Month: April 2009

I’ve had occasion recently to revisit the old songs of the 1970s that I used to listen to when I was a kid.  These are songs I must have listened to dozens of times, but never listened to the lyrics at all.  Hearing these songs now, as an adult, and actually paying attention to the words, it’s clear that many of them are deeply weird, in ways I’m not sure I would have understood even if I’d been noticing the lyrics back in the day.  So I’m introducing a new feature, WEIRD ‘70s HITS, in which I’ll be taking a closer look at some of these songs.

Today’s installment:  “Be Thankful for What You Got.”

(click on the link to hear a sample of the song)

This song, by William DeVaughn and released in 1974 sold almost two million copies, reached #4 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, and was the number 59 song of the year on New York’s WABC MusicRadio’s Top 100 of 1974, which means I did hear it many, many times that year.

It seems to been intent on riding a trend started by Marvin Gaye’s 1971 album “What’s Going On,” dealing with social and sometimes political issues in the Soul/R&B genre that had previously been solely preoccupied with love and relationships.  But despite this intention at the song's start, DeVaughn seems to go a bit awry by the end.

And so you’ve got the title message of the song and the lyrics at the beginning:

This seems to be a positive, encouraging message, telling listeners that even though you may not have a lot of money, you’ve still got your dignity, and you should appreciate what you do have.

But it’s interesting that in the middle of this inspirational verse, DeVaughn feels it necessary to mention a couple of oddly specific luxury accoutrements that this hypothetical cadillac might have.  Gangsta whitewalls.  TV antennas in the back.

So, Mr. DeVaughn, just out of curiosity, could you tell us what other sorts of things we can stand tall without?  I mean, we're thankful for what we’ve got and all, but could you launch the groove into overdrive, adding the female backup singers, and spend the rest of the song chanting and moaning about glamorous, expensive accessories, and how we could drive around in that great big cadilliac (without which we remain thankful)?

Yes, he can.  The remainder of the song:

 And that’s the end of the song.  I love this song, but talk about your mixed messages.

(By the way, there may be few people with less knowledge of “ghetto” slang than me, but is anyone else surprised that the word “gangsta” was being used as an adjective like this way back in 1974?  I would have thought it was a ‘90s hip-hop term.)

It's always fun when you read a quote by some guy dissembling so desperately, he can't keep his stories straight and contradicts himself in two consecutive sentences.  It seems to happen in sports a lot.  Here's the son of the NY Mets owner, COO Jeff Wilpon, both (i) denying that there has been any difference in the difficulty of hitting a home run in their new ballpark, CitiField, and their old ballpark, Shea Stadium, and (ii) claiming that the difference has benefitted the Mets.  From the New York Times:

In six games [at CitiField], there have been only 10 home runs, and the ballpark plays particularly deep from left-center to right-center. Balls that probably would have left Shea Stadium, like the one Milwaukee’s J. J. Hardy ripped to deep left-center Saturday that was caught by Carlos Beltran, have been outs. …

Jeff Wilpon, the Mets’ chief operating officer said, … “A lot of people have said balls hit to left-center or right-center would have been out at Shea, but I don’t agree with it. I haven’t looked at any charts, but I think we were helped the other day when Beltran easily got over to catch Hardy’s ball.”

I predict the Official Tom the Dancing Bug facebook page makes it to 100 fans before Ashton Kutcher's page does.  That's right, I said 100!

If Kutcher wins, I will zip-a-dee-doo-ditch him.

Let the games begin.

I may not know what I'm doing, and the whole facebook system seems to cultivate that idea, but I have set up an official Tom the Dancing Bug facebook page.  Before I did, I was surprised to see that there already were two, mostly inactive but nicely set up, unofficial pages.  But this one will be maintained by me, and will link to comics, blog postings, events and news.

So, here's your chance to be the first, or one of the first, to sign up for the official Tom the Dancing Bug facebook page (still in beta version, because again, I may not know what I'm doing).  Click on "Become a Fan," and you're in.

THE TOXIC ASSET!

Second in a series depicting the horrors of the recession…

If you look in the righthand column of this page you'll see what's known in the blogging industry as a "wish list," a first cousin of the "tip jar," and third cousin of the "crass request for stuff."  Look, if anyone who enjoys the comic strip wants to chip in and show their appreciation by helping to compensate for cutbacks I've had to make in buying this kind of stuff, I'm nothing but appreciative.

You guys should check out this book:  Sunny Side Down, by Lev Yilmaz.  It's a collection of a comics series called "Tales of Mere Existence," and it's reminiscent of the early, very wordy and dense Matt Groening stuff in "Life In Hell," but even more overtly personal, nostalgic and depressing (in a funny way).  Great stuff.

My buddy Ted Rall is coming out with an autobiographical graphic novel, written by him but illustrated by Pablo J. Callejo.  He's putting sample pages up on his blog.

One of the episodes is how, when he was in college, a wart developed on his chest and then attacked his heart, almost killing him and then essentially ruining of his life.  It's strange to see a story told to me many times over beers put into graphic novel form.  Anyway, it looks great.

Hello, and thank you for clicking on the Wish List button. It may seem jerky to presume that people will want to buy me something (if certainly feels jerky). But when there are people who enjoy the comic strip enough to drop a few bucks on this, I’m nothing but grateful. I’ve tried to include items that can help me in the inspiration, writing and drawing “Tom the Dancing Bug,” so by choosing to send something my way, you may be contributing to the comic strip.

If you send me something through this list, and you email me (at tomdbug@gmail.com) saying so, and including your mailing address, I’ll probably send you a thank you card with a sketch on it. Nothing at all commensurate with the item you sent me, and not intended to be quid pro quo, but purely in the spirit of expressing gratitude.

Note: When you get to the “Choose a shipping address” page, be sure to click the “Ship to this address” button above Ruben Bolling.

Here is the link to the Amazon Wish List page.

Thanks,
Ruben

Can't resist linking to this (saw it on News From Me).  Apparently the Disney animators copied animation from previous movies — and the proof is pretty fun to watch.

http://www.collegehumor.com/moogaloop/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1906578&fullscreen=1