Songs for the 99%

Background Reading for this Post: 
My friends Anne Ream and Cliff Spargo got the ball rolling with this article - 
Taking the Streets by Song: A Playlist for the 99% - as far as music playlists go, this one Anne and Cliff compiled is very diverse and rock solid in its rationale for the song selections. 


But they forgot one crucial track: 5 Million Ways To Kill A CEO

  


Thanks to a promise I made recently to the many fine people that donated money to my 5K Run to End Homelessness, I currently need to pump out over 40(!) mix cds.  I pledged to make them unique and personalized to the listener.


This song keeps popping up as I make mixes.  It sounds as even more relevant today than it did when it was initially released in 2001.  It speaks to my frustrations with the late stages of consumer capitalism with funk and humor.  


I never looked up the original album art until now. The LP was scheduled to be released in September 2001.  But with the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, it was delayed.  

It turns out I like the replacement art better aesthetically anyway.  It isn't some janky photoshop - it has class. 

Ramones Mania

Here at Junk Drawer Central we are whipping ourselves up into a bit of a Ramones frenzy.  Summer has fully arrived and it just feels right, ya know?

First thing that kicked it off was the news of a posthumous collection of Joey Ramone songs being released as an album.  You can stream them HERE.  

Go ahead, I will wait until you fire that up.  

Now here is the thing - Joey didn't work on this as an album.  These are just the tapes that were kicking around in a shoebox up in his apartment.  His woodshedding as it were - but really the fact that I am hearing his voice singing anything new is like an unexpected gift.  

Cynics have already labeled this to be a crass cash grab from his family but that is a slap in the face to those of us that feel like we lost a family member ourselves when Joey passed.  

Imagine if someone handed you some tapes of your grandfather reciting some poetry that he wrote over a decade after he passed.  Would you be grateful?  This actually happened to my family so I feel like I know what I am talking about when I say that the effect can be very sweet.  

When it comes out this Tuesday I will play it and probably shed some tears.  Yesterday would have been his 61st birthday.    

The other thing that is ramping up the mania is I recently dived into On The Road With The Ramones by Monte Melnick.  Monte was the band's tour manager for their entire career.  He saw it all.  1973 through 1996.  2,263 live performances.  

I am two thirds of the way through it and let me tell you - it has changed my mind on what to do about Johnny Ramone's Autobiography.  After reading so many opinions about Johnny (Melnick's book is a collection of interviews) I do want to hear it straight from him.  

Initially I figured that I didn't want to subject myself to what will probably be a jingoistic right wing screed from an utter asshole.  But if Joey is my kind hearted grandfather that wrote poetry then that makes Johnny my other grandfather that was kind of racist.