Desiderata: observations from the journey

I was making one of those snazzy digital jukeboxes on playlist.com and that got me adding Billy Bragg songs and that made me realize that I’ve never written a blog about my love of Billy Bragg’s music. He’s my all-time favorite singer/songwriter.

I’ve been listening to his albums since I was about 13. That was when my parents and sister B and I went out to stay with my grandparents at their house on Long Island and I first heard Billy’s songs. My sister’s boyfriend P listened to lots of eclectic music and I slept up in the loft with him. I was on this old, dusty worn out mattress on the floor and he was sleeping in one of the twin beds that were shoved up against the wall. I couldn’t sleep and I looked up and noticed he had headphones on and was listening to something on a Sony Discman (for any youngsters who might be reading this there was actually a time before the iPod existed and your elders had to make due with such primitive technologies as cassette tapes, compact discs and vinyl records). I asked him what it was and he told me and offered the headphones to me. The player was cued up to the song A New Englandand I listened to it and I was hooked. It was raw, its was powerful. It was spare, just a voice and a guitar and above all else it was charged with brutal, honest emotion.

Like Elvis Costello, about whom Billy once said “He’s like Jackson Browne with attitude!”, and some other intelligent Brits, he has deftly combined songs about love with songs about the state of the world, both the English one and the one at large. He does it with ease, he does it with grace and he does it with an unmistakable style. He’s got wit, he’s got musicianship and he’s (at least in my humble opinion) one of the best songwriters around. He started off in a punk band called Riff Raff, but in that wave of bands that wanted to be the next Sex Pistols, Riff Raff was ill-fated and destined to go their separate ways. Lucky for me. His first two albums and EP have that straight ahead, simple, in-your-face punk feel to them, and are almost exclusively just him singing and playing guitar. Later on, he put together a full band and his sound mellowed and became more melodic and richer.

It’s also always inspiring to listen to Billy because he doesn’t just sing about changing the world he actually does his part to change it through projects like the Telco Living Wage Campaign. Not to mention the fact that 25 years on his music is still relevant. That’s the watermark of great music – it’s timeless. The song link below is a free download, so if for whatever reason you don’t want to download a song for free, but are curious about Billy Bragg, then go here instead:

Billy Bragg Official Site

Foundations/A New England Medley by Kate Nash and Billy Bragg

The other night as I was taking out the trash I noticed another one of those beautiful California sunsets. So I wrote this:

the moon waits

the sky is light blue and gold and pink,
the moon hangs bright and unsure,
like a scimitar waiting to cleave a dream in two,
and now the sky has dimmed,
and Caribbean water has turned to cobalt,
and still the moon waits.

I love music and I came across an envelope full of old concert ticket stubs, so I decided to post a list of all the shows I’ve seen (give or take a couple of Chump shows). Feel free to comment and tell me about some of your favorite shows.

1. Greenwich Village Folk Festival (first concert I ever went to): held at some auditorium on the NYU campus and featuring Suzanne Vega. My sister ‘T’ and her best friend ‘L’ took me to this show. Even at the tender age of 11 I was a dirty hippie.

2. Dave Matthews Band/Santana/The Roots: we were late getting to Giants Stadium so I missed Santana and The Roots, but DMB played a great show. The violinist played a solo that must have lasted 5 minutes and the drummer deftly beat his way around a huge kit.

3. Pink Floyd (1994 on the Division Bell Tour): FANFUCKINGTASTIC. My friend ‘R’, her ex-boyfriend and I got lost in the Bronx on the way to Yankee Stadium, got there minutes before they started playing and it seems as though that was Pink Floyd’s final tour. I’m still hoping they put out another album. So, David, Nick and Richard, if you’re reading this get on it.

4. Johnny Marr & The Healers: Bowery Ballroom, 2003, good set of atmospheric, sort of psychedelic rock from the former Smiths guitarist.

5. Billy Bragg and The Blokes: Mermaid Avenue Tour, Town Hall, 1999, Billy is my all-time favorite singer/songwriter and even though he had a cold and apologized for it, he performed his little heart out. Great show. Freedy Johnston opened for him and that was the first time I ever heard him perform.

6. Billy Bragg and The Blokes: Irving Plaza, 2002, Another great show, but then I’m awfully biased.

7. Social Distortion: right before Thanksgiving 2001 also at Irving Plaza. Not a huge Social D fan but they were fun to see live. Thanks to my friend Joel for taking me to that.

8. Bif Naked: Mercury Lounge, August, 1999, good music and a fun night in NYC.

9. G. Love & Special Sauce: back to Irving Plaza, July 1999, the second time I saw them, this time for the Philadelphonic tour. Good funky, bluesy music, oh and the concert was free because a marketing rep from Sony hooked me up with the tix.

10. The Who: an ampitheater in Camden, NJ, July 2000 with my buddy Joel. We pre-gamed with Grey Goose screwdrivers. Spot on greatest hits set. READY, STEADY, GO!

11. John Pizzarelli and Diana Krall: John Harms Center for the Arts, Englewood, NJ, March 2000, with my dad, who introduced me to jazz. Wonderful sets from both and at the end of Diana’s Elton John walked out on stage, totally unannounced, and they did a duet of Border Song

12. Morrissey: The Paramount Theater at MSG, September 1992 for the Your Arsenal Tour. Didn’t know most of the songs as I wasn’t a Moz fan yet, but thanks to my friend ‘J’ for taking me to that as it was a wonderful show.

13. Morrissey: Roseland Ballroom, February 2000. Awesome. He performed Smiths songs for the first time in years and by that point I was a huge Moz fan. ‘J’ and her ex took me to that one and it turned out my friend Joel had bought a ticket for that same date.

14. Elvis Costello w/The Imposters: NJPAC on my birthday in 2002. Hands down the best birthday present I’ve ever received. Thanks mom! Took my friend ‘J’ to make up for not taking her to the Johnny Marr show. The entire show was flawless.

15. H.O.R.D.E. Festival (Humans On Recreational Drugs Everywhere): August 1995. I’ve never taken an illegal drug in my life, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Blues Traveler, Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers (the closest I’ll ever come to seeing Bob:(), The Black Crowes, G. Love & Special Sauce and Joan (nobody will walk to the stage to listen to me) Osborne. Sorry Joan, you were at the wrong booking I suppose. This show kicked ass all over the place. It was long before the Black Crowes broke up and Blues Traveler were tremendous.

16. Amos Lee: Some bar on Sunset in LA. thanks to my friend Noel for inviting me to go. Amos performed quite well and I shook Colin Hay’s hand and thanked him for his music.

17. Floetry: Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco. A groovy blend of R&B, soul and hip-hop, without the bullshit gangsta rap. And they’ve got a really snappy name too.

18. Tito Puente & The Latin Jazz All-Stars: John Harms Center. Tito was like 80 at this point and still hitting the timbales like a 20 year old. Another great show with dad. Que Ritmo!

19. Dave Valentin & Hilton Ruiz: Iridium, a jazz club in NYC that looks like Dr. Seuss and Salvador Dali were the interior designers. Lovely flute and piano. Both my dad and I had a great time. Makes me realize I’ve never been to a concert with my mom.

20. Dave Brubeck Quartet (sadly not the original line-up): Central Park with my buddy Joel. Unbelievable. Dave was also about 80 at the time and he hasn’t lost any of his playing ability or musical genius. He was funny as well. He started off by saying “I’m not going to play the one song you all want to hear (obviously talking about Take Five). I’m sorry, I just don’t play that one anymore.”

21. Spacehog: Great American Music Hall for the Resident Alien tour. Ferocious. These guys could rock. Sadly, they suffered from the sophomore jinx and later disbanded.

22. Ben Folds Five: The Warfield in San Francisco for the Whatever and Ever Amen Tour. Great set. Ben was a madman on the piano and they ended with a medley that began with The Scorpions’ Rock You Like A Hurricane

23. The Who: San Jose Arena, circa 1997. They performed all of Quadrophenia. It was so perfect the term musical orgasm comes to mind.

24. Melissa Ferrick: The Bitter End in NYC. Good set. Not a fan of Melissa Ferrick, but a classic venue and a good night out with friends.

25. The Indigo Girls: Bucknell University Football Field. Throwing Muses opened up and I actually booed them. The Indigo Girls were great.

26. The Indigo Girls: PNC Bank Center, Holmdel, NJ. Another great set.

27. Jason Falkner: Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ. Good set, although I wasn’t really a Jason Falkner fan and the band was way too loud for the awful acoustics of the room.

28. Freedy Johnston: also at Maxwell’s. Wonderful. He and his guitarist covered Night And Day which works really well on slide guitar and the old Glenn Campbell tune Wichita Lineman.

29. Freedy Johnston and Josh Ritter: at Makor, the cultural center my dad used to run. Josh was great, as was Freedy who played Rocket Man on the piano. And I quote “I just started learning the piano, so if you were wondering why I didn’t use the pedals it’s because I don’t know what they do. That song was really hard to learn, I had to look up the chorus on the internet.”

30. The Ladykillers: The Rendezvous, a dive bar in Saugus, CA. Punkrockalicious. That’s a real word!

31. The Cosmic American Derelicts: Mexicali Blues, Teaneck, NJ. A little bit Bluegrass, a little bit rock, a whole lotta drinkin’ and a’ pickin’.

32. Forbidden Fruit: Geronimo’s, Teaneck, NJ. Irie. Ska, Funk, Reggae and one of my oldest friends Roland “Ro-Dog” Ramos on lead vocals and rhythm guitar.

33. Chump: saw them at some half rock club, half strip club in New Jersey. Not my cup of tea but my friend ‘R’ had a great time.

34. Guns N’ Roses Cover Band: forget their name but the lead singer had the Axl Rose snake dance down pat. Another show I went to with ‘R’. Pure 80’s nonsense.

35. NJPAC Festival: this was to commemorate the opening of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, NJ. Richie Havens, The Violent Femmes, John Hammond and Great Big Sea performed. We went for The Violent Femmes and Great Big Sea who both did a bang-up job. Why can’t I get just one kiss…

36. Great Big Sea: The Pontiac Grill on South Street in Philadelphia. Just about the best Modern Celtic band around. The PA system crapped out and they kept right on going. They even covered the REM song It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

37. The Outlaws?: Can’t remember the name of the band and that’s probably a good thing because they claimed to play jazz but it was atonal crap. Really the only bad show I’ve been to. This monstrosity occurred at Yoshi’s in Oakland, CA. Sorry dad, apparently they don’t make them like Dave Brubeck or Stan Getz anymore.

38. Al Green: The Gallo Winery in Mountainview, CA. You’ve never seen more white women pawing a black guy. Greatest hits tour, free admission, he sang like a champ considering it was out of doors and it was FREEZING.

39. The Stereoblasters: some bar in Oakland, CA. Great show. The crowd was diggin’ it. They loved Cap’n Davey and the gang.

40. The Stereoblasters: some C&W bar in Santa Rosa, CA. Rock solid. Great garage rock/blues tunes. Even better than the Oakland show, in part because I got to sit down.

41. Norah Jones and David Broza: Norah Jones sounded great, as did David Broza who is apparently the Bruce Springsteen of Israel. This was a memorial concert for someone who died, so the occasion was sad, but the music was uplifting. Thanks to my dad for bringing me along, since at that point I had a bit of a crush on Norah Jones.

42. Rattrap Bumpkin: The Continental in NYC. Tough to describe their sound but I guess I’d call it punk. Good set. I particularly liked the drumming.

43. Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage: My brother-in-law ‘A’ took me to this concert at the Cow Palace in San Francisco – December 1996. Rad. Garbage was promoting their eponymous debut and Smashing Pumpkins were promoting Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness, complete with projections of the Tonight, Tonight video behind them, you know the one that has the footage from the 1902 film Trip to the Moon by George Meiles.

44. The Stereoblasters: The Cave in LA. Good set, but it was a tiny club with bad acoustics.

45. Chris Ahlman: The Bear’s Lair, UC Berkeley. A good set, and hey even if it weren’t I’d say it was because I produced his first album. Chris always delivers though. A consummate singer/songwriter.

46. Crosby, Stills & Nash: Concord Pavillion, Concord, CA. Fantastic. Nothing short of transcendent. David Crosby had just recovered from many years of drug abuse and started off the evening by quoting Mark Twain -”The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” It could have been 1969 and for all the hippies in the crowd you might have thought it was.

47. The Coasters: Not sure if it counts, but The Coasters performed at my grandmother’s retirement party. But hey, seeing them perform Yakety Yak live must count for something.

48. The Willknots: Bottom Of The Hill, San Francisco. Not bad. Pop/punk in the vein of Green Day.

49. The Allman Brothers Band: not sure which year it was I saw them, roundabout 1998, but I went with my friend’s brother to the Beacon Theater in NYC and they put on a very good show. Naturally, it was long after Duane’s death and they were pushing a recent album, but musically they were tight and we had a good time.

50. Squeeze – I saw them back in ‘93 with The Smithereens at the WNEW 102.7 FM Christmas Show at the Beacon Theater in NYC. I’ve been a Squeeze fan since Babylon And On, their big 80’s album with the song Hourglass on it. You know, the one with the wacky chorus that goes “Take it to the bridge, throw it overboard, see if it can swim back up to the shore, no one’s in the house, everyone is out, all the lights are on and the blinds are down.” I didn’t really know any of The Smithereens songs, but they played a lively set. Squeeze rocked the house and for Tempted much to everyone’s delight, Paul Carrack walked out onto stage and sang his parts of the song. Ah, good old English pop.

51. Grant Lee Phillips – Got taken to see him at Bimbo’s 365 in San Francisco. Had only heard a couple of his songs before going, but he was awesome. A great performer and a really cool, mellow guy. We chatted with him after he got done playing. If you like clever, heartfelt singer-songwriters check out his album Mobilize.

Last night, after wrapping for the evening on a film shoot, it occurred to me that filmmaking is a lot like ocean sailing. Here’s a list of things they have in common. Enjoy.

1. They both require groups of people. You can sail or film single-handed, but you’ve got to be a special kind of maniac (of course many people would say you’ve got to be a special kind of maniac to do either one at all…to each his own)

2. Sailing long distances and making movies both involve prolonged sleep deprivation. When you sail without stopping you switch off and a pair of crew members are always on watch. When you film you don’t get that down time.

3. They both require multi-tasking and an inordinate amount of attention to detail, focus, and abstract problem solving.

4. Neither one can be done well without a tremendous amount of planning. Planning before, during and after (in the case of sailing, once you catch the fever from the first trip you start planning the next).

5. Both change your perception of food and any commonly held beliefs about what a “good diet” is. Both sailors and filmmakers will eat damn near anything in their immediate vicinity.

6. Both are ridiculous challenges to your mental, emotional and physical stamina. Think a triathlete can go the distance, go watch a filmmaker.

7. Both have formal instruction available but the theory changes and in many cases gets discarded all together once the practice begins. This is true of many things, but I mention this because of all the illusions sold to people in art school or film school. I also mention this because sitting in a classroom learning to sail is all well and good until you are actually surfing down a ten foot wave while freezing your ass off and trying not to hit anything or damage the boat.

8. Both activities are pursued by a small group of people. In some cases this is due to misconceptions about cost. You can make a movie without having 50 million dollars and sailing is a lot less expensive than people think too. You can buy a small boat for a few thousand dollars.

9. Both involve big dreams – the dream of an Oscar, for example and the dream to win the America’s Cup. Personally I wouldn’t mind winning an Oscar but I have ABSOLUTELY no desire to win the America’s Cup. Why race when you can sail for fun?

10. Both let you travel to exotic places, meet new people and unlike the military you don’t have to kill them.