Rating More Records

And making the ghost of Dick Clark born and proud

For those who’ve played the game so far, like Paul Combs, Steven Hale, and Kevin Alexander to name a few, what fun, right?

Almost as much fun as being the guy who “ASSAULTED” poor Rudy on Staten Island the other day (he got arrested for 2nd-degree assault and spent 24 hours in the slammer — I hear NYC mayor Adams is seeking to prosecute Rudy for false arrest or something. What a world). I’m late to viewing that video, but man. I almost thought this was a Borat sketch, but there were too many other clips of Rudy going on and on about how staggering the slap was and how many steps he may or may not have taken when he felt the impact. Glad he got that medical treatment, though what they’re giving him for his clear behavioral disorders, who knows?

I almost want to rate this affair with the scene of shamed former general Mike Flynn taking the 5th the other day — and don’t you love how at first he can’t even say “Fifth” loudly enough, further confusing the whole “leader of men” thing for us — when asked, among other things if he believes in the peaceful transfer of power during American elections. It took, I think 1:36, for he and his attorney to confer about answering with a fifth. Or maybe I was thinking of the Four Roses I have stashed for just such occasions.

So give these two affairs a 35 or 98 or somewhere in between, if you want. But if politics ain’t your bag, then I have two more songs for you to consider as we try to comprehend what might happen “when the world falls apart” or when “the greatest singer in rock and roll looks a little too old.”

Naturally, I love these two songs, so I cannot play. I will tell you that the two artists actually combined for two albums back in the early aughts, putting music to lyrics penned by Woody Guthrie. Those albums were called Mermaid Avenue I & II, and when I saw the band in question, Wilco, play these songs live, I wanted to contact the ghosts of Woody and Dick Clark and ask them both about how music saved their mortal souls and gave them careers or lives.

The other artist, Billy Bragg, tends to take politics somewhat seriously, and I wonder how he feels about America’s courts right now, or about how loser New York tyrants still keep kvetching and make us keep retching?

So, here are the songs, and please use the 35–98 American Bandstand Rate-A-Record scale for your grades, with commentary, please, about danceability, lyrics, guitars, drums, and whatever keyboards might strike your spirit in these very conflictual days.

First up:

Of course, it helps if you know who Levi Stubbs is. I’ve seen him, and I tell you, his tears are real, and so are hers. This song comes from Billy’s 1986 album, Talking With the Taxman About Poetry.

Next up is the Wilco tune from their 2004 record, A Ghost Is Born:

Clearly, like Bragg’s song, this is a live version, because rock and roll is made for us, in our greatest immediate moments.

Neither song, I suppose, could ever be heard “on the radio.”

Thanks for playing; thanks to The Riff and all its followers!

Here was my first installment: