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m1ssunderstanding · 2 months

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Understanding Lennon McCartney Rewatch Part 3.2

The thing is Paul just physically can't say what he feels. It's just an impossibility for him. So if he says reading a negative article about himself “doesn't help” or “it's not good” but it “doesn't get home” I just assume he means ‘It hurts, but I can't think about that too hard or I'll go into a self-hate suicidal spiral again’.

I always love how Paul says Linda. “Linder is er, nature mad.”

She!!

Hearing Paul talk about watching Mary be born makes me wonder if John was there with Sean? Also I wonder if Linda would talk about the experience so glowingly. Probably. She's tough as nails. I had a lovely experience, personally, after the epidural lol

“Dear friend . . . I'm in love with a friend of mine.” This is such a strange and beautiful song. It's a man who has to apologize to his friend for falling in love with someone else. At least, that's my interpretation. What's everyone else's?

I understand why he's so closed off. I do. But when John is going off every five seconds, we're missing half the picture here and it's turning out warped. They really are such a good study of attachment honestly.

“Nothing will ever break the love we have for each other.” White-knuckling my way through this section with this quote clenched in my fist.

Yoko, talking about John fighting with Paul: any couple will go from swearing to kissing and it's like that. What favors are you doing yourself here, babe? Maybe John's the PR mastermind between the two of them.

I find John's comparison of working with his romantic partner to being ambidextrous very confusing. Does he mean just doing two things at once?

“If I can't have a fight with my best friend, I don't know who I can have a fight with.” -- Intro slutty gender-fluid Wings Paul my beloved -- “Tell me why, why, why do you treat me so bad? So bad? When you're the best friend a man ever had?” I heard on some podcast somewhere. Someone was going on about how forward-thinking the Beatles were to refer to the women in their songs as “friends”. And I was like, nununununu do not give them that credit.

This is just soooo. In this era? 90 minutes in the middle of a recording session?

John: Sorry, my estranged fiance is calling, gotta take a break. Guitarist: again? Drummer: how estranged can they be if they call every three minutes? Yoko: should we just record the other parts or . . . John: (receiver cradled to his cheek, lovesick grin on his face) Hey, how was Heather's school program? Haha, yeah, I bet she was.

Okay, so you've made up with Paul and now you're done being homophobic? *Cardi b voice* well that's suspicious.

The fact that John's asking Paul to play on stage with him in 1972?? Ugh! If it was just about legalities and money and shit I would be genuinely so pissed at Paul for not going. If only because Come Together sounds incredibly lame without his bass and piano. But also for the obvious fix-it reasons. I have to remind myself of how truly awful Klein was. By being the only one to stand firm against him, Paul actually ended up saving them all from a lot of trouble. But gosh would this have been good!

Things normal people say, for sure, for sure.

Okay in my head it went like this. John calls George and bitches about what an egomaniac Paul is because he won't do anything with him as long as Klein is involved. George gets off the phone and calls Ringo and they make a bet as to how long it is until John decides they should get rid of Klein.

“Where's your audience, Paul?” “In the theater, Dave.” As he should. The cuntiness is unparalleled. Yeah, maybe people like to see a family friendly eclectic magic pixie sexy hard rock floor show? Ever thought about that, Dave?

Anyway, he seems genuinely pissed when the interviewer even mentions the other Beatles and he refuses to even admit he still talks to any of them. Why?

John's just so benevolent and selfless. He's completely straight, of course, but he's always offering to do gay shit. You know. To be nice.

I forget that not only was May their literal employee, but she was ten years younger on top of that. And yet, she managed to do so much good in that relationship. I have so much respect for her.

There's obviously a lot going on behind the scenes that they don't say in interviews. Duh. But I wonder what it is that caused Paul to be so open and happy in this interview where he's asked about the other Beatles compared to before. I wonder if he and John had a really lovely talk, or if he's heard a demo of “I know, I know.” Or maybe it's just he's so reassured that they've got rid of Klein that he feels safe acting open to a reunion on record. Who knows, Yoko.

So so smart to pair “In My Life” handwritten lyrics with the matching lyrics of “I know I know” playing at the same time. I forget about that connection (“I love you more”) because it's so overshadowed by the “than yesterday” right after. I seriously wonder if John thought he was being so obvious with this one the way he was with HDYS and half hoped people would ask him if it was about Paul and he could make up for the whole thing. Because it's just so heavy-handed. It's beautiful. I love it. I'm sure Paul loved it. But yeah. John's just beating us over the head with the references here.

I also wonder (very tentatively!!!) if Paul was maybe a bit more emotionally vulnerable with John than we usually think. I would never think this except for the “you know I nearly broke down and cried” “I'm sorry that I made you cry” and “no more crying!” I don't know. What do we think?

His little baby smirk. It's so silly and cute. He's being very positive about getting back together, and the interviewer asks if John would initiate that. Just a very coy, “a, well, I couldn't say.” I wonder if at that point if he'd said on live tv that he wanted to get together again if it would've happened. Seems like it might have, but I understand him being scared.

Elton John taking pictures like a fan and John: I wanna impound all those photos till I get me green card. What a random idea for a commercial. I love it, obviously, it's hilarious. I wonder who thought of it.

This doc is so good at implication. The smirk as “loving in the palm of my hand” plays. That's not a reference to hand jobs, is it? Certainly not talking to someone with beautiful hands?

Everyone go look up Nineteen Hundred Eighty Five on YouTube. The singing sex is something else, yeah, but I'm always so blown away by the piano part. The fact that he's self taught and doesn't read music and this man will go on to compose symphonies.

#paul mccartney #the beatles #john lennon #mclennon #linda eastman #yoko ono #understanding lennon mccartney #ulm

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foreverdolly · 8 months

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𝐈 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐄 pt 2 | 80's mechanic!austin x best friend!reader

summary: it's starting to look like he might never make it out of the friend zone. austin has been in love with you for as long as he can remember, and he's terrified that you'll never see him as anything more than a best friend and protector. with the fear of you one day outgrowing him fresh on his mind, he's now hell bent on getting you to view him in a different light. madly in love and terrified to lose you, austin butler is playing for keeps.

pairings: 80s mechanic! austin x childhood best friend!reader

word count: 3.8k

notes/warnings: SMUT! in part three, virgin!austin. . . need i say more?, i love pining and this fic is testament to that, shaky/hurried hands, who doesn't love a good best friends to lovers fic, he has a deep southern accent, austin is the small town's metalhead and he's swelteringly hot without even trying. (this is going to have to be three parts because it turned out too long after editing. the smut alone is like. . . five pages on google docs.)

Austin could tell that you were fighting off the urge to plug your ears as the band continued to pound away at their instruments. It wasn’t that you weren’t a fan of metal music- he was pleased to know that you enjoyed a lot of the bands that he loved- but while this might be metal, Austin wasn’t sure it could really be categorized as music. The drummer, Mark, was okay at best. He couldn’t say the same for the other member’s. Dave had picked up a guitar and decided that he wanted to start a band just a year ago. It was more of a “this sounds like a fun thing to do with my time” and less of a “this is my passion in life” sort of thing.

The wavy haired blonde tried to show support where he could, like tonight for example. He had dragged you all the way out here just to add to the small crowd. You were sweet enough not to complain though.

“Do ya want another drink?” Austin called down to you, pointing to the empty can of beer in your hand.

You squint your eyes up at him, trying to read his lips. He repeated himself, smiling fondly when you nodded your head. You were kind enough to let him drag you an hour out of town to see this show, so the least he could do was make sure you were taken care of. Not only that, but it was something that he enjoyed immensely. Austin knew just how strong you were, but it felt nice to know that he was needed. Taking care of you made him feel like a necessary part of your life. It made it easier for him to delude himself into thinking that you couldn’t be without him.

“I’m not drunk enough for this.” You called back to him, motioning towards the stage.

He heard your sly little comment and laughed all the way back up to the bar, maneuvering his tall body this way and that so that he wouldn’t bump into anyone in the packed crowd. Austin was surprised that so many people showed up to the bar tonight, the turnout usually being much smaller.

He finally made it over to the bar, the toes of his sneakers swiping one of the bar stools. He grimaced, mumbling a quick apology to the man who had been jostled around by Austin’s uncharacteristic clumsiness. He was just about to try and grab the bartender’s attention when he felt a sudden pressure on his elbow.

Samuel’s familiar face grinned back at him, his mousy brown hair cropped short. Austin gaped when he noticed the new hairstyle, eyebrows pinching together in confusion. He didn’t have to vocalize the question, Sam already pointing at his head with a comically dramatic frown.

“Work,” The other man stated simply, shrugging his shoulders with a “what can you do” attitude. “I’ll get another beer.” He reached around Austin so that he could hand the empty beer bottle to the bartender and then pointed towards the blonde. “And then put whatever he orders for him and his lady on my tab too.”

The blonde whirled, quickly shaking his head. He wasn’t the type of person to take handouts. Ever. Even if they are as a gesture of kindness. Austin hated the feeling of owing people anything. He’d learned from a young age that most people, even the ones that seemed to have the purest intentions, expected favors in return for nice gestures. Maybe it was due to growing up on “the wrong side of the tracks”, but good deeds always meant that someone wanted something from you.

“Nah, man. Ya don’t have to do that.” He tried, but the beers were already being placed down in front of him.

Sam smiled at the bartender, giving her a flirtatious wink before clapping his old friend on the back. “You’re the one that got me my current gig. Two beers is nowhere near enough to pay you back for that.”

The regional manager of the local electric company had all of their work trucks maintained at the shop where Austin worked. All the mechanic did was tell the head honcho that he knew a guy that was going to school to become an electrician. Thanks to Austin’s meddling, Sam had a job the second he got his certificates. Even though Austin was the one that set up the interview, it was the brunette’s skill and personable attitude that landed him the job in the first place. He didn’t want to take credit for the other boy’s undeniable skill. Instead of pushing the subject and denying the other man’s kindness, Austin- although slightly begrudgingly- took the beers with a small smile, nudging his elbow into Sam’s side.

“Well thank ya for that. It’s weird seein’ your hair short though. Ya look good.” Austin took a sip of his beer, then stared down at yours, raising that can to his lips so that he could give it a taste.

“You’re lucky that you get to keep your long hair. I mean- it gets more and more majestic by the day, Butler.” Sam teased, reaching a hand over to rustle his wavy blonde hair. It was past his shoulders now, and though you often teased him about getting a haircut, he knew that you’d be upset if he chopped it all off. He’d had long hair since high school, only trimming it when it became too much of a bother to maintain.

Austin could see the way Sam’s eyes slowly searched the crowd, his smile slow and wide once he found exactly who he was looking for: you. The blonde knew that the questions were sure to come, and so he was quick to change the subject.

“I’m glad ya came all the way out here to support Dave. I didn’t know ya were still close with him.” The dark dive bar’s doors opened, more metalheads pouring in through the front door. Austin steered them away from the bar, making more room for others who were waiting behind them for a drink.

“I love Davie- but Mark is my new roommate.” Mark was the aforementioned drummer. . . and the wildest of the band. Just two months ago at a bonfire the twenty four year old had set his hair on fire- hence the fact that he was newly bald.

You had been there with the group when it had happened, and thankfully were sober enough to pour your drink over his head to extinguish the flames. Only after you knew that he was safe did you double over with laughter. Austin hadn’t been so kind. He had nearly pissed himself the second that the idiot tried to jump over the giant flames.

“That must be. . . fun.” Austin chose his words carefully, but Sam was quick to laugh.

“It’s never dull, that’s for sure.” He agreed, lifting his beer up to take a swig.

The song that the band was playing ended, Dave walking up to the mic so that he could loudly thank the crowd and call out the shitty title of their next terrible song. The amp's feedback was piercing, causing the entire bar to wince and cry out in pain.

Austin started to walk off in your direction, hoping that he’d been successful in steering clear of any questioning- but a grip on his shoulder stopped him. Every single one of his friends had given him “the talk” at one time or another. It was always awkward and hard to stomach. Nobody in their right mind would pine after a girl for even a fraction of the time that Austin had with you. None of his friends could ever begin to understand exactly what he could lose in the process of vocalizing his feelings though.

“So is this a date. . . or?” Sam asked under his breath, motioning as subtly over towards you as he could.

You had looked over in Austin’s direction a few times, wondering where he was and what might be taking him so long. You’d stopped searching for him after seeing who he was talking to though, not wanting to interrupt. Sam was the only one in Austin’s male friend group that actually had a “real” job, and you knew that the two of them had more in common than the rest of the boys because of it. You turned back to the stage, giving Dave a quick thumbs up as a form of encouragement to pump him up after the amp malfunction. The blonde clenched his teeth for a couple of seconds, knowing that he shouldn’t lie (but wishing that he could), before turning to face Sam again.

“No- not a date. She’s friends with the group. . . and Davie wanted her to be here tonight.”

Sam’s face hardened as he looked up at the stage, glaring after the guitarist. Austin was quick to shake his head, backpedaling.

“It’s not like that. Just as friends. He knows that I-” Am in love with her.

Of course he didn’t need to finish the sentence. Anyone with eyes knew how he felt about you. Thankfully, none of his friends had ever even tried their hand at flirting with you, because they understood Austin’s feelings. It wasn’t a childhood yearning or an adult ache that plagued him. It was more complex than that. It was the sort of love that often destroyed adult’s lives. The kind of love that didn’t go away, no matter how much you wished that they would. He’d been in love with you before he could even add two plus two or write his full name in cursive. That love was just as much a part of him as his own soul was.

Which was why it always bothered Austin when people looked at him with eyes filled with pity. Just like Sam was doing now.

“Do you think. . . do you think she knows? Maybe she doesn’t want to turn you down because she doesn’t want to lose you.” Sam was trying to help. Austin knew that. He was just sick and tired of people constantly putting their two cents in.

These sort of comments just added to the self doubt that crippled him. The years of anxiety over his unrequited feelings kept him awake at night, and he didn’t need tonight to be ruined. Despite the shitty music, the two of you had been having fun. Wake up calls like the one Sam was currently tried to give him often put him in a rotten mood, and you’d pick up on that immediately.

“She doesn’t know. Ya know how she is- she’s sweet, trustin’, and a lil’ bit naive. We’ve always been this close, so in her mind this is all we are.” And all that we’re going to be most likely. He took a swig of his beer, wishing that he could get drunk off of his ass. He hadn’t made any sleeping arrangements with his friends though, and the last thing he wanted was for you to be sleeping on some random guys floor because he got too drunk to drive home.

Austin cleared his throat, gave Sam one last pat on the shoulder, and started to make his way through the thrashing crowd. Behind Austin, Sam opened his mouth to say something. The shift in mood was obvious, and he needed to apologize for bringing it up, but it was too late now. Austin was gone and in a solemn mood.

The melancholy that threatened to eat away at him for the rest of his night was swiftly replaced with rage.

There was a man standing beside you that he hadn’t ever seen before. He wasn’t a friend. . . or even a friend of a friend, for that matter. Austin watched as the male moved his hands excitedly as he spoke, dark brown bangs hanging into his eyes, his hair almost as long as Austin’s.

Your childhood friend stood back and watched the interaction for as long as he could stomach, wondering what the two of you were talking about to have the male in such high spirits. Were you making him feel like he stood a chance with you? Had he been too late walking back to the bar, the two of you having already exchanged contact information? He was attractive enough- though as he smiled Austin noticed that his bottom row of teeth was rather crooked. Knowing you, you’d probably find the imperfection “cute”, which further enraged the blonde.

Austin hated getting angry over things like this. Watching you talk to other boys had been something he hadn’t had to deal with in almost two years, which he had considered to be a godsend. It was just as painful every time. It was unfair of him to feel this way, and he knew that. He should have hung back and let you talk to the guy. If he was a real friend he would have done just that.

Except Austin had staked his claim on you far before you’d been able to fully comprehend what dating really was.

No matter how nice of a guy Austin was, he was territorial and easily made jealous. He had his faults. He was selfish with you, and he’d willingly admit that to whoever questioned him. So he swiftly walked up beside you, sliding your beer into your hand with a smile that was too sweet.

“Sorry that took so long. Sam wanted to show me his new haircut.” That wasn’t a complete lie. Just a little ‘half truth’.

You smiled widely up at him, then gestured to your “new friend”. The boy straightened his back, having noticed how large Austin was in comparison to his own gangly frame. He towered above almost everybody else in the room, his shoulders broad and muscular. The blonde smiled at the boy, making sure to show off his perfect, white smile. He was being petty. He was being rude and horrible and. . . and he didn’t care. Not really, anyway. Austin could feel bad about his behavior later, but for now he had to make sure nothing happened between the two of you.

“Austin, this is Robin. He works at the local record store.” You introduced, motioning between the two men.

Bless your sweet little soul. You probably thought that the two of them, having similar taste in style and music, would be fast friends. Maybe Austin would have liked the guy if he wasn’t trying to steal his girl. Maybe being the keyword.

The stage lights flashed dully beside your little group, the thick clouds of cigarette smoke drowning out most of the light. You let out a pleased hum as Austin took Robin’s hand into his own, watching him shake it firmly.

“Nice to meet ya, man.” Though it wasn’t very nice at all. “Robin. . . that’s an interestin’ name for a guy.” That was a childish jab, but Austin wasn’t above laying the guy out right here and now. That is, if you weren’t standing between them.

You tensed beside your best friend, giving his arm a quick swat, as if reminding the giant to play nice.

Austin barely felt it, your tiny hands doing nothing to deter him. Instead he placed a large hand on the top of your head, dragging you into his side and tucking you in tightly. Robin was about to say something- a rude remark to fire back at Austin’s insult- but froze as he took in the sight before him. Understanding flickered into his eyes, his mouth parting slightly.

“Oh,” He whispered softly, then held his hands up in defense. “Oh, I had no idea. Really. No harm done at all. We were just talking about music. Strictly casual.”

You were standing as still as a statue, muscles taught as you tried your hardest to feel out the situation. Was Austin pretending to be your boyfriend because he thought Robin looked suspicious? You chewed on the inside of your cheek, fighting off the urge to shrug his arm off of you. You’d hate yourself later for embarrassing him in public, and you were positive that your best friend’s intentions were good. Still, it annoyed you that he still treated you like a child. Sure, you could be a bit too optimistic at times, but you were fully capable of protecting yourself.

The hatred in Austin’s chest fizzled out, and suddenly he felt like the biggest douche on the planet. You might be blinded by your sense of innocence, but you were often a good judge of character. Robin was a nice enough guy, and he had just been an asshole for no reason. Austin’s shoulders slumped and he quickly shook his head.

“No- you’re fine. I’m just protective over her, especially in places like this. Ya can never be too careful… There’s a lot’a creeps out there.” Austin offered as an excuse, moving a tad closer to him so that he could shake his hand- anything to alleviate some of the awkward tension. Robin started to shuffle back, obviously scared of a potential fight, but Austin shook his head.

He’d traumatized the poor guy.

“So ya work at a record store? Do ya have a good thrash collection?” Something. Austin needed to think of something that might change the direction of this conversation. He could feel how antsy you were getting at his side. He didn’t have to look down to know that you were disappointed in him for his reaction. Knowing that he had upset you absolutely gutted him. He’d let his jealousy get the best of him, and because of that he’d acted like. . . well, like a complete dick to someone that didn’t deserve it.

Robin’s grim expression softened, brown eyes pinching at the corners as he smiled- albeit a bit nervously.

“Yeah, at the record store down the street,” Robin yelled over the music, pointing off in the direction.

You and Austin had dropped by the place a few times, but it was usually for record signings. It was the largest store in the entire area, so any time there were any “obscure” new releases the male would have to drive an hour out just to pick it up. It was a pain in the ass, but the store owner was pretty nice and knew a handful of influential people in the music industry.

Back when you and Austin were in highschool you had all but begged on your hands and knees to skip school so that you could get one of your “The Police” cassette signed. Much to his absolute horror you had insisted on blasting it the entire way home. Of course he put up with it. Why? Because you looked cute screaming the lyrics.

“Ya must have just gotten the job. I was up there about two months ago and didn’t see ya.” Austin offered Robin another smile, and that was all it took for the guy to warm up to the blonde.

Just as you thought, Robin and Austin hit it off. The two ended up talking for the rest of the night, even earning a few glares from other people in the crowd whenever their laughter got too boisterous to be considered polite. After closing out your tabs Robin parted ways with the two of you, quickly slipping his home phone number into Austin’s palm, which had been scribbled on the back of his receipt.

You had wanted to congratulate the boys for putting on a good show, but everyone had jumped off the stage and headed straight to the overcrowded bar for drinks after their set. Everyone aside from Davie, who was busying himself with a group of cute girls that had been eying him all night.

“Come on. It’s gettin’ late. . . let’s get ya home.”

Austin was acting weirder than usual tonight. Sure, this particular bar wasn’t the safest place to frequent, but his earlier treatment of Robin was an overreaction. Your best friend had a bad habit of babying you far too often. He made excuses for it- telling you that the world was a rotten place and that he didn’t mind looking out for you. It had been something that you appreciated through high school, but now that you were an adult it made you feel. . . a bit too spoiled. It also blurred certain boundaries, which further confused your already suffering heart. If only Austin knew how you felt towards him, then maybe he’d start acting a bit differently with you.

Yet here he was, opening up the door to his van for you with a broad smile that made your heart do somersaults. You wanted to blame the heat that was pooling in the pit of your stomach on the five beers you’d drank that night. You wanted so badly to blame all of this on your recent drought in romance. . . but it’s Austin.

No one has ever treated you as gently as he has.

Men, your father included, had always acted like your wants and needs were an inconvenience. You were too “high maintenance” because you enjoyed spending quality time with your partners. Relationships have always been short lived for you. Austin had set an impossible standard for how you wanted to be treated. Even now he was chatting your head off, one hand on the wheel and the other hand mindlessly checking to see if your seatbelt was buckled, his fingers brushing against your hip as he gave it a testing tug.

Being around him right now was dangerous. You weren’t drunk enough to make a fool of yourself, but tipsy to the point of possibly ruining everything. Because he looked beautiful in the dim lighting of the car's display. His jawline was even more defined due to the shadows, and his blonde hair looked even lighter in comparison than usual. It was longer than you’d ever seen it, falling in slight waves because of the spring humidity.

And you really wanted to kiss him.

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stxrshxpxd · 6 months

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🎸 fic friday;

“i have my ways”

90s damon albarn x reader

casual friends, backstage, flirty

Blur were nearing the end of their set and it was our fifth time this summer seeing Damon jump around with his tongue hanging out to the sound of There’s No Other Way; me and my other band members that is. We had played a few of the same festivals as Blur in June and it seemed our UK tours were aligning still in the middle of July. It had quickly become a tradition of sorts that we went to see them play and they went to see us. So much so, that the majority of my band had passed up seeing another exciting local band that was playing down the street tonight.

My fellow guitarist and our drummer and I were near the front way out on the right end of the crowd, casually singing along to the repetitive chorus we all knew by heart at this point.

“Cheers!” Damon shouted, barely into the mic, as the song faded out. He caught his breath and poured about a third of his fourth beer down his throat.

“I wanna dedicate this next one to a…” he started, into the mic this time, with a terribly exaggerated American accent. Graham laughed and so did a bunch of us in the crowd. “A lovely, lovely lady… Uh…” he continued drawling in his mock southern accent as he squinted his eyes, searching the crowd for a suitable one.

“You!”

He pointed right at me and my initial instinct was to laugh and roll my eyes.

“You’ve been to a bunch of our shows this summer. Who’s the crush on?” he teased and more and more eyes turned my way. Damon’s tipsy mind was slipping now, forgetting to keep up the American accent.

“Graham!” I shouted with a playful grin and my friends laughed. The boys on stage did too and Damon faked a scowl.

Our two bands weren’t particularly close but we had partied together a bit during the summer and seen each other in passing.

“Fine, Graham will dedicate this one to you then,” Damon chuckled and dismissed me jokingly, at which Graham began playing the riff to the next song with a giggle.

“I could’ve sworn you were in love with me,” Damon said with a joking sigh as I came up to him backstage. Fresh sweat was still dripping down the side of his face and it seemed he had just about shook the last bit of adrenaline from the show. I guessed it was his sixth beer he was holding as he leaned against the wall of their dressing room.

“I’ll dedicate a song to you tomorrow night and you can embarrass me and we’ll be even.”

Damon smirked calmly at me and he licked his lips slowly. His drunken eyes scanned my face.

“I think I like it better when you’re indebted to me,” he mumbled and shook his head. I cocked mine to the side and raised my brows at his suggestive comment.

“Oh really?” I asked and took a quick second to accept a beer from Dave as he passed us. “Whatever will you have me do?”

Damon trailed his gaze around the room and the ceiling as he pulled a diabolical expression, scheming hard.

“I have my ways. You’ll be snogging me soon enough.”

I laughed and raised my eyebrows further.

“You wanna snog me?”

“Just to embarrass you.”

"Right. Of course,” I nodded, playing along. “Better throw in some tongue to really humiliate me.”

Damon turned from leaning his arm against the wall to his back and he threw his head back as he chuckled drunkenly at our odd conversation. I took a sip from my cold beer and admired his pretty side profile, wondering if he was falling asleep standing up as his eyes were heavily closed.

“I’ll see you around,” I laughed softly and pressed my lips into his cheek shortly, just about catching his growing smile before turning around.

#ignore that this is kinda cringe :))#britpop #90s #blur #damon albarn #imagine #fic #damon albarn x reader #fic friday

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the-90s-music-colosseum · 5 months

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(Wall of text warning, sorry! I have so many Damon posts saved for when the time came, now I don't know how to disperse them!) This is meant to be more of a five-mile view of Damon's "prettiness," band history more than personal opinion for the most part, but of course that'll never be entirely removed from it.

We're not wrong to laugh at his "it's difficult to be taken seriously when you're a prettyboy" quote, but he really wasn't the only person who thought it at the time; Damon was so pretty that it was regarded as an issue, and it redefined the way the band was marketed, the style of music they were pushed toward, and the way they were treated. Interviews were at times awkward as blushing hosts blurted out how he made them nervous, or took a gossipy tone about his looks and personal life over the music. On occasion they were introduced in pretty crass ways-- one that springs to mind is "the crotch-moistening Blur"-- even when expressing fairly little sexuality in the actual music. Whenever the stage was in reach of the audience, Damon was an object of devastating desire, cried for and groped and clung to no matter how serious the song, no matter how strung out or dead behind the eyes he looked. (I'm not criticizing fans for being eager or having certain expectations based on evolving performance styles through their career, and I think there's a complicated history of bands including Blur doing some distancing from fans themselves, but you do notice how... out of sync the energy can feel at times.)

Damon once spoke of getting rid of all the mirrors in his home (I believe around the same time he first shaved his head, but I don't have the quote/year on me at the moment) and stated that it gave him a sense of clarity to be free from seeing his reflection, and instead he would simply "know who I am." I'm sure his full feelings and motivations are complicated, but he seemed to rebel against his own looks just as often as (and in the end, more than) he took advantage of them.

This excerpt really sums it up, and features an especially great quote from Dave at the end. Sure, many people are pretty, but are they pretty enough that their bandmates advocated for mutilating them?

"The prettiness thing has been a problem. Damon Albarn is one of those people who is supernaturally handsome. He has the upturned nose of an aristocratic 16-year-old girl and big lips, which he licks a lot with a big, fleshy tongue. And, of course, there’s the eyes: fields of bluebells on a summer’s day. But people have a natural distrust of the unbearably pretty. So, in an effort to override the looks issue and get taken seriously, Damon took the objectionable route. In the early days he’d throw up on stage; he’d clamber like a deranged chimp over towering speakers and amps before hurling himself kamikaze-style into audiences; he’d come out with outrageous statements.

As Dave Rowntree, Blur’s drummer, once contemplated, “We should’ve taken a Stanley knife to him in the beginning and things would’ve been oh-so-different.”" - Minx Magazine, 1999

...And no, the irony of discussing this during an attractiveness tournament is not lost on me! Despite the context a younger audience sees him through I don't think of Damon as truly "Instagram pretty," but rather, that perceived shallowness we saw in his sun-kissed face and ski-slope nose became something of a mask on top of a mask on top of a mask, and neither the audience not the subject could settle on the reality because he could never stay comfortable. He wanted to be a pop philosopher, then he wanted to be an unbridled manic youth, then he wanted to be the untarnished English everyman, then he wanted to be the poet of the mundane, and all the while he so fully believed himself to be an artist in the skin of a celebrity; he wanted to be the songwriter to give voice to cruel and universal beauty and not just be the face of it... but he was, really. Maybe he was all of it, maybe none, it just depends on how you see it. His looks, and specifically the type of "obvious beauty" he had, are part of what makes him an interesting (if not necessarily always likable-- and hot take, I don't need him to be) figure I think, because Damon was not the male-fantasy protagonist who "didn't know she was beautiful." He was so aware of it that it made him neurotic and defensive and bizarre, and none of that seemed to change everyone around him having a fixation on it as well. 30 years since their debut, the conversation around Damon still fixates on it.

...Note that this doesn't mean I won't still be sending in prettyboy propaganda. Hey, he was one whether he appreciated it or not.

Very different world it would've been if Dave wasn't joking!

#most attractive 90s musician #asks #damon albarn #blur

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dagwolf · 2 months

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In any event, here's a tasty interview excerpt:

Speaking of doing a lot of different records and working with a lot of amazing songwriters, I own a ton of the records that you've done over the years. One, in particular, I'd like to ask you about is Paul Simon's Graceland. I obsessed over that thing when I was young. Do you have any recollections of working on it?

Oh, I have plenty of recollections of working on that one. I don't know if you heard the stories, but it was not a pleasant deal for us. I mean he [Simon] quite literally — and in no way do I exaggerate when I say — he stole the songs from us.

...

The interviewer's softball question leads to an extended rant that rolls on for over 1500 words. There's no clear way to verify Berlin's claims. But it's interesting to consider his characterization of Los Lobos' “collaboration” with Simon at a moment when the latter artist is being trumpeted as the latest hipster influence, like David Byrne and Gang of Four before him. It must be a heady moment for Simon. New York's much respected Brooklyn Academy of Music is feting him with a sold out month-long residency celebrating his post-Garfunkel career — a tribute fest that finds everyone from Byrne to Ladysmith Black Mambazo singing his songs, a residency whose final week — starting April 23rd — includes one of the top 10 ever most unlikely co-bills: Grizzly Bear, Gillian Welch, Josh Groban, and Olu Dara.

WTF, indeed.

After the jump, Steve Berlin's entire diatribe on Los Lobos' “collaboration” with Simon, including a rare dis of legendary former Warner Bros chief Lenny Waronker.

...

Really…

Yeah. And you know, going into it, I had an enormous amount of respect for the guy. The early records were amazing, I loved his solo records, and I truly thought he was one of the greatest gifts to American music that there was.

At the time, we were high on the musical food chain. Paul had just come off One Trick Pony and was kind of floundering. People forget, before Graceland, he was viewed as a colossal failure. He was low. So when we were approached to do it, I was a way bigger fan than anybody else in the band. We got approached by Lenny Waronker and Mo Ostin who ran our record company [Warner Bros.], and this is the way these guys would talk – “It would mean a lot to the family if you guys would do this for us.” And we thought, “Ok well, it's for the family, so we'll do it.” It sounds so unbelievably naïve and ridiculous that that would be enough of a reason to go to the studio with him.

We go into the studio, and he had quite literally nothing. I mean, he had no ideas, no concepts, and said, “Well, let's just jam.” We said, “We don't really do that.” When we jam, we'll switch instruments. Dave will play drums, I'll play something. We don't really jam. Especially in that era. Louie will be the first to tell you this – he was made to play drums. They forced him to play drums. He's not really a drummer by trade. He's never practiced a moment in his life. Not once in his life did he sit down at the drums because of his love for drumming. The other three guys made him play drums in the early days, so he sort of became drummer by default. He hates playing the instrument, I think. Again, you should ask him, but I don't ever ever, ever get the sense that he was one of those dyed-in-the-wool, John Bonham, let's-play-drums-for-three-days-straight kind of guys. So consequently, as the core band was comprised then, we never jammed – never ever. Not by accident, not even at soundcheck. We would always just play a song.

So Paul was like, “Let's just jam,” and we're like, “Oh jeez. Well alright, let's see what we can do.” And it was not good because Louie wasn't comfortable. None of us were comfortable, it wasn't just Louie. It was like this very alien environment to us. Paul was a very strange guy. Paul's engineer was even stranger than Paul, and he just seemed to have no clue – no focus, no design, no real nothing. He had just done a few of the African songs that hadn't become songs yet. Those were literally jams. Or what the world came to know and I don't think really got exposed enough, is that those are actually songs by a lot of those artists that he just approved of. So that's kind of what he was doing. It was very patrician, material sort of viewpoint. Like, because I'm gonna put my stamp on it, they're now my songs. But that's literally how he approached this stuff.

I remember he played me the one he did by John Hart, and I know John Hart, the last song on the record. He goes, “Yeah, I did this in Louisiana with this zy decko guy.” And he kept saying it over and over. And I remember having to tell him, “Paul, it's pronounced zydeco. It's not zy decko, it's zydeco.” I mean that's how incredibly dilettante he was about this stuff. The guy was clueless.

Wow. You're kidding me?

Clue… less about what he was doing. He knew what he wanted to do, but it was not in any way like, “Here's my idea. Here's this great vision I have for this record, come with me.”

About two hours into it, the guys are like, “You gotta call Lenny right now. You gotta get us out of this. We can't do this. This is a joke. This is a waste of time.” And this was like two hours into the session that they wanted me to call Lenny. What am I going to tell Lenny? It was a favor to him. What am I going to say, “Paul's a fucking idiot?”

Somehow or other, we got through the day with nothing. I mean, literally, nothing. We would do stuff like try an idea out and run it around for 45 minutes, and Paul would go “Eh… I don't like it. Let's do something else.” And it was so frustrating. Even when we'd catch a glimpse of something that might turn into something, he would just lose interest. A kitten-and-the-string kinda thing.

So that's day one. We leave there and it's like, “Ok, we're done. We're never coming back.” I called Lenny and said it really wasn't very good. We really didn't get anything you could call a song or even close to a song. I don't think Paul likes us very much. And frankly, I don't think we like him very much. Can we just say, 'Thanks for the memories' and split?” And he was like, “Man, you gotta hang in there. Paul really does respect you. It's just the way he is. I'll talk to him.” And we were like, “Oh man, please Lenny. It's not working.” Meanwhile, we're not getting paid for this. There was no discussion like we're gonna cash in or anything like that. It was very labor-of-love.

Really…?

Yeah. Don't ask me why. God knows it would have made it a lot easier to be there.

And Lenny put you guys together thinking it would be a good match?

Well, “It would be good for the family.” That was it. So we go back in the second day wondering why we're there. It was ridiculous. I think David starts playing “The Myth of the Fingerprints,” or whatever he ended up calling it. That was one of our songs. That year, that was a song we started working on By Light of the Moon. So that was like an existing Lobos sketch of an idea that we had already started doing. I don't think there were any recordings of it, but we had messed around with it. We knew we were gonna do it. It was gonna turn into a song. Paul goes, “Hey, what's that?” We start playing what we have of it, and it is exactly what you hear on the record. So we're like, “Oh, ok. We'll share this song.”

Good way to get out of the studio, though…

Yeah. But it was very clear to us, at the moment, we're thinking he's doing one of our songs. It would be like if he did “Will the Wolf Survive?” Literally. A few months later, the record comes out and says “Words and Music by Paul Simon.” We were like, “What the fuck is this?”

We tried calling him, and we can't find him. Weeks go by and our managers can't find him. We finally track him down and ask him about our song, and he goes, “Sue me. See what happens.”

What?! Come on…

That's what he said. He said, “You don't like it? Sue me. You'll see what happens.” We were floored. We had no idea. The record comes out, and he's a big hit. Retroactively, he had to give songwriting credit to all the African guys he stole from that were working on it and everyone seemed to forget. But that's the kind of person he is. He's the world's biggest prick, basically.

So we go back to Lenny and say, “Hey listen, you stuck us in the studio with this fucking idiot for two days. We tried to get out of it, you made us stay in there, and then he steals our song?! What the hell?!” And Lenny's always a politician. He made us forget about it long enough that it went away. But to this day, I do not believe we have gotten paid for it. We certainly didn't get songwriting credit for it. And it remains an enormous bone that sticks in our craw. Had he even given us a millionth of what the song and the record became, I think we would have been – if nothing else – much richer, but much happier about the whole thing.

Have you guys seen him since then?

No. Never run into him. I'll tell you, if the guys ever did run into him, I wouldn't want to be him, that's for sure.

That's an amazing story. I can't believe I never heard it before.

We had every right and reason to sue him, and Lenny goes, “It's bad for the family.” When we told the story in that era, when this was going down, we were doing interviews and telling the truth. And Lenny goes, “Hey guys, I really need you to stop talking about it. It's bad for the family.”

Amazing. Talk about bad for the family.

I know. Again, it's just so incredible how naïve we were back then. You can't even imagine that era of music when you'd actually listen to your record company president who told you to shut up because “it's bad for the family.” Now, I'd tell him to go fuck himself.

#paul simon #super prick

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dynamoe · 4 months

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Billy Quizboy as the rabbit-toothed guitarist DAVE HILL of glam rock band SLADE— sporter of the worst bangs in rock n' roll history*— circa their 1973 Christmas #2 Merry Christmas Everybody**, which was covered as the annual Venture Bros holiday song this year by Pete White, Master Billy Quizboy, his mom and her lovers (the elderly superhero polycule).

→ hear the cover on KenPlume's youtube → go to the Billy Quizboy & Pete White index

(I know with the orange hair/eyepatch he looks like Ziggy Stardust— the Quizboy:Slade ratio is a delicate balance.)

Merriest Twelfth Day of Christmas to you, to Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer and to Slade and anyone else still reading who gives a shit.

youtube

Slade is more of a British thing, really. They had a ton of British hits in the 1970s as a glam rock band, but didn't break into the US until the 1980s (when they replaced Ozzy Osborne at the Reading Festival) with Cum on Feel the Noize, pivoting to be more hard rock/metal.

Noddy Holder was more of the “face” of Slade (head to toe plaid, mutton chops, tophat covered in mirrors). I suspect the all-plaid outfit on Col. Gentleman in the Vbros cover art is a take on Noddy's look... or he ignored the brief and dressed as one of Scotland's own Bay City Rollers. Slade suffered from a lesser case of Cheap Trick syndrome, where every member dressed like they were in a different band. Dave dressed full spaceman-- face glitter, every variety of metallic fabric available (lurex, glitter knit, vinyl, lamé) in shades of silver. The other guitarist whose name I won't look up wore a red lurex suit (I guess that would be Pete's outfit in their cover band) which he had to keep replacing because he sweated so much on stage the fibers literally melted (one of the suits was preserved by the V&A on an episode of Secrets of the Museum)... No one cares about the drummer.

The only reason I know anything about Slade — I'm no rock trivia geek, I’m a comedy nerd — Slade was a constant punchline in 1990s Brit Comedy. Noddy appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in the LaMar era. 1993 sketch show The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer had a recurring mini-sitcom “Slade in Residence” (the band living in a suburban home together, wearing their stage costumes, eating nothing but cup-of-soup, obsessing over monster truck rallies and— the key to their appeal to Vic and Bob, I imagine— whining in thick Black Country accents.)

Billy is my Covid muse and if he stars in the annual Christmas cover (he had only sung before on 2006's VentureAid; read poems on their take on the Beatles Fan Club records), it's not like I CAN'T draw something despite saying I was done with this shit. I promised you guys a *technically* Christmas Billy drawing and I *technically* delivered.

Now I'm gonna switch to drawing characters I own so I can finally make some money. Godblessuseveryone. ___

*Dave Hill was just being a futuristic spaceman, those micro-bangs were the hottness on all the skater girls of the late 1990s. I even had 'em.

**Having the #1 song at Christmas is a big deal in the UK (as you may remember from the Bill Nighy segments from Love Actually) and the 1973 slug match between Slade's Merry Christmas Everybody and the eventual winner Wizzard’s I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday looms large in music trivia, to the degree that I was sure Astrobot Go was going to release a cover a day later of some other (more fan-favored) characters doing their version of Wizzard to rain on Billy et. al’s parade.

→ Wizzard

youtube

So which character dons the beard and harlequin eye facepaint to be the guy from Wizzard? Probably Hank, right?

→ go to the Billy Quizboy & Pete White index → Nobody'sSweetheart on Instagram

#billy quizboy #Slade #christmas #merry christmas everybody #1973 #cover band #cosplay #illustrator #illustration #venture bros #venture brothers #vbros #dave hill #slade in residence #glam #Explaining Slade to zoomers

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nitronine · 1 year

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Weird Al fandom history tidbits for new(er) fans:

I kinda realized a lot of people on here may not know some of the stuff I’ve found out from my deep dive into the history of the weird Al fandom, and I would really like to just share it.

Alcon 98: Alcon 98 was the first ever weird Al convention! It was set up and run entirely by fans who had met on a yahoo group online, and it was a MAJOR success. Activities at Alcon included a Look-AL-like contest, a lip sync contest, and a general costume contest. Some of Al’s old shirts were auctioned off for charity, and fans set up booths to sell handmade merch and rare collectibles. The guest of honor was Bermuda (Al’s drummer), but he brought Al along too (unbeknownst to the con organizers)! The con went on to have two more iterations (ALCON 2000 and ALCON III) before dying off, unfortunately. If you want to learn more, Dysequilibrium has made a really good documentary about it!

The WOWAY forums: the World of Weird Al Yankovic forums (WOWAY for short) is a general forum for weird Al fans that’s been running for well over 20 years now. While it’s pretty dead nowadays, it’s still up and you can still read all the discussions! Everyone from fans to Al’s band (Bermuda especially) to Al’s college buddies have shown up on the forums, and reading through them can be a really fun experience.

The Yankochicks/Drooling over Al: The Yankochicks were a group of people, primarily women, who were infatuated with Al. The group was a lot more active before he was married, but they didn’t die out after it happened. They had their own forum initially but they moved over to the WOWAY forum to post under a topic called “Drooling Over Al”.

We Got It All On UHF: This website is probably the last remaining “active” Weird Al fansite from back in the day. It’s run by one of the WOWAY mods, Dave Rossi (who also uses the screen name Elvis). Dave is undoubtedly the biggest big name weird Al fan. He has tattoos of all the band members, a GIANT collection of Weird Al tchotchkes and oddities, and co-hosts a Weird Al podcast, one that’s had weird Al on several times. He’s been on TV with Al, as well.

That’s really all I can think of right now, I’ll make another post if I think of anything and if ppl are interested.

#so sorry to any fandom elders that I’ve aged with this post #weird Al #weird al yankovic #al yankovic #fandom history

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goblinofbiscuits · 2 years

Note

Hello again! Maybe a Dave x reader where maybe y/n is Kurt’s friend and Dave likes her??

Kurt's friend

A/n: sorry this took so long, I have been focusing on my music alot more and was trying to pass school for a good solid month, I have been working on my writing again and finishing request and all of that, so hope you like it more to come

Warning: smoking, invasion of personal space

You and kurt have been friends since the beginning of nirvana, you were a musician in the same scene, had the same believes, and tastes. You personality were quite different though. You were a little more outgoing You had your shy moments yea but doesn't everybody.

Kurt's was more shy and reserved, he did have his burst of energy moments though, especially on stage, many who observed you friendship thought you two were in a relationship you were quick too shut them down though you two were friends that's it that's all.

Kurt had called you asking if you want to play a solo on one of his songs, you were suprised one because kurt didn't collaborate too often and two, cause he wasn't one for solos either. But of course you excepted, who were you to turn down a opportunity like this, so next day you packed you guitar and headed to the studio

"Kurt!"

"Y/n, hi!"

You two hugged for a moment, Kurt's become a very busy man in the last couple years so you haven't had much time to hang out

"I missed you man how are you" you said taking in his new hair, no longer a dark brown color

" I've been doing good, touring us grueling as hell though" he said sitting down lighting a cig before turning to you with a worry look and quickly going to put it out.

"Kurt I smoke Tolman, you don't have to not smoke around, I promise you my asthma stops nothing"

"I know I know, I'm just trying to be thoughtful" he said relaxing after your statement

"Well thank you that's very sweet but you don't have too" you say before ruffling his hair and going to set down you guitar case and start tuning.

As soon as you start tuning the e string, a man with long brown hair walks in with two drumsticks in hand

"Sorry I'm late, traffick was shit" he said absent mindly

" it's all good man, hey let me introduce you two, this is y/n, y/n this is dave our drummer"

"Hi" you said brightly, happy to meet a new person

"Hi" dave replied with a love struck look that you didn't quite know what emotion he was feeling

" so it's only gonna be you two working in the studio, kris is visiting his girlfriend and the main guitar and vocals are already recorded, the only job left is the solo and the Drums behind the solo" the producer chimed in

So you finished tuning threw some ideas back and forth with kurt about what the solo should sound like and got to work.

You made your way to the booth and briefly just marked your solo to dave so he can come up with the beat and extras like fills and such. You did pick up on the fact that he might be a little off his game.

Kurt had mentioned dave before, talked about how he was kinda shy in his own personal way, you had also picked up on how he spoke a lot less than the rest of the members. So you just chalked it up to you being new and unfamiliar, qnd the blush on his cheeks from the heat considering it is summer.

You and Dave started playing and it was amazing, you didn't have to more than two takes. You were so excited about how well it went that as soon as you put down your guitar you rushed to hug dave as he was standing up from his kit.

"OH shit I'm so sorry I was just really excited about how well that went that I had seem to forget that person space exists" you said pulling away once common sense kicked in

"nah it alright, I was actually mean to ask you something?" He said kind of tense

" wass up?" You said messing with your hair a bit

" would you like to go on a date friday, I really wanna get to k-know you better" dave said really nervous at this point

"I would love that umm aha here we go this is my number call me" you said grabbed a piece of paper writing your number and giving it to the musician

You said your goodbyes and set up plans to hang out with kurt, you ste up a time you were gonna see dave on Friday and head to you car feeling on top of the world

#dave grohl x reader headcanon #nirvana x reader #grunge x reader #80's rock and roll x reader #motley crue x black reader #metallica imagine #slash x reader #tommy lee headcanon #metallica headcanon #kurt cobain x reader

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invisibleraven · 8 months

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"I have tickets for that band you like. Want to go with me?" / Peterpatter

If there was one thing Reggie knew he was good at, it was trivia. His brain was full of useless knowledge and facts. Alex told him he should go on Jeopardy and sweep the whole thing, Ken Jennings style, but Reggie just waved him off. "I'd never get the hang of answering everything as a question."

So instead Reggie saved it for trivia nights at local bars, with Luke, Bobby, and Alex helping when they could, but mostly reaping the benefits of cheap beer and half price wings. Plus whenever they won, which they did often, they got a small cash prize-most of which went towards their demo savings.

"See this is why you should go on Jeopardy Reg," Luke joked. "Promote Sunset Curve on air and earn us enough to do a full demo."

"Or at least enough to get us enough to afford Green Day tickets," Bobby added.

The boys all sighed in unison at that. Green Day was the band that first made them decide to try their hand at the whole rockstar thing in the first place. Luke especially idolized Billie Joe and they had all tried desperately to get tickets. But they had sold out fast, and with the insane cost, none of them could justify the price when they had rent to pay and food to eat.

"Maybe one day," Reggie mused, sending a look at the despondent Luke. Reggie had tried hardest to get tickets for them, as it had been their dream to see the band together. And well, Reggie secretly wanted to use them as a way to finally ask Luke out. A prefect first date really, never to be topped. To be all "I have tickets for that band you like. Want to go with me?"

Yeah right, like that lame line would work.

But still, he could dream right?

Then... maybe it was fate, maybe the universe was listening, but the local radio station had two tickets for the concert up for grabs, just days beforehand. Tickets you could win by calling in and answering a trivia question.

Reggie frantically grabbed his phone, dialling the number, and scowling when he got the busy signal. Tried again, and again, and again. Finally a dial tone!

"KJPR, are you calling regarding the Green Day tickets?"

"Yes!" Reggie exclaimed. "Yes I am!"

"Alrighty, you're on the air with Shandy and Dave! What's your name sport?"

"Reggie."

"Well then Reggie, you ready for the question?"

"Hit me."

"Okay Reggie, what was Green Day's original band name and the name of their original pre Tre Cool drummer?" the host asked.

Reggie's mind went blank for a second. God, he knew this! He took a deep breath. He could do this. For Luke. "They were originally called Sweet Children, and their drummer was Al Sobrante."

"Correct!"

Reggie could hear obnoxious noises from the radio control booth, but that word, Correct, was all that was ringing in his ears. He was sure he screamed and thanked them, barely processing being handed over to a producer to collect his details.

All he knew was that he now had the most prized possession he needed. He just needed to ask Luke...without pissing off Alex and Bobby.

"Hey Reg, heard you on the radio this morning!" Alex exclaimed, clapping him on the back as he entered the studio later that day. "Almost as good as Jeopardy my man!"

"So who you gonna take?" Bobby demanded.

Crap. Reggie looked at them both, then to the doorway, where Luke was standing, looking hopeful. Then back to Alex and Bobby, who were giving him wide, knowing smirks. "Ummm...'

"It's cool man," Bobby said. "You two have fun."

"Yeah, me and Bobbers understand-but only if you bring us back shirts," Alex added.

"Deal," Reggie replied, breathing out a sigh of relief. "Luke, you free Saturday?"

"Really? You mean it?" Luke asked, coming over to embrace Reggie as he nodded. "Yes yes yes!"

And then Luke captured Reggie's mouth in an enthusiastic kiss, all teeth and tongue, and Reggie barely noticed Alex and Bobby leaving them as he gentled it. Guess he didn't need to bother asking Luke if it was a date or not. Especially after they tumbled to the couch and didn't get up for nearly twenty minutes, too consumed with kissing.

It turned out to not be their first date though-that was Friday night; pizza and the arcade, and even more kissing. But Green Day proved to be a pretty good second date.

And an even greater story when they met the band a few years later at some awards ceremony. Where Luke got to flash their new engagement rings and tell Billie Joe himself how the band brought them together, and landed him the love of his life.

Reggie thought the credit really belonged to him knowing Al Sobrante's name, but there was no way he was saying that-especially not in front of Green Day.

But he totally invited them to the wedding. And grinned when they agreed to come-and through the awesome jam session that was their reception.

Guess that useless trivia packing his brain was good for something after all.

#filled prompts #ficlet #ruke #peterpatter #julie and the phantoms

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sunflowergirl522 · 2 years

Text

Fangirl 2

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: Corroded Coffin has an album release party.

Word Count: 3061

A/N: Listen I know Dave Grohl wasn’t the og drummer for Nirvana but I love him so he is in this fic okay? Okay.

Part One

Eddie Masterlist

It’s been three months since you and Eddie met and since then the two of you have gotten extremely close. He takes you to every show they have and you sit in for most practices.The rest of the guys were completely psyched to meet you, especially when you knew all of their names from being a fan, normally the fans they meet only remember Eddie's. You spend a lot of your free time together too even if that’s you reading and Eddie playing his guitar to learn a new song or create a new one. When he graduated last month you were the loudest person in the auditorium causing a scene for him because everyone needs to know how proud of him you are, Wayne really appreciated that.

Dustin has become such a nuisance since finding out how much time you spend together. He refuses to leave either one of you alone about when you’re going to get together, making teasing remarks when you’re all together hanging out and straight up asking you about it when it’s just you and him. You know he’s doing the same thing to Eddie, you laugh about it together in private, the two of you secretly wishing his teasing would come true. Because even though that first day the two of you met he said taking you to the concert the next day was a date, neither of you had actually acted like it was.

And since you gave Eddie the suggestion to put posters up around colleges for Corroded Coffin shows and have them places that minors could go, the band has gained a decent amount of traction. They have a bunch of fans now and after being asked by multiple people they started selling merch again. Eddie always makes sure that you get first dibs on each new piece they come out with since you’re his biggest fan. They’ve even gotten signed by a small record label and have an album coming out tomorrow.

You stand from your crouched position in front of your movies as a knock sounds on your door. You’re shocked when you see Nancy and Robin on the other side. The only person you were expecting today was Eddie.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“We’re picking your clothes for the release party tomorrow because your fashion sense is shit.” Robin brushes past you leading the way to your room while Nancy speaks. They had decided that they had enough of the two of you dancing around your feelings for the other and that they’d finally get a plan together. Step one was to make sure you looked hot at the release party of Corroded Coffins album.

“What? My fashion sense isn’t that bad.” Nancy and Robin look at you clad in sweatpants and a shirt that you obviously stole from Eddie before sharing a look with each other.

“Okay fine so it’s not shit, that may have been too harsh Nance.” Robin quickly says to appease you and sends Nancy a look to tell her to play along. She then moves to your closet while you sit on the edge of your bed. “What are you planning on wearing tomorrow Y/n/n?”

“Just a pair of jeans and my Kiss shirt. And probably a jacket.” You nod your head towards the clothes you left sitting out on the desk.

“Is it your cropped Kiss shirt at least?” Nancy starts rummaging through your dresser drawers, you just nod. “That’s something at least. Where are all of your skirts?”

“They’re all in here it seems.” Robin leans back from your closet to look at Nancy who moves to stand next to her.

“Are you guys gonna be here long? Eddie should be on his way soon. I guess you guys could stay for movie night too though if you wanted.”

“Eddie’s coming over?”

“Well yeah, it’s movie night.” It comes out like everyone should know that by now when really how would they if it’s always just you and Eddie.

“Right, how could we forget?” Robin nudges Nancy and you catch the look she sends her making you suspect that they might be up to something.

“What are you two scheming?”

“Nothing, we’ll be back before the party tomorrow to get you ready.” You follow them out of your room just as the front door opens.

“Pizza has arrived Sweetheart! Oh, hey guys what are you doing here? You staying for movie night because I’m not sure there’s enough pizza for four of us.”

“We were just leaving Eds. See you tomorrow Y/n!” They both rush out talking to each other leaving you and Eddie alone in your home while they head next door to talk to Dustin about step two.

“What was that about?” His face scrunches up in confusion for why his friends left in such a hurry.

“Something about dressing me for the party tomorrow. I think they’re plotting something.” You shrug, taking the box from him and heading into the living room. “Do you wanna pick the movies while I make some popcorn?”

“No!” Eddie’s quick to answer knowing the catastrophe that will ensue if you make popcorn. “Last time you made popcorn you burnt it so bad the kitchen smelled like it for a week. I’ll make it, you grab some movies. I’ll watch whatever you want.”

“Even if I pick Grease again?”

“Especially if you pick Grease again!” He yells from your kitchen causing you to laugh. The first time you picked it he had complained without having seen it before. But now on a rare occasion he’d pick it.

The two of you start the night with The Thing and The Goonies quoting the films as you eat and try to toss popcorn into each other's mouths. Once the pizza is gone and Eddie makes another bag of popcorn you finally put Grease in. And there in the middle of the night in your living room the two of you jump around singing along to it and acting out parts of the movie together.

Halfway through Clue, which you put on next, you fall asleep head resting on Eddie’s shoulder and he’s quick to follow you.

Robin and Nancy find the two of you curled up on the couch together the next morning the tv screen blue from the movie ending.

“Are you sure they’re not already together and just messing with us?”

“I’m sure. They would definitely be all over each other on a normal basis if they were together.”

“Gross Nance.”

“What? It’s true. Now which one of us is gonna wake them up?” Robin sighs already knowing it’s gonna be her.

“Alright love birds! Rise and shine!” She stomps over to the couch and rips the blanket off of the two of you as loud as she can. The last thing she wants is to end up shoving you off the couch again.

“Robin? What are you doing here?” Your voice is full of sleep and you rub at your eyes to help wake yourself up. Eddie’s arms around you tighten before loosening so he can sit up.

“What time is it?”

“It’s like close to nine, maybe eight forty. Don’t you have things you have to do with the band?”

“Shit, yeah I do.” He climbs off the couch careful not to disturb you too much and crouches in front of you smiling to himself at how you’re already trying to go back to sleep. “I’ll be back later to pick you up Sweetheart.”

“Mm, see you then Eds.” He runs a hand through your hair, kisses the top of your head, and stands to go nodding to Robin and Nancy as he heads out.

“Thanks for the wake up call girls.”

“Y/n, come on you gotta get up. We have to find your outfit for tonight.”

“Okay you guys do that, I’ll sleep.” Robin and Nancy look at each other before grabbing your arms and pulling you up. “Come on guys it’s early can’t you just give me one more hour. If you don’t let me sleep I’ll be exhausted tonight.”

“Nope, we brought coffee. You can drink it once we’re in your room.” You groan at Nancy’s words but accept the fact that you won’t be sleeping anymore.

“Why are you guys here so early anyway? The party isn’t until seven.”

“Yeah well you need to drink this,” Robin hands you a cup of hot coffee as you sit on your bed, “and we need to meticulously pick out your clothes.”

“Right and then you need to shower and get dressed.”

“Then I’ll go get us some food or something. And after we eat Nance will do your hair and makeup.”

“I don’t see how that will take ten hours or why you guys are making such a big deal out of this. But fine go at it, find my clothes for tonight I’ll sit here with my coffee.”

By the time you’re done drinking it it’s been an hour and a half and they’re still arguing over what you should wear. There’s clothes on your floor in two piles, a maybe and a definitely not pile. Your two friends can’t seem to agree on anything for the life of them and you decide that you could probably sneak in a twenty minute nap. Just as your eyes close and you start to doze off Robin hits your foot to get your attention.

“What do you think Y/n, which outfit do you wanna wear?” Nancy and Robin are both holding up different clothing. Nancy a short black dress you had forgotten existed and Robin one of your tighter skirts and a blank tank top. “You’d wear a jean jacket with either fit.”

You sigh and get up walking over to them. You grab your Kiss shirt you originally planned on wearing on the way over. Their faces drop as you walk past them to the closet where they still haven’t pulled out your favorite jean skirt.

“Here, does this work for you guys? The Kiss shirt is non negotiable, Eddie and I are supposed to be matching.”

“Maybe we were too quick to judge your fashion sense. Now go shower while we pick your shoes out.” Nancy shoves you out of the room before you can argue otherwise.

Admittedly you start to doze off after the warm water starts to steam up your bathroom. It’s possible you took a five minute standing power nap. You had only gotten maybe five hours of sleep before they came over. You’d feel bad for Eddie for having to actually do stuff today but he’s used to not sleeping much. The only times he really does sleep is when he stays over your place or vice versa.

By the time you’re dressed and you’ve all eaten the takeout Robin went out to get it’s almost one. You’re definitely more awake than before thanks to the coffee Nancy keeps pumping into your system. You’re still arguing about how you don’t need them to do your hair or makeup though.

“Definitely sexy disheveled, I’ve been rocking out all day, hair.” Nancy hums in response to Robin as they discuss while you’re stuck in your desk chair.

“You want messy hair? You could’ve had me nap for like thirty minutes and then just run your fingers through it to fix it up a bit.”

“Nope, now stay still so I can do this.” Nancy teases and pulls at your hair for the next twenty minutes while Robin keeps you entertained by telling you about how Steve got gum stuck in his hair and when she offered to cut it out he threw a fit.

“Can we skip the make up? I’ve had enough of feeling like a doll for the two of you to play with today.” You hated when your mom did this to you growing up and you hate that your friends have been doing it all day. “Besides, don't you guys have to go get ready or help Steve with his hair or something?”

“She has a point Nance, I did tell Steve I’d help him once I was ready.”

“Alright, fine. We’ll see you later Y/n.”

“Yeah, bye guys thanks for your help.” You wave to them before shutting your front door. You lean your back against it and slide down sighing. Today has been such a long day already.

Dustin comes over a little after six since Eddie’s picking him up too. He finds you laying on the couch with a book when he walks through the door.

“Hey Dusty, how’s your day been?”

“Good, what about yours?” He sits next to you after you straighten up.

“It was alright.” You shrug. “Nancy and Robin were over playing dress up like all day.” Dustin cringes a little bit at your words, he told them not to do that part of the plan and that you’d hate it.

“Oh? Where are they now?”

“Probably getting ready, I kicked them out a few hours ago. How’d you sleep last night?”

“Good, I stayed up playing video games but then I slept in this morning. Why?”

“You’re in charge of keeping me awake tonight. Eddie and I were up really late last night and then they showed up so goddamn early, I barely got any sleep.” You’ve never been so jealous of your friend before.

“Why didn’t you nap after sending them home?”

“Nancy pumped me full of coffee but I’m sure I’ll crash halfway through the party.”

“Alright, you can count on me.” Dustin knows almost better than anyone how you need sleep to be able to function. He only had to be the one to wake you up for school till you graduated.

“You wanna play a game or something?”

When Eddie enters your house he’s met with yours and Dustin's laughter and his smile gets bigger.

“Dustin come on, you want a snack you gotta come get it.”

“I can’t get over there! Just toss me something.” Eddie pauses in the doorway of your dining room where Dustin’s standing on a chair in the corner and he can see your head peeking around the doorway to the kitchen. You gasp when you see him.

“Looks like a lava monster has appeared Dusty.” He knows you’re playing the floor is lava immediately. It’s something you and Dustin have played since you were kids and even though you’re older now Eddie still walks in on the two of you playing it a lot.

He starts to make gurgled groaning noises to play along and slowly starts to make his way to where you are. You let out a small scream when you see him coming closer to you and start moving on the kitchen counters to get to the other doorway.

“Too slow.” Eddie's deep grumbled voice greets your ears right before he grabs you and pulls you off of the counter.

“You moved too fast!” You laugh leaving your arms around his neck while resting your forehead against his chest.

“Are you guys ready to head out?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

During the beginning of the party you stay hanging around the boys and your friends but after having a couple drinks you’re quick to become friendly with one of the other bands that the record label invited. You had gone off to get another drink when you started getting close to their drummer. You stay by the bar and chat with him while Eddie stands against the wall with his arms crossed in his group pouting.

“You good man?” Steve asks as he notices the annoyed look on his friend's face as he stares at the two of you.

“They don’t even have that good of music.” He’s met the members of Nirvana a few times as Corroded Coffin went into the studio to make the album. They were still writing their first album.

“Initiate phase two.” Robin nudges Dustin as she overhears Eddie being jealous. He rolls his eyes but makes his way over to his friend regardless.

“They seem to be getting pretty close, I wonder if he’ll be her new boyfriend.” Eddie chokes on his drink at Dustin’s words.

“Boyfriend? No way, uh uh. She told me drummers aren’t her thing. No offense Gareth.”

“None taken man, she’s your girl.” His own drummer shrugs and goes back to talking to a fan.

“Hate to break it to you Eddie but I think anyone who can play an instrument is her type.”

“It doesn’t matter she’s my girl.” His friend's words had filled him with confidence because yeah you are his girl. He’s not about to let some nobody take that away from him.

“Does she know that?” Eddie gulps and watches as you laugh at something he said.

“I’ll be back Dustin.”

“Oh hey Eddie.” You greet your best friend as he stops beside you swinging an arm over your shoulder.

“Hey Sweetheart.”

“This is Dave, he’s in a band.”

“We’ve met darlin’.” He squeezes you against him doing what he can to show the man in front of him that you’re his.

“Hey man, how’s it going?”

“Good, you care if I steal her away for a bit?”

“Go for it.” Eddie nods at him in thanks and pulls you towards a secluded part of the venue.

“What is it Eds?”

“Thought you didn’t like drummers Sweetheart?” He would’ve just asked you out if it weren’t for his nerves acting up. You understood what this was though from how possessive he just seemed to be.

“I do but I’m more into guitarists and lead singers with curly hairy and pretty brown eyes.” You smile up at him while stepping closer to him, holding onto his jacket.

“Oh yeah?”

“Mmhm, in fact there’s a specific one I have my eye on. I think he’s gonna make it big.”

“You think so?” He leans his head down closer to you while his hands go to your waist to pull you closer.

“I know so.”

“Well I think if he makes it big he’ll be taking his number one fan with him.”

“He better.” And with that you reach up for his face to connect your lips.

“Mission successful.” Nancy and Robin high five as they watch the two of you come together.

Eddie Taglist:@sadbitchfangirl @notbeforelong @munsonswhore86 @katsukis1wife @violet-19999 @navs-bhat @emotionaldreamer @thatsamegirl @fromasgardandback @rockchickrebel @yourdailymemedelivery @magicalchocolatecheesecake @watercolorskyy @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce @brattypeony @fangirling-4-ever @angelina0191 @gaysludge @audhd-dragonaut @eddiethesexy @mazerunnerrose @tvserie-s-world @reddisteddie @redgetawaycar @eddies-lover @alexis6699

Everything Taglist: @munsonsmuse @matchamunson @bubsonnobx @practicalghost

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson fic #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #Eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson #eddie munson stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things imagine #eddie x reader

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wonderlandleighleigh · 6 months

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toomanylizzes

Ella and Lane, contemplating starting a band

(season 5 of GG)

Lane doesn't feel like she fits in anywhere except Stars Hollow, and as she steps into the small corner bar in the West Village, she feels like that's a good assessment of herself.

She shifts through the crowd of people awkwardly until she finds the person she's looking for in a back booth, what looks to be a ginger ale in front of her, along with a notebook and pen.

Ella lights up when she spots her friend, hopping up and hugging her tightly. "Hi! Thank you for meeting me! I know getting into the city is a pain, but I'm glad you made it!"

"Well, you said you wanted to talk music stuff," Lane grins as she hugs her back and they both take a seat. "That sounded important."

"I mean, we're not ending world hunger, but I hope it'll be worth your time," Ella giggles. She looks around quickly and catches the bartender's eye. "A coke for my friend?"

"With rum in it?" the bartender asks.

Ella gives Lane a questioning look, and Lane wrinkles her nose and shakes her head.

"Plain! Maybe later!" Ella calls.

The bartender rolls his eyes a little, and Ella laughs softly, pushing blonde curls from her face.

"So?" Lane asks, smiling. "I'm meeting you in a cool, out-of-the way bar in the Village to talk about music."

"Yep," Ella nods. "Because holy hell, do I need a new band."

Lane blinks in surprise. "I thought you were happy with Boris and Benny and Bea."

Ella blows out a breath. "Boris and Benny and Bea are great musicians. Really. But let's be real. As people, they are terrible Selfish and self-involved. They don't care about anything but their own fame and wealth. And they're terrible to tour with. So, I fired them."

"Wow," Lane breathes out. "Just like that?"

"Just like that," Ella confirms. "So that means...I need a new band."

Lane blinks again. "You...you want Hep Alien?"

Ella bites her lip, looking a little pained as she speaks. "I want you."

Silence settles over the table.

"Me?" Lane asks with a squeak. "Just me?"

"Just you," Ella confirms. "Come on, let's get real. You're what makes Hep Alien special. Gil's fine. Brian is fine. Zack is...Zack. I mean, he's a great guitar player, but a mid-level singer and his songwriting skills need work. You, on the other hand, have worked your ass off to be an incredible drummer."

Lane sits silently, staring at the other girl. "I...what? Really?"

"Really," Ella nods. "I want you to be my drummer."

Lane stares more, clearly still in shock as Ella opens her notebook.

"I have thoughts on a bass player," she says. "He's amazing. His name is Gray and he's so loose, and he's so fast, and he's a total sweetie."

Lane takes a breath. "Yes."

Ella looks up at her as the bartender settles the glass of coke in front of Lane and she takes it, chugging about half before setting it down firmly. "Yes?"

"I'm saying yes," Lane says. "To being your drummer. I'm saying yes."

"You don't want to-"

"No," Lane snaps. "I don't want to think it over, or talk to the band or any of that. I...I want to tour. I want to play. I want to get out of Stars Hollow, and see new things, and my current situation isn't letting me do that, so yes."

Ella beams at her. "Welcome to the band."

"So. Gray?" Lane goes on. "He seems cool."

"He is cool," Ella assures her. "Super fashionable, best shoe collection ever, and his boyfriend is actually a sound guy, so bonus."

"Serious bonus," Lane agrees. "What about guitar?"

Ella hesitates.

"What?" Lane asks, looking confused.

The blonde takes a deep breath. "So. Here's the thing...Dave Rygalski is uh...here. In New York."

Lane stares at her, frozen in place.

"He kind of...burnt out quick in California," Ella explains. "And uhm...he's crashing with Jess in Brooklyn right now."

Lane's mouth opens in shock. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"The guys a mess!" Ella cries. "He hasn't even told his parents, according to Jess."

"Since when are you so buddy-buddy with Jess?" Lane asks.

Ella bites her lip.

Lane's eyes widen even more if possible. "Does Rory know?!"

"Rory knows," Ella tells her.

"And she didn't rip your head off?" Lane asks doubtfully.

"I mean, she thought about it, but then she realized that she wanted both Jess and I to be happy, and she's fucking a trust fund baby at Yale, so it's not like she's currently interested in getting Jess back."

"Wow, this whole band thing got complicated fast," Lane huffs out. "Jess isn't touring with us, is he?"

"God, no, he'd be a nightmare," Ella assures her. "No. But...Dave is still a great guitar player, and he kind of needs a win."

"So you want me to tour with my ex-boyfriend," Lane says. "And record with my ex-boyfriend."

Ella shrugs helplessly. "Fleetwood Mac made it work."

"Dave is not as good a guitar player as Lindsey Buckingham, Ella," Lane points out.

"If you hate him that much, I'll find him a different gig with a different band, and we can look for a totally different guitar player," Ella tells her gently.

Lane slumps back against the booth, crossing her arms. "Can I talk to him first? Just...do a vibe check? See where we stand?"

"Totally!" Ella promises. "I will set up lunch for you guys and you can crash with me on Riverside Drive tonight."

Lane nods and sips more coke. "I really want rum now."

Ella nods and leans over. "Bartender! It's a pirate's life for us!"

#fic #au #tmmm #Gilmore Girls #Ella Bruce #Lane Kim

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black-arcana · 30 days

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HALESTORM's LZZY And AREJAY HALE Open Up About Mental Health

In a interview with Keen Eye 4 Concerts, HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale and her brother, HALESTORM drummer Arejay Hale, opened up about their personal experiences with a diverse array of mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, and how music has helped them get through their hardest times. Arejay said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "My life greatly improved four years ago. Going through immense heartbreak and a terrible breakup with someone you thought was your forever person really makes you a songwriter. Immense heartbreak and tragic life things that happen really, really force you to turn to music to help you cope with it, help you to get through it. So I'm thankful that I went through all that because it made me figure out how to express my emotions in music and how much better it made me feel, how much it helped me get through it. So now that I'm at a place now where my life is more stable and I have an incredible partner, I've got an adorable little dog, I'm glad I was able to kind of bring those things that I learned to the table now and utilize them when I'm writing for either HALESTORM, [my side project] KEMIKALFIRE or myself. Yeah, I think that you can get to the point where you're more mentally balanced, but you can still keep on being creative and keep on bringing things to the table."

Lzzy, who co-founded HALESTORM in her teens and has become an advocate for women and mental health in recent years, said: "And I'm so glad to see [Arejay] happier. We've all seen each other in our lowest lows and our highest highs and helped each other work through them. Arejay has been immense in my ups and downs and healing.

"Something that I try to remind myself of, I think it's helpful to remember that we're on a seesaw," she continued. "There is immense darkness and immense light on either side and one cannot exist without the other. You can't be all one way; there has to be a balance of the two. So I think that for me, if you try to flip the rhetoric and say, 'Well, I'm very grateful for the low times, because those low times were integral in making me who I am. And I like who I am today.' If I had made the best decisions in the world, it would have led me somewhere completely different and I wouldn't appreciate the fact that I've overcome that.

"I think that we have this misconception that we have to be these perfect beings, and we're just not going to be that way, and we shouldn't be that way, because without us failing, falling on our face every single time and trying to move forward, we wouldn't find, we wouldn't recognize our strength," Lzzy added. "And in a selfish way, on a personal level, regardless of whether we're musicians, songwriters, rodeo clowns or strippers or whatever we wanna be, I think that it's important that nobody's expecting you to be perfect, 'cause nobody is. So if you are, in fact, flawed, which we all are… So let's just get that out there — we are all flawed. We are all imperfect. We all make terrible decisions. We all have darkness in us. We all get to the deepest depths and think that we're the most terrible person in the world. We all are there. But as we recognize that and overcome that, you're going to be getting so much more from people. We get so much more from our fans, from our family by admitting to all of that and by showing all of that, because anyone who is looking at you for inspiration or looking at you, especially with us, with that imposter syndrome situation, and if they're looking at you like it's somebody that they want to be, how cool is it that you can say, 'You know what? I'm just as fucked up as you are, and I'm still here.' And that says something."

HALESTORM is currently working on a new album with producer Dave Cobb after making three records with Nick Raskulinecz.

Lzzy and Arejay formed HALESTORM in 1998 while in middle school. Guitarist Joe Hottinger joined the group in 2003, followed by bassist Josh Smith in 2004.

Last May, HALESTORM teamed up with country singer Ashley McBryde for a reimagined version of the band's song "Terrible Things", which was originally featured on HALESTORM's latest album, 2022's "Back From The Dead".

youtube

#lzzy hale #arejay hale #halestorm #interview #Youtube

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dustedmagazine · 2 months

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Dust Volume 10, Number 2

Ballister

It’s a leap year, so we all get an extra 24 hours to listen to February music. Why not try some of these selections from our endless piles of when-i-get-to-its? We’ve got unhinged beatmakers and noise-addled Canadians, smashing, grabbing jazz men and psychedelic post-punk. And really a lot more. February always seems long. This year it’s even more extended. Use your time wisely. Play records.

This month’s contributors include Patrick Masterson, Ian Mathers, Bill Meyer, Bryon Hayes, Tim Clarke, Jennifer Kelly, Jonathan Shaw, Jim Marks and Andrew Forell.

8ruki — POURquoi!! (33 Recordz)

youtube

This ain’t your mother’s TTC. Bilingual Parisian 8ruki takes most of his cues from Atlanta, acting with a whole lotta Whole Lotta Red in mind and squeezing 22 songs into his third album — about right for contemporary hip-hop in this vein, which frequently abandons ideas after less than two minutes and leaves a trail of incomplete sketches in its wake; like others his age, 8ruki has evolved to consider this less a bug (especially for stans forever thirsty for the next “project”) than a feature, the default mode of working. I don’t know what good it would do to comment on a song called “Andrew Tate!!” or “Elon Musk!!” at this stage other than to suggest the guy’s just being (what the French call) a provocateur, but peek elsewhere and you’ll find an unexpected beat switch on “VAris//PIENna,” not to mention a world-shrinking reference to the Golden State Warriors; the high-pitched squeaks of “CA$h!!” and “GIVENCHY MARgiela!”; the string sample and rolling bass of “EDQuer!!”; and a whole lot more to enjoy. Ignore the annoying tendency to turn caps off halfway through a song title; this is a fun record with a lot going on that’s even better if you more than half understand it.

Patrick Masterson

ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT — “Darling The Dawn” (Constellation)

The credits for this duo’s second release are deceptively simple; Ariel Engle (La Force, Broken Social Scene) as just “voice” and Efrim Manuel Menuck (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt Zion) as just “noise.” But there are whole worlds contained in voice and noise, and there’s a sonic, emotional, and political complexity here that makes it feel much weightier and more elaborate than the work of any two people. (It also had one of the best song titles of last year in “We Live on a Fucking Planet and Baby That’s the Sun.”) There are distinct songs here, even some refrains, but the whole of “Darling The Dawn” also feels like one long ebbing and flowing movement, culminating in lovely, shattered grandeur with the closing one-two punch of “Anchor”/“Lie Down in Roses Dear.” Shoegaze without guitars (although not without occasional strings or drums, from Jessica Moss on violin and Liam O’Neill, respectively), emotional noise music, kosmiche played in a paupers’ graveyard; it’s hard to know what to call what ALL HANDS_MAKE LIGHT does, other than impressive. Maybe voice and noise is enough description after all.

Ian Mathers

Ballister — Smash And Grab (Aerophonic)

In Chicago, the smash and grab game is strong. People aren’t just breaking windows but driving vehicles through them. Ballister apply that spirit of aggressive enterprise to performance on this memento of saxophonist Dave Rempis, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love’s reunion at the Catalytic Sound Festival in Chicago in December, 2022. The reeds wail and probe, the strings splinter and scrape, the drums smash rhythm in the air and reshape them. And that’s just in the first few minutes. Over the course of the set, they find ways to apply that assertive spirit to quieter passages and slower passages, fashioning rough thickets and inconsolable laments from the same rough material. While Dusted does not recommend literal application of the album’s title when acquiring it, we confidently predict that you’ll find the record sticking to your fingers, obliging you to return it to the playback device for another go around.

Bill Meyer

Cuneiform Tabs — Cuneiform Tabs (Sloth Mate)

The Sloth Mate label is the psychedelic tendril sprouting from the flourishing vine that is the modern Bay Area post-punk scene. There’s certainly an affiliation with Famous Mammals, Children Maybe Later and others of that ilk, but there’s a tendency to stray from traditional idioms that is unique to the Sloth Mate catalog. Violent Change, headed up by the imprint’s owner Matt Bleyle, is at the center of this sub-underground cabal, coming across like a garage punk band noisily banging out Face to Face-era Kinks jams after gobbling some mind-altering flora. Sterling Mackinnon’s The False Berries on the other hand is a lo-fi ambient electronic project that recalls the early beat-inclusive work of Christian Fennesz. Bleyle and Mackinnon collaborate remotely under the Cuneiform Tabs moniker (the latter musician is based in London, England). The cross-pollination works incredibly well, with the most listenable aspects of each unit rising to the forefront. When it appears, Mackinnon’s Dan Bejar-meets-Marc Bolan warble acts as a foil for Bleyle’s deeper crooning. Similarly, the former’s atmospheric tendencies highlight the beautiful melodies hidden beneath the latter’s noise-baked tunesmithery. Cuneiform Tabs’ psychoactive sonorities require work to decipher, but the endeavor is certainly worthwhile.

Bryon Hayes

Mia Dyberg Trio — Timestretch (Clean Feed)

It’s tempting to take the title of Timestretch ironically, since this Scandinavian trio compacts a lot of action into 43.18. There are 14 tracks, all but three composed by bandleader and alto saxophonist Dyberg. But more likely, it addresses this paradox; while the music never feels like it’s in a hurry, there’s a fair bit going on. Tonally, Dyberg shifts easily between slightly sour and just sweet enough, and her phrasing is mobile, but never busy. On a few unaccompanied tracks, she unburdens herself more directly, mourning for those laid low by conflict. Bassist Asger Thomsen anchors the music with stark, strategically placed notes, and adds dimension with occasional sparse, bowed comments. But it’s drummer Simon Fochhammer who gives the music shape, sometimes with a quick rustle, other times by building an eventful structure around his partners.

Bill Meyer

Kali Malone — All Life Long (Ideologic Organ)

Swedish composer and organist Kali Malone takes a rigorous, structured approach to making music, crafting deliberately pared-back and laser-focused pieces that make the listener acutely aware of the shifting harmonic dynamics within thick layers of sound. This 78-minute album presents an intimidating edifice to a casual listener, but it is organized to allow curious immersion in more easily digestible sections. The longest tracks are organ pieces stretching to around 10 minutes in duration, aching with melancholy. However, there are also shorter vocal and brass pieces that deviate away from held drones into more spacious, overlapping progressions that are, on occasion, almost buoyant. All Life Long feels like music for a less easily distracted age; to be patient enough to bear witness to its full, solemn unfolding requires commitment, but how often do you hear music this awe-inspiringly pure?

Tim Clarke

Michael Nau — Accompany (Karma Chief)

Accompany rides the line between cosmic country and garden variety indie pop, its gentle melancholy enlivened by radiant runs of twanging guitar. “It’s an impossible life to get over,” Michael Nau croons in “Painting a Wall,” sounding beaten down but not quite broken, grounded in the ordinary but yearning for transcendence. Nau, you might remember, fronted the indie chamber pop Page France in the early aughts and the slightly more countrified Cotton Jones in the late ones. This fifth solo album hits its peak in plaintive “Shape-Shifting,” where an otherworldly echo sheathes both Nau’s voice and the rumble of piano, and a glow suffuses everything, making it more.

Jennifer Kelly

Note — Impressions of a Still Life EP (The North Quarter)

Manchester’s Note hasn’t been around all that long — the earliest traces of his Soundcloud only reach back to October of 2021 — but just within the last year, he’s demonstrated a knack for fusing airy, sultry R&B moods with the breaks n’ bass of UK dance music’s storied past. Late January’s Impressions of a Still Life EP out via The North Quarter imprint, helmed by Dutch producer Lenzman (himself a veteran of labels like Metalheadz, Nu-Directions and Fokus), is another fine example: Aside from the stirring “Vespertine” that debuted last summer and features poet and spoken word artist Aya Dia, plus “Cold Nights” that came in November, Note fills out the EP with three additional songs of varying speed and mood. The best might be “EVR,” which again features a vocalist, this time singer-songwriter Feeney. Employing deep bass, fluttering percussion and featherweight piano flourishes, the production here is top-notch Brit-inflected R&D&B. Watch this space.

Patrick Masterson

Plaza — Adult Panic (Self-Release)

The novelist and rock critic (and one-time Dusted writer) Michael Fournier spent the pandemic on Cape Cod with his wife Becca, he learning the bass and she the drums. Adult Panic collects 11 spiked and minimalist cuts from this experiment, almost entirely instrumental (there’s a shouted refrain on “(The Real) Mr. Hotdog”) and rife with lockdown agitation. The drums are pretty basic, a skitter of high-hat with snare on the upbeats, but the bass parts wander and jitter intriguingly. The title track has a Slint-ish post-rock open-ended-ness, repeated riffs left to linger and shift in the air. “The Tomb of Santa Claus” moves faster and more insistently, letting surf-like bent notes flare from rickety architectures. The whole experience is rather dour and claustrophobic, right up until the end when “(The Real) Mr. Hotdog” clatters into earshot and the two Fourniers seem to be, finally, having some fun.

Jennifer Kelly

Caroline Polachek — Desire, I Want to Turn to You: Everasking Edition (Perpetual Novice)

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I’m not gonna sit here and tell you all about how big Caroline Polachek’s 2023 was; if you were paying any attention to the conversation, you already know Desire, I Want to Turn to You was universally, justifiably acclaimed. The Everasking Edition tacks on seven additional songs, five fresh out the box, one an acoustic rendition of “I Believe” and one a cover. Regarding the latter: Anyone paying attention to the machinations of the modern music business will know the name Jaime Brooks, who was half of Elite Gymnastics and now works as Default Genders in addition to unflinching commentary on whatever the fuck is going on with Billboard charts and the ugly realities of how no one’s getting Spotify royalties. “Coma” was originally theirs from Main Pop Girl 2019, a beautiful, delicately skipping adrenaline rush of a love song. Polachek doesn’t radically reinvent what’s already great; instead, she leaves the music alone and takes ownership of the rendition with her lower pitch and breathy delivery. A heartfelt nightcap on an imperial year, you couldn’t have scripted that Valentine’s Day release any more perfectly.

Patrick Masterson

Proton Burst — La Nuit (I, Voidhanger)

When the wife of storied French comics artist Phillipe Druillet died in 1975, Druillet poured his grief and rage into an idiosyncratic graphic narrative, La Nuit (1976); it’s full of mutant biker gangs, Druillet’s signature fever-dream architectural forms and hair-raising violence. French thrash metal weirdos Proton Burst loved the book, and in 1994 they produced an album-length project, part response, part soundtrack to the comic’s maniacal intensities. I, Voidhanger has given that Proton Burst record a deluxe reissue, including the original music, an extended live performance of it from 1995 and a booklet including eye-popping images from Druillet’s comic and an essay. If you’re in this for the music, the real treat is the live set, which is nearly as unhinged as Druillet’s illustrations. The band rages, rants, foments and froths—and is that a harp? Who knows. Like the original graphic narrative, what matters here is the volatility of the feeling tone, more so than any sense-making (or sonic) throughway. Lose yourself in the violence of it. Maybe that feeling of dislocation gets closest to the irrational agony of loss Druillet drew La Nuit in the teeth of, some 50 years ago.

Jonathan Shaw

Mariano Rodriguez — Exodo (self-released)

Mariano Rodriguez is an Argentinian guitarist in the Takoma school tradition with a large and high-quality back catalog. He often focuses on playing with a slide but is equally adept at playing without one and sometimes incorporates experiments with sound, as on Huesos Secos (2020), and fuller traditional instrumentation, as on Praise the Road (2017), into his recordings. Exodo, released late last year, is a set of mainly guitar soli. The playing is typically inspired, impressive without being flashy, and the compositions are tuneful and well-developed. Included is a 12-string anthem (“Lazaro”), Rodriguez’s signature slide work (such as on “The Desterrados”), bluesy 6-string meditations (“Diaspora”), and a couple of experiments with studio effects and overdubs (“The River and the Blind”) and drone (“Mother of the Road”). Over all, Exodo is a fine set of tunes that flows cohesively.

Jim Marks

Twin Tribes — Pendulum (Beso de Muerte Records)

Pendulum by Twin Tribes

It’s unclear precisely which tribes are twinned here, but if the music on Pendulum is any indication, it’s the deathrock freaks (with their long-standing romance of moldering, undead bodies) and the coldwave kids (who like to dance in place, furiously, disaffectedly, bodies frosty for entirely different reasons). Twin Tribes hails from the bastion of moody electronic music that is Brownville, TX, and somehow these Latinx fellows have managed to survive their local cultural climate long enough to release three LPs, a live tape and a whole bunch of singles and remixes. Pendulum refines the essential sonic template laid down in 2019’s Ceremony: tuneful, shimmery synths; snappy, brittle rhythm tracks; baritone vocals about zombies at the disco. If that sounds like fun, it surely is—but you’ll have a hard time convincing the kids in black eye makeup to crack anything like a smile. This reviewer can’t help it. The songs are too good, the vibes are way too goofily gravid. Dance, you flesh-eating misfits, dance.

Jonathan Shaw

Volksempfänger — Attack of Sound (Cardinal Fuzz / Feeding Tube)

Attack Of Sound by Volksempfänger

Attack of Sound’s swirling boy-girl harmonies instantly call to mind shoegaze luminaries Slowdive, but Volksempfänger’s noise-strewn guitar latticework is more aligned with The Jesus and Mary Chain. Furthermore, the Dutch duo’s melodic flavor is as sweet as 1960s AM radio. Ajay Saggar (Bhajan Bhoy) and Holly Habstritt combine these disparate sonic strands to create tidy noise pop gems, which they wrap in Phil Spector sonics. The wall of sound approach imbues each song with a pulsating thrum. This is the beating heart of their sound, underpinning the delightful vocal harmonies, shimmering guitar melodies, and waves of coruscating feedback. The pair attains a balance between saccharine and savory aromas: dream pop wistfulness (“What the Girl Does” and “Your Gonna Lose Hard”) interchanges with propulsive garage rock (“How We Made It Seem” and “Damned & Drowned”). The album closes out with the kaleidoscopic psychedelia of “You’ve Lost It,” introducing yet another aspect of Volksempfänger’s oeuvre. This last-minute shift in mood adds a quirky sense of quietude to an otherwise exhilarating journey.

Bryon Hayes

Ian Wellman — The Night the Stars Fell (Ash International)

The Night The Stars Fell by Ian Wellman

Recorded in the fire swept forests and deserts of Southern California, Ian Wellman’s The Night the Stars Fell plays like a Disintegration Loops for natural disasters. Wellman’s treated field recordings encourage the listener to subsume themselves in the natural rhythm of the wind that fanned the wildfires much like Basinski’s seminal work. While Disintegration Loops drew its potency from the association with 9/11, Wellman’s project is a more deliberate meditation on destruction. He coats his field recordings of deteriorating human structures — railcars, homes — and landscape ambience with short-wave radio static and decaying tape loops. There’s a concentration on both the violence of the destruction and the desolation of the aftermath. Huge swells of sound are interspersed with howls of wind, coruscating swathes of static and the creak and crank of burnt timber both natural and manufactured. The Night the Stars Fell is an absorbing evocation of nature’s power.

Andrew Forell

Wharfer — Postboxing (Self-Release)

Postboxing by Wharfer

Wharfer’s Kyle Wall has long made the kind of shadowy, pared down indie-folk singer/songwriter music that elicits comparisons to Bill Callahan and Will Oldham. This time out, however, he ditches vocals and verse chorus structure entirely and enlists Chuck Johnson (pedal steel), Ian O’Hara (acoustic bass) and Duncan Wickel (violin) for a set of ambient, piano-forward reflections. These tracks are quietly riveting as, like “Wishing Well in White Noise,” the blend the chalky, elegiac tones of the piano’s upper registers with limpid pools of sustained pedal steel. Not quite ambient, the piece swirls and rounds to its own subtle rhythms, a faint thunk of bass ordering it forward. “Alto” brings the long, bowed vibrations of violin into the mix, then a sprightly sprinkle of pizzicato strings. And in the title track, a ritual voice flickers in and out of focus, but only as tone and texture. The piano carries the narrative, as string washes build and bass notes drop in and seagulls cry in the distance. It’s a subtle but powerful voice on its own, and you don’t miss the words one bit.

Jennifer Kelly

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therecordconnection · 4 months

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Ranting and Raving: "Come Dancing" by The Kinks

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When looking at the British Invasion of the sixties, there is something known today as “The Big Four.” That group refers to the four bands that led the musical invasion on American shores: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and finally, The Kinks. The Kinks were entered into that club way later than the other three. It took more time for people to realize that the band were of the same caliber and helped pave the way for a lot of music we hold dear today just the same as the others.

But the Kinks ended up having a wildly different career trajectory than those other three. Mostly because they were banned from playing in America from 1965-1969.

The exact reasons for why tend to boil down to this: When attempting to tour America in 1965, there was tension between primary songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Ray Davies and his brother, guitarist Dave Davies (who also had beef with at-the-time drummer Mick Avory, sometimes losing it and fist-fighting him on stage), they all had beef with their tour promoter, Betty Kaye, who was unable to pay them in cash (which was the agreement that was made and unable to be fulfilled due to poor ticket sales at the beginning of the tour) and when that happened, the band was pissed and decided to retaliate against her. This in turn led her to filing a formal complaint with the American Federation of Musicians (basically the organization who has the power to withhold work permits for overseas musicians in the event that, you know, they piss you off and are difficult to deal with). That complaint held weight and the band were, well, banned from playing in the states. By the time the ban was lifted in ‘69, the British Invasion was over and done with and the tastes had changed.

In a way, I think this actually ended up being a blessing in disguise for them. The other three bands they’re grouped with all ended up getting Americanized in some way due to spending extended time here and trying to appeal to us. By contrast, The Kinks were stranded and remained aggressively British, so they stayed weird and their music remains all the more fascinating to Americans because it wasn’t made with any of our sensibilities in mind. The only times the band snuck over here and scored a Top 40 hit twice during the seventies. “Lola” was the big one in 1970 (peaked at #9 on Billboard) and “Rock and Roll Fantasy” was the other one in 1978 (peaked at #30). So as far as America is concerned, the seventies weren’t the best decade for the band in terms of chart success. They would go mostly ignored.

The Beatles, The Stones, and The Who all had a great time here in the seventies... but the eighties belonged to the Kinks, who had a way more fun time during that decade than any of them. By the start of the eighties, the Beatles had been broken up for a decade (one of them would be dead by the end of 1980, one of them sits out most of the first half of the decade, one of them doesn’t know what the hell they’re doing, and one of them is Ringo) the Stones were about to go on autopilot and enter suck for a decade, and the Who were quickly suffering burn out. On the other hand, The Kinks had been enjoying critical and commercial success and enjoyed experimenting with the new wave and punk sound that had been sprouting up in Britain. It certainly helped that a lot of new wave and punk bands loved them and were covering their songs. Listening to albums like 1981’s Give the People What They Want and 1983’s State of Confusion are good examples of Ray Davies’ versatility and adaptability as a songwriter. He just seemed to understand the changing times better than the rest of the old British Invasion bands. I mean, bloody hell, you don’t call an album Give the People What They Want unless you’re damn sure you know what they want. The Kinks have five songs that have been Top 10 hits on Billboard: “You Really Got Me” (#7 in 1964) “All Day and All of the Night” (also #7 in ‘64), “Tired of Waiting For You” (#6 in 1965), “Lola,” and finally, their last and quite possibly the best song Ray Davies wrote in his long career, “Come Dancing” (#6), released in April 1983 (for America, Britain had it in October ‘82) and our subject today.

“Come Dancing” is one of those hits that defies most explanations. By all accounts, Americans at the time should’ve wanted nothing to do with it and it never should’ve been a hit here. By the time the song hit its peak in July 1983, It didn’t fit in with anything else that was on the Top 10. That is, unless there’s a part of your brain that thinks the Kinks can share a playlist with the likes of The Police, Irene Cara’s “Flashdance... What a Feeling” (from, you guessed it, the movie Flashdance), Michael Jackson, Culture Club, and Kajagoogoo, which sounds like a name I made up, but I swear to god I didn’t. Adding to the anomaly is how Ray Davies didn’t write this with an American audience in mind at all. For starters, he makes no attempt to hide his accent (although Ray is so aggressively British you’d have to be the most daft and schtewpit wanker alive not to notice). Other giveaways are how the song talks about dance halls (which is primarily a British concept. He also uses the French word “Palais” to mean “dance hall,” which only further alienates us Yankees) and the song borrows its title from a popular British dancing show, Come Dancing (it’s mostly known today through its revival, Strictly Come Dancing).

“Come Dancing” is mainly concerned with two topics: 1) It’s a song examining the changing times and memorializing the past. The dance hall of Ray’s childhood is long gone and has been replaced with several different things ever since. 2) It’s a story song about his older sister, Rene. More on her later.

If this song became a hit for any reason, it’s because Ray Davies’ ear for melody never failed him. That main melody that plays through the song is ridiculously infectious. It does what every great song wants to do: sneak into your brain and have you hum it for a long time after it’s over. Musically, it’s delightfully strange. The chorus has that British Invasion sixties sound that taps into boomer nostalgia (which would quickly wrap the eighties into a vice grip tighter than a rattlesnake) but it never fully consumes the song. The main melody has that sixties sound when played on a guitar, but it’s almost drowned out by the odd choice in keyboard sound, which sounds like something you’d hear on a calliope or a boardwalk in the summer. While being odd, it’s an immediately recognizable sound that works really well. It’s very easy to start dancing to it and, more importantly, it’s such a great melody that it never gets obnoxious or annoying to hear.

The most interesting thing about it is that it’s a melody that feels like it’s fighting to find a spot in a specific time period. Dave Davies’ guitar makes it sound sixties, the keyboard turns it distinctly into 1983, and then it travels back to the big band era of the forties and fifties when horns play it at the end of the song. It’s a melody that’s clearly nostalgic for something, but it and its creator never find exactly what it’s nostalgic for. There’s an argument to be made that the entire song is nostalgic for everything and that’s why there’s no specific choice. In that sense, the song perfectly captures that feeling of experiencing changing times. What you knew is gone forever and you’re having to come to terms with the new. The overall production, the keyboard doing the main melody, that new wave sound and Dave’s heavy guitar riffs during the halfway point of the song, and the chorus are all firmly in the new. The keyboard during the verses, the acoustic, folksy guitar heard throughout the song, and the big band horns at the end are all the faded voices of the old trying to be new again. Ray Davies is very well aware of time and the way time changes things as major themes within this song. Those themes show up as early as the first lines of the song, when he lays out the history of the local palais in just four lines:

They put a parking lot on a piece of land Where the supermarket used to stand Before that they put up a bowling alley On the site that used to be the local palais

Local palais -> bowling alley -> supermarket -> parking lot. Anybody who has lived in a small town for decades or has lived long enough to see major changes to places can rattle off history like that to you. Even if you haven’t, sometimes you can just walk into a store and you can faintly see the remnants of what used to be there, possibly something to the tune of, “This coffee shop used to be a Pizza Hut.” Ray Davies establishes that theme from a distance immediately so that he can zoom in just as fast and begin to tackle the song’s real reason for being: a story song about his older sister, Rene.

Ray Davies has six sisters, all of them older than him, but it’s Rene who hit the jackpot and got this song written about her. The backstory of “Come Dancing” is this: Ray wrote the song in honor of his sister’s love of dancing and to honor her passing away from a heart attack on the night of Ray’s thirteenth birthday while out dancing at the local palais. She was also the sister that bought Ray’s first guitar for him (you can see the kid in the music video air strumming a tennis racket, which I’ve always assumed was a nod to Ray being given a guitar). In a 2014 radio interview with NPR, Davies recounted the stories that inspired the song:

...she was told she had severe heart problems, but she loved to dance. And the doctors told her, she walked down the road, she would probably have a heart attack. So she bought me this not-very-expensive Spanish guitar and gave it to me on my birthday. And she - we played a few songs. She played a song on the piano. And I tried to play with her. And she said she was going out now. And I would watch my sister go out. It was a sunny afternoon. And she walked down the road, and my mother stood at the gate. And that was it. And the next morning, we got a call from the police. She'd been - she had died dancing at the ballroom in London in the arms of a stranger. And they came to break the news to my parents. So it was - the birthday was forgotten, but that's irrelevant.

From the last line of the first verse to the end of the song, it becomes a beautiful eulogy about the loss of Ray’s sister and the dance hall that held her happiest memories. The story that Ray tells in that NPR interview is found all throughout the song’s lyrics. Ray mostly focuses on the boyfriends and dates that his sister would go on and even how Ray could see her coming and going (“Out of my window, I could see them in the moonlight / Two silhouettes saying goodnight by the garden gate”). Ray paints a fun, upbeat, and bouncy picture of his sister as your typical fun-loving girl who loves to dance and would make her dates work for (limited) satisfaction.

Another Saturday, another date She would be ready but she'd always make them wait In the hallway, in anticipation He didn't know the night would end up in frustration He'd end up blowing all his wages for the week All for a cuddle and a peck on the cheek

The lyrics stay just as light and peppy as the song they’re attached to. Despite the fact that Ray is writing this song about a woman who passed away twenty-five years before this song existed, the only sadness to be found is the death of the palais (The day they knocked down the palais / Part of my childhood died, just died).

The final verse of the song is the most important part. We’ve established that in real life, the person this song is written about passed away twenty-five years prior. In the song, she isn’t. Ray Davies utilizes the power that comes with being a songwriter and fully rewrites her ending. This part is real: “Now I'm grown up and playing in a band / And there's a car park where the palais used to stand.” These lines aren’t:

My sister's married and she lives on an estate Her daughters go out, now it's her turn to wait She knows they get away with things she never could But if I asked her, I wonder if she would

With this final verse, “Come Dancing” becomes a song that resurrects the past and gives it new life. “Come Dancing” isn’t just a nostalgia song, it’s a resurrection song. A nostalgia song usually is too preoccupied with the yearning for days gone by, the dread that comes with knowing that the old days are gone forever and you wish like hell that they were back. “Come Dancing” isn’t that. The final refrain of the chorus has Ray singing, “Come dancing / Just like the palais on a Saturday.” The key words are “just like.” Ray knows that he can’t literally bring the palais back (or his sister, for that matter), but as a songwriter, he can resurrect the feelings and the memories of the palais on a Saturday. He can resurrect the feelings and the memories of his sister and how she would go dancing.

It’s a beautiful and loving tribute to someone dearly departed. If you believe in any variation of the phrase, “The dead are never truly gone so long as the memories remain,” then this song does what a lot of songs do when they make us think of the people closest to us: it resurrects their memory and helps us remember them and how we carry them with us.

It’s the most unexpected hit they could’ve had during the second half of their career and it remains one of their sweetest and most lovable songs. It represents the romanticism, the cleverness, and the theatricality that made the Kinks such a wonderful band and so distinct from their peers.

“Come Dancing” is the best possible tribute. It brought Ray’s sister and the old local palais back to life every time he and the Kinks played it. They come back to life every time you play it on something. If you have someone special to you who loved this song to death, they come back too whenever you play it. Hell, when Ray Davies eventually leaves this Earth, this song will also bring him back to life every time someone plays it.

Time moves, whether we want it to or not. But if we’re lucky, we’re able to capture a few magic moments and make them immortal. Nothing is ever fully dead so long as there’s someone there to fill it with love and resurrect it.

So, why not come dancing?

It's only natural.

#original post #ranting and raving #the kinks #ray davies #Youtube

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