I forget what song Tom said it about, I forget the exact quote, and I may forget the entire gist of his statement, but as I remember it, Tom only gives a 10/10 to songs that come on and change his entire chemistry.  Again, I can be wrong, and “I’ll Make Love to You” isn’t a song that changes my chemistry, but while it reigned at Number One, someone came into my life and changed my chemistry. On Monday I mentioned that I met a man during the Number One run of “Stay” and that we flirted, and things felt good.  This isn’t about him. Instead I set out from Bismarck ND late at night on my way to meet some people in Duluth for a late August camping trip. Long story short, I had to pick up my tent-mate was a guy nicknamed Rugsy who had a dog named Bobo. The long story would do a deep dive into an hour drive in a wet car (my windows were rolled down during a sudden downpour) with a guy who earned his nickname from amorous rugburns, and the dog Bobo who was cured of eating off the table by Rugsy electrifying the table with aluminum foil and batteries. The plan after my camping weekend was a drive to the Twin Cities, stay with my mom, then see a friend, and go to the State Fair. But for some reason, kismet I suppose, I decided to stay around Duluth. On Monday I stopped by at the now defunct Northland Gay Men’s Center and met up with the Honey Bunnies. I don’t know if it was planned, but they called a guy we all know as GBear and invited him to come down to the office and meet a certain guy from North Dakota. True long story short, 20 minutes later he walked in and changed my chemistry. Adrenaline powered our discussion for the next 2 hours. When office hours for the NGMC ended, GBear convinced the Honey Bunnies to extend the discussion at their house on North America’s longest natural sandbar, Park Point. Doug Honey Bunny spoke eloquently about the power of connection, honesty, and love and why we needed to concentrate on Marriage, for more than legal reasons. At one point he said “And that’s a good thing.” When I responded that he had done a good impression of Martha Stewart, he said. “Martha who?” We spoke so late that I had to beg for shelter for the night from the Honey Bunnies. My changed chemistry meant I sat in GBear’s truck saying a long goodbye, writing his phone number while the tree-shaped freshener etched its scent on my mind. The next day, GBear, the Honey Bunnies and I picked June berries in August, checked out Hawk’s Ridge, and sang show tunes before I said my goodbye. I had his phone number, and the special code, but I also had a friend and mom to visit, a State Fair to make, and a wedding I had to attend on Saturday in Bismarck.   Mom was Mom, and we all know the Minnesota State Fair is the best state fair, especially with a great friend who was encouraging me to leave early, head back to Bismarck via Duluth and meet up with the guy who forever changed my chemistry. On Friday morning I called up GBear, entered my code and then asked if he would like a visitor for a night. I could hear the excitement and changed chemistry in his voice as he told me he was looking in the phone book for every Meister in the Twin Cities area, hoping he’d find my mom’s phone number. Pssst. This really is the long story short version.  Back to the song, even though GBear and I would eventually see Boyz II Men in concert “I’ll Make Love to You” doesn’t fit our origin story. For that listen to either Bill Wither’s “Lovely Day” or Gladys Knight and the Pips “You’re the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me.” My changed chemistry means that if either comes on, I’ll start singing every single word, tunelessly I might add, but GBear will hear the voice of an Angel. So, though I won’t go into the particulars of our Friday night date, the energy and chemistry carried me through the long drive to Bismarck where I changed in time to attend the wedding and reception of a good friend.

TNOCS keeps rocking, and I wanted to just express my gratitude to all of you for that!

Despite a few of us wondering a year ago how enthusiastically we’d wade through the musical 1990s, Tom’s consummate columns and the sheer passion which drives these comments have still given us all so much to look forward to three times a week. The setbacks by the new CS system which has led to a drop of several hundred comments per article, the slowest uploading and reloading of any other page I’ve ever used on the web since about 1997, difficulty in tracking threads – even those things haven’t dampened spirits. I really love feeling the spitfire that backs everyone’s recommendations of their favourite releases, even if SoundScan keeps the pace rapid fire and necessitates shorter blurbs.

Thanks to all for this passion which helps us discover great music and keeps alive the reasons we all return here regularly.

MoFi pressings do sound really great, and are also wildly overpriced. The two I have I managed to snag well below MSRP. There’s a specific step in the vinyl mastering process that almost always requires a digital step unless the engineer has been meticulous about every piece of equipment (it’s boring, has something to do with the playback head on the lathe; to clarify, this is not the issue with these particular pressings, just saying it by way of example) so I kind of assume “all analog” pressings are shy of 100%. I also don’t care (except when being price-gouged for it) because while I do love records and do subjectively think they have a “better” sound, I’m not an audiophile fetishist who thinks he can hear the difference between silver or copper wiring or whatever. There ARE levels of audio quality to be sure, but at some point there’s diminishing returns with audiophile gear and pressings. 

In summation, I think MoFi should have been more transparent. I also think their angry fans are mostly collectible hunters who want to fancy themselves golden-eared superhumans and this just burst their bubble.

This is my favorite Madonna song. Not “Material Girl”, considered one of her signatures. Not “Into the Groove”, although it’s one of her best dance-pop tunes. Not even anything off Ray of Light or Like a Prayer, though I’d put many of those songs up there. THIS one! But, I don’t think I’m the only one to look at “Take a Bow” favorably. I remember quite a few of you hinting how much you love it. I know I’m convinced it’s Madonna’s best work, at least a highlight among it.

But, what exactly is the appeal, some might ask? It’s just Madonna doing an AC ballad, what sets it apart from the other 90s AC at the time? But hey, these questions took me a while to answer, too. When I was a kid, I thought “Take a Bow” was booooooring, the perfect song for falling asleep to. Then, some years’ worth of maturity and re-evaluation made me realize something: this song is some serious high quality actually! From the way it’s produced to Madonna’s performance, this has so much good going for it.

And that production is stately. Stately but not stiff. Not boring when you hear the finer details. I like how it starts out with chime sounds and how the string swells come in at just the right places. There are some lighter percussive touches that put this adjacent to R&B. Really, some of Babyface’s best work as a producer, and that’s factoring in his Toni Braxton stuff AND Fall Out Boy’s “Thnks fr th Mmrs”! Anyway, all of this makes “Take a Bow” largely as great as it is. It’s quietly dramatic, which is a perfect complement to all the theater metaphors in the lyrics and Madonna’s vocal.

We’ve discussed what a compelling actress she makes…when singing some of her best songs anyway. She outdoes herself here, at least pre-Ray of Light era. She sounds resigned, nostalgic, and just plain sad that this romance is ending. She’s the reason you don’t feel this song’s length. She’s going through all these twists and turns emotionally to the point where you’re not sure what inflection she’ll use next. How is she going to go for more dynamic notes? How is she going to pull back? She’s just spectacular, and this ballad is unlike anything she’s ever done imo before or since.

So, yeah, this is a 10. 😅 In almost every way. I can listen to it so often and yet never get tired if it. And that’s not even touching on how beautiful the lyrics are either.

Not so much a story about today’s Number One as it is about the recording that it samples.

I had just finished limping through college when the Diana Ross song was released. In those days, I eagerly ate up anything new from Nile and Bernard, and just like when “Good Times” exploded on the scene, I practiced his signature Straty-sounding hook over, and over, and over again. The interesting thing about Nile’s playing is that although it might sound like a riff simply repeated, I guarantee that he never plays the parts exactly the same in any song. The difference is almost imperceptible, but as they say, once you know that it’s there, you can’t unhear it. That’s why he’s Nile Rogers, and I’m really, really not.

Anyway, after practicing it to death, I quickly realized that no one in my current band seemed to have any interest in covering the song. Bummer, but you only get to play about 40 tunes per night, so it was not to be. Until the new keyboard player, who’d joined up about a month ago quietly said that he’d like to try it, and that he would like to sing. This was odd, because aside from the occasional harmony parts, he was a really quiet guy who never sang lead. A very nice person, but he really kept to himself, and the others in the band didn’t know much about him.

We agreed to take a shot and try to cover the tune, and ran through it. It was OK; one of those definite “maybes.” That Friday night at the gig, we were on the fence about it, but something told me to go for it. I called the tune. And this guy came out of nowhere, and revealed a stellar tenor register, and crushed it. He belted it out like it was a life mission. Everyone loved it, and then, he returned to doing his little keyboard hooks and light harmonies. But not before giving me a look of satisfaction and accomplishment, like it was important, or something.

Within a month or so, the band called it quits, as they always do. I didn’t think about any of it at all for about fifteen years, until I ran into the keyboard guy at, of all things, a funeral. We caught up, and he me thanked for, as he put it, “you know.” I was puzzled, and then he explained why he wanted to sing the song, where he was then, and where he was now. The light dawned on my marble head.

In those days, I was even more obtuse than I am now. I never did the math or put the puzzle pieces together. Good on you, Mark, for having the courage to sing and say “I’m Coming Out,” at not only a forgettable bar-band gig, but in real life as well.

I don’t know what the hell she’s even talking about. I was professional and was just following the protocol American Airlines has set for for all of us that are employed as Flight Attendants. I gotta tell y’all,…this feels oddly personal
-American Airlines Flight Attendant Ruston Kelly

Aw,man. That’s sad. I’ll hang out with him.

(Hangs out with Gene Simmons)

Oh, no. That was a terrible idea.

Again is apt. Its like Groundhog day around here; Janet, Madonna, Mariah, Whitney; it feels like a constant prescence in the column, nearly every week one of them comes round again. Or in the case of this week, two of them.

So then stats fans, that song title sent me down a rabbit hole of seeing just how dominant they’ve been.

Since Like A Virgin became the last #1 of ’84 to the end of ’93 these four are responsible for
35 #1s which is 15.6% of all chart toppers. So roughly one in every six and a half #1s is down to them.

5 times one of has replaced another though they’ve never managed 3 in a row.

Pretty impressive but it gets even more pronounced between the start of ’90 and end of ’93. There have been 75 #1s in this period and 19 belong to them, that’s 25.33%. So yeah, for the last four virtual years they average an appearance here every second week. In terms of weeks at #1 they’re even better. They’ve amassed 63 weeks at number in these 4 years giving them the top spot 30.3% of the time.

In both ’90 and ’91 all four hit the top but ’93 is their peak, no Madonna this year but the other three account for over half the year spending 28 weeks at the top.

Their combined dominance dies off from here as the only appearance in ’94 is the song we come to on Monday to round off ’93 carries over into the new year. After that Mariah just keeps on going but Janet, Madonna and Whitney have only the occasional visit. Its going to be 2002 before we hit a calendar year when none of them makes an appearance ending an 18 year run where at least one of them always appears.

All of that is far more interesting to me than Again. Having been so impressed revisiting Janet’s career this is the first let down. Its very slight and too saccharine for me. Can’t win them all.

Okay, his brother will quit the band…But when? And what’s his brother’s name? So vague!

Fuck this. Here’s a picture of my dog instead.

Oh but when I do that it’s all “sir, this is a family restaurant” and “you’re under arrest.”

he should also apologize to me for having to hear some dude in a parking lot saying Greta Van Vleet is saving rock and roll. that was deeply troubling.

In the summer of 1993, I was the one senior member of the upper management team to stay in town to run this 24-hour, 7 day a week radio station. Technically, I was the tech director… but I was also acting GM, acting PD, and probably a few other positions time has made me forget.

So, one day one of the DJs asked for my assistance the following week… as he had someone he wanted to bring in for an interview and to play some music. I don’t think I was particularly excited by the prospect (there were precious few hours I was away from the station)… but, I said I would be there to help.

So, the next week, in walks a young lady wearing a summer dress with funky/colorful tights. She had distinctive eyewear. And, she had a guitar. I quickly set up some mics… and soon enough she was on the radio. She talked about Berklee, she talked about her band in New York, she talked about doing performances in Harvard Square. She also played music. The lyrics seemed profound… and yet, seemed born of real experience. It was a bit elliptical… but, isn’t life itself elliptical when you’ve lived just enough to know you haven’t lived enough. She was also slyly funny. When she ended her interview, she thanked the DJ. She also thanked me while noting to the radio viewer that I was wearing a bright pink tutu. (I was not, but that’s besides the point).

About a year later, I get out of my car and I hear a song. It was familiar… but I couldn’t quite place it right away. And, then I did. And, I exclaimed… That’s Lisa Loeb. Someone I engineered is on the radio. I listened to the entire song… and when it went to some other pop song, I realized that this was something that could be big. Did I expect it to hit #1? I don’t think so. But, heck, top 40 was pretty big for my own self-worth (even though I had absolutely nothing to do with her success… at the time, it felt like I had done something really big).

If I was being objective, Stay is probably a high 8, maybe a low 9. But… this is one of the few times I really can’t be objective. Lisa Loeb and Stay are both 10s.

Hanson’s “MmmBop” top YouTube official video comments:
 

1. This song is literally telling you that you can count on one hand how many of the friends you’ll make in life will be real and actually stick by you. I love a song that can take harsh facts of life and make them something I rock out to.
2. The fact that this song has the Hanson’s rollerblading perfectly encapsulates my 90’s experience.
3. This song became number 1 when i was born. my mum actually gave birth whilst this song was playing on the radio, giving me the nickname of ‘leahbops’. 23 years later, my mum and dad still call me their little leahbops🥺 there will always be a place in my heart for this song.
4. My 8 year old Autistic son came running off the bus telling me he had to get this song by a singer named “Handsome” that the girls on the bus were raving about, they told him it was a boy and that he’d like the song. He had never expressed an interest in music before so we went out that evening with him and had him pick out the CD. He was so proud to set it on the counter and take it home. He got the Hanson poster later that month for his room. He’s 32 now and he smiles when he hears the song, he says he still likes it and it reminds him of that bus ride long ago. Music is the great equalizer, it can make a shy Autistic kid just like the other kids….

In the latter half of the 90s I was a non-stoppable bad decisions machine. I made a lot of bad choices. But the worst, in 1998, was to date a guy who beat me and belittled me. As a kid, my parents would hit each other and have scary fights, so I just assumed this was normal, that he did this because he loved me and I deserved it. I spent 6 months with this guy, and I could have easily stayed longer, given my low opinion of myself. This song did not magically make me leave him, I somehow got the strength to do that on my own, but this song did help me refuse to get back together with him, and to try to start making better decisions for myself. I still had some bad decisions left in me, but not nearly so many, and this song was part of the turning point. 10/10.

Hey, SG comments section, y’all ok? Seems like since the format switch we’ve gotten a lot more nasty “suck it up, buttercup!” vibes towards artists. Why tho

she tried to be an ally but she choked, tried to apologize but she stumbled

Maybe it’s just me, but in past years it almost felt as if this was not a scene but rather something more akin to an arms race.

I know cheaper

So here’s my story:

I was 15 years old. I’d had crushes on boys on TV but I pushed ALL those thoughts away. I had a whole rationale behind it. Almost uniformly, those boys had been heavy. And heavy people, as we all knew back in 1991, couldn’t be gay. So if I were to ever, like, SAY I was gay, or admit it or whatever, I would have no luck and no future, because the guys I liked were never going to like me back.

The inflection point was when my uncle and his then-girlfriend decided to rent The Rocky Horror Picture Show a week after it was released on VHS for the first time. I knew nothing about callbacks and only a little about what you were supposed to throw. I went into it mostly cold. I was unprepared for what I saw. The unabashed queerness. The lunacy of it all. Did I even know it was a musical?

And at the center: a chubby rockabilly guy who is said to be bisexual.

Meat Loaf changed my whole life. Literally my whole life. I don’t think I would have come out at 16 if not for him. I fell hard for his character Eddie, and then I fell hard for his music and for him. When “I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” came out, I was thrilled, but I didn’t expect it to be as massive or as popular as it became. It seemed so weird to me at the time, but I loved everything about it. Suddenly, the music I’d always loved in my little gay nerd alcove of life was in everyone’s ears. And because Meat Loaf was okay, maybe I could be okay. 10/10

you accidentally used a photo of the Armed at the bottom

Matchbox Twenty are among the most important, formative bands for me. I was too young to be aware during the Nirvana breakout. But I was seven when Yourself or Someone Like You dropped, and eight when “3 AM” hit the radio.

I can picture myself getting shuttled along in the back of my parents’ Jeep, and it’s this era where pop-rock felt omnipresent on Top 40 radio. Which was an eye-opening change-of-pace from the classic-rock-only sounds my parents usually played.

Matchbox (and Fastball, The Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind, Semisonic…) were the on-ramp for me getting into contemporary music, for engaging with post-80s pop and rock on a regular basis. Hearing the Top 40 countdown on the ride home from church was episodic. What’s the new character? What’s coming next? Will it be as good as what came before?

I was helpless to the charms of the hooks, to the warmth of the singing, to the pop-guitar. And the resulting curiosity for the “new” drove further listening. I mean this sincerely: I don’t think I’d be reading sites like Stereogum or Pitchfork without Matchbox Twenty igniting my passion for music.

By the time Matchbox Twenty dropped Mad Season and More Than You Think You Are, the band felt like a good friend. Even though “Bent” isn’t my all-time favorite Matchbox single, it’s still a warm bowl of Easy Mac. It’s comfort music, it’s uncomplicated, it’s exactly what I want it to be. It’s a nostalgic 10/10 without hesitation.

Even as I’d eventually grow into moodier sounds (hello middle school), and then more independent sounds (hello high school and college), I still found Matchbox Twenty to be a perfect road trip companion.

One winter in college, I drove some pals to-and-from Ottawa Ontario, from our little school in Northern NY. It was a day-trip for skating on the Rideau Canal, and watching a 67s game. On the way back, as we closed in on the Canadian border, everybody was exhausted. I was exhausted. I needed a pick-me-up, and the Tim Hortons in my cup-holder wasn’t enough. My roommate was running the stereo, and found the Matchbox Twenty files on my iPod. He click-wheeled to start… and “Real World” roared to life, and I felt actually giddy. And now *I* was driving that same Jeep, some ten-years later. Matchbox Twenty carrying me home again.

I’ve been so excited to talk about today’s song, let me tell you! I feel like I’ve been waiting since around virtual ’90 for it. I think this is another one of my all-time favorite number one singles ever. It was just so unexpected and wouldn’t have come about at all if Ben Stiller hadn’t wanted to use it in Reality Bites. I really love that it got to chart this high. It’s like this perfect bridge between 90s alternative and pop.

I’ve liked what I’ve heard of Lisa Loeb’s music in general. The first time I ever heard one of her songs was her contribution to the Rugrats movie soundtrack, “All Day”. I know she’s put out children’s music albums before, and she’s basically got the kind of voice kids love–just that right level of soft and sweet. But, anyway, discovering a few of her tracks for older audiences later on was a treat. “Do You Sleep” is a personal favorite, just puts you in the mindset of a rocky relationship so well. She’s very concise in her writing.

And that leads me to what’s so great about “Stay”. She describes all these mixed post-breakup feelings in such a way you understand perfectly what she means. And her style of singing is so unpretentious that it’s refreshing compared to certain turgid songs we’ve heard from this era. I’ve listened to this song so many times that I’m pretty sure I have all of her inflections memorized. She’s that earnest in her performance that it makes “Stay” all the more memorable. That’s not even touching on the scaled-down acoustic production either, which does the song wonders.

I’ve seen Reality Bites exactly once and found myself disappointed in it. I didn’t think any of the characters were likeable–as in no redeeming qualities whatsoever–and hated the love triangle. I didn’t want Winona Ryder’s character with either of these guys. ESPECIALLY the Ethan Hawke character who just casually insults her in the name of “being honest” through pretty much the whole movie. In other words, I don’t think the movie deserves as great a song as this.

But, you know what? I’m so glad “Stay” exists, I don’t even care if I don’t have warm feelings toward Reality Bites. I’m giving this a 10!!

Let this be a lesson to anyone with bipolar disorder. If you stop taking your meds, then Candace Owens shows up.

I’ve checked and you can raise money without bringing Nazis onstage

I stopped defending Kanye when he started to publicly bully Pete Davidson. As someone whose struggled with depression and suicide as a result of bullying, that was the straw that broke the camels back for me. I usually am not averse to someone’s political beliefs that don’t align with mine but when someone tries to hurt someone on a personal/individual level that signals to me that person is probably not a good person. Around that same time the jeen-yuhs documentary came out, and it reaffirmed this idea that Kanye wasn’t the same person who put out the college dropout, or even the same person who put out Yeezus/TLOP. For those who haven’t seen the documentary, the evolution of Kanye into the egomaniac he is today is crystal clear.

It truly is really sad what happened to Kanye and I’m really reluctant to blame his mental health issues for what has happened with him over the past year, although they are no doubt a contributing factor. I was talking to my partner about it, and I think what was unique about the Yeezus era of Kanye was that never has a musician talked so much shit and subsequently backed it up and lived up to the hype. Both Yeezus and TLOP are amazing records, and I would argue they both pulled off an amazing feat of living up to their hype. Unfortunately, the talking shit that he did around this time, while very entertaining, should have been taken as a warning for things to come. To tie this all together, I’m scared to blame his mental health issues for what hes become because it could be seen as an exemption for all the hate hes promulgated over the last year. Kanye is mentally ill – there is no doubt about that, but at the same time he is a dangerous egomaniac with incredible and hurtful delusions of grandeur. Just because hes mentally ill doesn’t make his hateful rhetoric OK.

This is gonna be my last post under the timescreamer account because i can’t live with the comments I’ve made in support of Kanye through his MAGA phase and pre-Pete Davidson bullying. I will probably continue to post here under a different name but I’m gonna bow out for awhile.

Love all u gummers, even if we’ve had vehement disagreements in the past.

The fact that Drake sent those corny DMs and then found them so brilliant he leaked them himself makes this an automatic W for Fantano

I’m reminded of that summer when I was 15. Ophelia barely noticed me at the Freshman dance, and…

Sorry. As a public service: just wanted to give everyone a chance to test the “mute” button. 

Carry on.

It’s absurd that we have to work the day after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on live tv. We need time to process this!

This would’ve been a teen dream if it happened 10 years ago, but in 2022 I’m a little depression cherry about it.

It’s like the Life of Pablo but instead of the voices in Kanye’s head it’s just people being annoying on Twitter

I used to be a piece of shit: glass house; white Ferrari; live for New Year’s Eve; sloppy steaks at Truffoni’s; slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars. But people can change.

Grilling in the Name

Kelis’s milkshake may bring all the boys to the yard, but Beyonce has a really long straw that stretches acroooooss the room. To drink it.

regarding the auntie diaries track – i think it’s a bit of a bad faith reading to see him as carelessly misgendering trans people, when he actually switches back and forth between pronouns. my read is that he’s trying to portray his and his family’s struggles with understanding transness. i found that song really moving

Hello. My name is Pam and “poorlittlefool” is my brother Chris Boehme. It was recently and so very kindly, brought to my attention his participation with your group. Thank you cstolliver.  

I always knew Chris kept crazy detailed records of music (among other things… he had a fascination with numbers his whole life), but we had no idea how widespread his presence was felt concerning this particular passion of his. We his family were unaware of this involvement, but not surprised… it is so like him.  

He was beyond remarkable and so generous.  He loved sharing any kind of knowledge he could. Especially his stats compilations. He kept them on SO many strangely varied subjects… music, ballet, books, genealogy, languages (he and a friend back in high school taught themselves to read and write Phoenician so they could pass undecipherable, anonymous notes in class), travel, World Of Warcraft, Texas high school football (go figure lol, but ask any Texas high school football coach if they knew WOS87, and they’d say he was THE go to guy before taking on that week’s opponent), and, he even kept stats on numbers themselves.

I am so grateful to you cstolliver, for taking the time to find me, and then send such a beautiful letter telling me all about Chris’s association with The Number Ones. While our loss is devastating, your correspondence gave us joy and comfort. When our sorrow is shared by so many, it can only be lightened. Knowing just how many others were positively affected by him is a great comfort. And since his death, we his family, who already knew him to be so kind, caring, and generous, are finding out at every turn just how many others thought so as well.

I don’t know if this is where I should be relaying my sentiments and thanks, but after finding you online I felt this was the best way to reach those of you who knew Chris. In addition, I plan on sending to you cstollliver, a small thank you package of sorts from our family to all of you so that you might know a little more about my dear brother. We were so close. We often claimed to be twins who just happened to be born 8 years apart lol.  

Thanks again, to all of you in The Number Ones Comment Section, for everything. We, the adoring family of Dr. Christopher Lee Boehme, are grateful to know of yet another facet in an already brilliant life.  There is so much that was good gone from the world now…

I guess “polarizing figure” is one way to describe someone actively waging war on trans and LGBT people, trying to suppress knowledge in regards to how horrifically America has treated and still treats black people/people of color, and allocating millions of dollars towards anti-immigrant showmanship instead of allocating that money anywhere worthwhile, but go off I guess Bryan. 🙄

Just gonna have to watch Arcade Fire’s R. Kelly tribute instead, I guess.

Tom

I’m sitting here at break, reading your column and I’m on the verge of tears. It’s like you read my mind and put it on the internet.

I hear Together Again and think of many people, but especially my dad. Dad never met Gbear but in my dreams he has. His presence is still in my life seeing the happiness I’ve found. Dance as a celebration of life has a healing power. Janet gets this, Jam & Lewis get this, Together Again gets this.

I’ve known many who have died of AIDS and many more who have lived decades with it. Someday I’ll find myself on a dance floor and Together Again will bring tears of joy as I celebrate life.

10/10

Classic sibling rivalry. Will Will win or will Win win?

Chris, Scott, Tom, Rachel, I have to chime in and say that this week revealed a problem with a combination of the comment system and which stories are reported and how. It’s been stated explicitly from political actors that their strategy is to exploit discomfort with trans issues (i.e. bias) to achieve their greater agenda. Reading the Bette Middler post, there were a multitude of long posts from accounts that had never posted to Stereogum before and were repeating talking points and “debating” people.

I think you have to look at why Trump was ascendant and Kanye stayed famous after the music declined: They were able to manipulate the modern media content apparatus that rewards poking hot button issues and offending people to get people worked up, more clicks, more comments, rage adrenaline and dopamine. The news was always saying, “Guess what awful thing Trump said…” and feigning horror/disgust, while making sure that they talked about him and those hot takes all the time.

If you want to uplift the trans community, uplift trans artists and musicians who are creating culture and give them a platform, not Bette Midder, when she’s being taken in by propaganda and repeating it, or other more toxic trolls and propagandists.

Trans/non-binary communities are a major part of the counterculture and artistic/musical subcultures these days. It’s not hard at all to feature and promote their music. You can let them frame their own issues or just talk about other aspects of their life where they can describe their experience or celebrate aspects that aren’t about oppression (a common thing that people tell me, we don’t want to see only stories about our people being victimized/oppressed, there is more to our experience.)

Would be so cool if everybody wasn’t so goddamn gross.

Well the important thing is that he’s doing what he loves, which is not making music and not playing shows.

Some shocking omissions and dubious choices on the RS 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time list, for sure. Still, I wasn’t a bit surprised to see U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind at number four.

The last two nights on stage, my songs made the decision for me. Hearing them through this lens was incongruous with what I’ve worked to clarify for myself through my whole career.

This makes SO much sense to me. There’s a chorus of people who are all about separating the art from the artist, and I respect (and am slightly jealous of) those who have found some way to manage that. But what Feist is describing here is the same sort of process that I’ve gone through as a fan – not just with Arcade Fire, but with other musicians and artists in other media as well.

As a woman and the mom of a daughter, I live in the same world as the people who have been telling their stories.
I know what is and what is not OK with me. I know that Win’s behavior, and his response to being exposed for it, are not OK with me. And listening to their music feels incongruous with what the songs meant to me, and with who I am as a person.

I get that it makes no material difference if I choose to stop listening to a band or stop watching someone’s films, or whatever. But I know that whatever joy or appreciation I may have gotten from those sources has been extinguished, and all I’m left with is yuk. Maybe I’m not a nuanced enough person, but I think what Feist said is true. If something feels wrong, you have to choose your actions based on that instinct. Losing art that I love is like a kick in the nads, but I’m done with Arcade Fire, and I truly appreciate Feist for being done with this tour and being transparent about why. It helped me a lot to read that statement from her, and I think it will bring some clarity for other people who are still trying to understand their own reactions to all this mess.

As one of the 5 people who actually bought this on CD, I’m rapidly getting quite the collector’s item!

Thank you everyone who is subscribing! Important milestone today. 🤞

He can’t even go electric on the pen without angering his fans