GUEST LIST: JOE KWACZALA

The Spinners, Tame Impala, Crowded House, Elastica & Presidents of the United States of America

Hello, this is Brett’s intro speaking. You may know our guest list writer from his many ONLINE SKETCH MARATHONS, where he released 31 (sketches) for 31(st birthday) in 2018, and 21 (sketches) for (20)21 in 2021. Not only are they very funny, but the work ethic involved also makes me feel bad about myself! Thankfully, I’m too busy laughing. He’s so hard-working they should cape him at the end of his sets. Joe just released a new comedy special called Ooh La La and he’s probably already got another huge thing in the works. Somehow he squeezed some time in to wax poetic about the theme to The Drew Carey Show. Take it away, Joe!

Presidents of the United States of America - Cleveland Rocks

I'm starting with probably the dorkiest one so that I can properly set the tone for my list. I don't like cool music! And I am particularly bad at keeping up with new music.

Almost all of the music I listen to is experienced "out in the wild" as it were. Like I heard this song when I was doing music trivia at a bar with my family a few weeks ago (an odd but ultimately fun vacation activity.) It was a "Name That Tune" situation and this one had an opportunity for bonus points-- What show was this the theme song to? If you're the biggest nerd in the world like me, the answer is obvious: The Drew Carey Show.

Funny enough, the only music video for this song (that I could find at least) doesn't even feature the band; it's just an extended intro for that show. This upload doesn't even list the band's name! Talk about disrespecting the country's highest office!!

Anyway, I genuinely like this song. I think it improves on the original by Ian Hunter, a guy mostly known for fronting the second-tier (in American popularity at least) glam band Mott the Hoople. Not unlike Mott, the Presidents of the United States of America are a pretty good, underrated rock outfit.

"Peaches" and "Lump" are both jams, and I'm sure they've got other gems, but again, it takes a lot for me to actively seek out music. And for what it's worth, I'll always have a soft spot for Cleveland; it's where my dad's from, and it houses the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, an institution that I accidentally stumbled into being one of its foremost experts/historians? Let's get into that for the next song.

The Spinners - Ghetto Child

So for years, I hosted a podcast about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I still kind of do, but we're on a break of undetermined length at the moment. I started the show because not only does my stupid brain hold a bunch of knowledge about the Rock Hall, but also I didn't realize that was unusual. And then over the years of doing the show, I gained additional insight into the process of nomination, induction, etc. by talking to insiders, both former and current. That's all to say that I have a good sense of who should be in the Rock Hall and who stands a good chance of getting in.

The Spinners have been eligible for a long time, have had numerous unsuccessful nominations, and returned to the ballot this year for the first time in 7 years. Because they don't have name recognition that's as strong as genre peers from their era (The O'Jays, The Temptations, The Jackson 5) they were at best dark horse contenders for this year's class. So I was pleasantly surprised when it was announced that they got the votes and will be inducted later this year.

With producer Thom Bell, The Spinners made some incredible songs that exhibit the best characteristics of Philly soul (even though they originated from Detroit.) I picked this song because it's a rare political song for them. It didn't do as well as their love songs, so they never went back to singing about "the issues" again. It's too bad because the message is a potent one, and the arrangement and harmonies (as always) are on point.

Elastica - Connection

Man, this song kicks ass. It's in the film BlackBerry which is a very enjoyable little film that has a lot of great needle drops. So watching that movie got me feeling this one again, and then the podcast Hit Parade did some episodes on Britpop, so you KNOW this got mentioned and played. And that was enough to get me back on the "Connection" train, but make no mistake... this train makes no connections! It's express!! (I don't know.)

The host of Hit Parade Chris Molanphy calls the song's riff an homage to Wire's "Three Girl Rhumba" although the reality might be a little less friendly. There were accusations of theft and then a dang settlement. Legal disputes aside, the song rips. I've never been much of an "exercise guy" but I recently started running a little bit, and this is a great pump-up song.

Crowded House - Better Be Home Soon

This is the rare band whose catalogue I actually went out of my way to check out, and I'm so glad I did. There's a local public radio station in Los Angeles that I really enjoy, KCSN (88.5 FM) and even though they sometimes dub themselves "The SoCal Sound" they really like playing New Zealand's favorite son Neil Finn and his band Crowded House.

I'd reckon everybody knows "Don't Dream It's Over" but they've got a deep bench beyond that of really beautiful songs. Hard to choose just one, but I got to see them perform live at The Wiltern recently and this was the last song played. They could have ended on any song and it would've made sense (that's how good the discography is) but I guess this was their biggest hit in Australia. While Neil is from New Zealand, the rest of the band's classic lineup were Aussies, and I believe both countries claim them. Also I was at a restaurant with my family (during the aforementioned family vacation) and heard a version of this, but it was instrumental and Kenny G-sounding. I kind of want to play that version of "Name That Tune" -- "What Song Is Kenny G Butchering?"

Tame Impala - The Less I Know the Better

Alt-rock radio in LA has been playing this one so much lately that I started to wonder if it was new. I knew that couldn't be true, and it wasn't-- it came out in 2015. But it could easily have come out this year. That's maybe not a groundbreaking thing to say about something that's only 8 years old, but why don't you get off my ass already?

The bass riff on this is so infectiously funky, and I read that the main guy Kevin Parker (turns out Tame Impala is just one guy!) thought it didn't belong on the record for that reason. He changed his mind and kept it, but what is with artists hating when their own music is good? There's a story that in 1996 Radiohead had this new song called "Lift" that people really responded to live, and that's allegedly when they knew it couldn't be on OK Computer. Fuckin' relax.

Oh and one last note: sorry that this music video is horny for teenagers. I uh... didn't know that was the case.