-Yum-Goong, which sends a different character off to Sydney to find a kidnapped elephant and its calf. A movie named after soup is a hard sell, so it was renamed The Protector (used prior for a Chan picture) for its U.S. release…and confused me when it turned up in a DVD shop in New York’s Chinatown as Ong-Bak 2.

Under any title, both films did big business worldwide. Like 1985’s Missing in Action 2: The Beginning, starring Chuck Norris (a septuagenarian tomorrow), the real, newly un-hyphenated Ong Bak 2 is a prequel, one that goes back a long time, to the early 15th century. The more involved storyline casts Jaa (who co-directed) as Tien, the son of a slain ruler, who seeks vengeance on the slave traders who abducted him as a boy. The guerrilla fighters who take him in train Tien in various martial arts, and the deed is done. Tien then moves onto avenging his father, a task that consumes the final third of the movie. The film, which endured a lengthy and somewhat messy production, ends confusingly, or perhaps, Buddhistically, with an Ong Bak 3 promised (footage is included as an extra).

The two Collector’s Edition DVDs (the movie is also available as a Blu-ray) contain a version apiece of the film, the first disc the theatrical edition and a second an “altered” version, which is actually ten minutes shorter and more streamlined. Jaa goes into the mystic in this one, and a little crazy with the hues and contrasts, as if the movie had mated with the color-washed South Pacific (1958). The natural splendor of Thailand is all this or any production needs, and Ong Bak 2, a Tarzan-type story with an Apocalypto feel to it, is best when basic.

“Drive-in critic” Joe Bob Briggs rates these movies on how much “fu” they have. You want fu—Ong Bak 2 has fu. Crocodile fu. Elephant fu. Pottery fu. Wok fu. Windpipe fu. Artery fu. Mask fu. Hair fu. Sword fu. Man in black fu. Flashbacks fu. Like I said, a lot of friggin’ fu, R-rated and splayed across the widescreen frame.

Impressed as I was, it wouldn’t hurt Jaa to show some humor, or cultivate a new audience. Jaa grew up in rural Thailand among elephants, and has a rapport with them. I let my little girl watch an early scene where Tien tames one, and she clapped her hands excitedly and was completely glued to the screen. It puts a similar, effects-driven sequence in Avatar in its place. The mean spirit might become a family-friendlier one next time out.