They Pelted Us With Rocks and Garbage

David Letterman said goodbye to his 33-year talk show career last week with a great finale. It's very strange now to see reruns of "The Mentalist" airing in the 11:35 slot on CBS each night in place of Letterman. I don't know why they couldn't have just aired classic episodes of The Late Show until Stephen Colbert makes his debut as the host on Sept. 8, but I guess there was some sort of stupid rights reason for the whole thing. Still, extremely off-putting, to say the least.

I went on in detail four years ago about my history with Letterman and how much he meant to me as a comedy influence growing up, so I won't rehash it now. Especially since there's been approximately 3,792 think pieces written over the last month about the man and his massive impact on comedy and the attitude of a generation.

I didn't watch the show much the last few years, but for me, the NBC Late Night period from 1982-1993 was the stuff. Thank Jeebus for YouTube, so we can still watch classic bits on demand. Even though he's not on TV anymore, there's still plenty to watch if you want to.




And some great human has posted entire episodes, which is the best goddamn thing ever:
Holy crap, here's the full first episode of NBC's Late Night:

Stuck In Thee Garage #82: May 29, 2015

Hair today, gone tomorrow. Humans have been fascinated by hair since the cavemen days. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I play songs about hair in hour 2 and it's a fine collection, if I do say so myself. Just ask this handsome gent:

The festive playlist:

Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
Thee Oh Sees - Withered Hand/Mutilator Defeated at Last
Pinecones - Apocalypse Twin/Sings For You Now
SWIVS - I Was Alive (FTEOTW)/Free Period Blood Money
Joanna Gruesome - Last Year/Peanut Butter
Malka - Diamond Girl/The Constant State EP
Hop Along - Waitress/Painted Shut
Faith No More - Motherfucker/Sol Invictus
Chastity Belt - Cool Slut/Time to Go Home
Speedy Ortiz - My Dead Girl/Foil Deer
Young Fathers - Shame/White Men are Black Men, Too
Warm Soda - Cryin' for a Love/Symbolic Dream
Little Children - We're Falling/Traveling Through Darkness
MeWithoutYou - Watermelon Ascot/Pale Horses
British Sea Power - Remember Me/The Decline of British Sea Power
TV Colours - City Nights/Purple Skies, Toxic River
Slowcoaches - Thinkers/Odd Box Weekender V
Creative Adult - Motgu/Ring Around the Room EP

Hour 2: Hair
Beck - Devil's Haircut/Odelay
Hot Snakes - Hair and DNA/Audit in Progress
Desert Sessions - Powdered Wig Machine/The Desert Sessions Vol. 9 and 10
Pavement - Cut Your Hair/Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Radiator Hospital - Cut Your Bangs/Torch Song
Japandroids - Wet Hair/Post-Nothing
The Who - Cut My Hair/Quadrophenia
Nazareth - Hair of the Dog/Hair of the Dog
The Wildhearts - Ice Hockey Hair/Stop Us If You've Heard This One Before, Vol. 1
Nirvana - Hairspray Queen/Incesticide
Chisel - Red Haired Mary/8 a.m. All Day
Boss Hog - Beehive/Boss Hog
Danger Doom - Perfect Hair/The Mouse and the Mask
Bad Brains - Natty Dreads 'Pon the Mountain Top/Build a Nation
Summer Fiction - Dirty Blonde/Himalaya
Elvis Costello - Episode of Blonde/When I Was Cruel
The Twilight Singers - Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair/She Loves You

Stuck In Thee Garage #82 by Koomdogg on Mixcloud

Completely Conspicuous 376: Reeling in the Years, 1982 (Part 3)

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1982. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
 
Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape
- Jay's #3
- Peter Gabriel's breakthrough
- Exploring dark themes
- Parallels between Eddie Van Halen and John Romita Jr.
- Brian's #2
- Descendents were very relatable to suburban teens
- Bass player was way older than rest of band
- Big influence on '90s pop punk
- Jay's #2
- Prince played 99% of the music on 1999
- Brian's #1
- Bad Brains were unmatched for sheer insanity and awesomeness
- Jay's #1
- Mission of Burma's only full-length during their first stint
- Broke up a year later, reunited nearly two decades later
- Next up: 1997

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Stuck In Thee Garage #81: May 22, 2015

It's safe to say mankind has been obsessed with flight long before the Wright Brothers got their first plane off the ground. That obsession has continued in the world of music, where there have been countless songs written about flying, whether literally or figuratively. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played a bunch of these songs in hour 2.

This is the Cabin Boy of playlists (that's a good thing in my book, pal):

Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
Faith No More - Superhero/Sol Invictus
METZ - Spit You Out/II
Thee Oh Sees - Lupine Ossuary/Mutilator Defeated at Last
Titus Andronicus - Dimed Out/The Most Lamentable Tragedy
Dignan Porch - Out of the Picture/The Hand Cut Record Club
Eyelids - Seagulls Into Submission/854
Malka - A Flock of Crows/The Constant State
Kathryn Calder - Take a Little Time/Kathryn Calder
Alabama Shakes - Don't Wanna Fight/Sound & Color
La Luz - You Disappear/Weirdo Shrine
Bullet Lavolta - Mother Messiah/The Gift
Helmet - Turned Out/Meantime
AC/DC - What's Next to the Moon/Powerage
Black Sabbath - Snowblind/Vol. 4

Hour 2: Flying
The Beatles - Back in the USSR/The White Album
Paul McCartney and Wings - Jet/Band on the Run
Husker Du - Eight Miles High/single
Ozzy Osbourne - Flying High Again/Diary of a Madman
Sloan - Flying High Again/Never Hear the End of It
Rush - Fly By Night/Fly By Night
Drive-By Truckers - Road Cases/Southern Rock Opera
The Faces - Flying/First Step
Queens of the Stone Age - Auto Pilot/R
Black Francis - Test Pilot Blues/Bluefinger
Gorillaz - Pirate Jet/Plastic Beach
El-P - Flyentology/I'll Sleep When You're Dead
M.I.A. - Paper Planes/Kala
Swervedriver - Sci-Flyer/Raise
The Waldos - Flight/Rent Party
Van Halen - Tora! Tora!/Women and Children First
Iron Maiden - Flight of Icarus/Piece of Mind

Stuck In Thee Garage #81 by Koomdogg on Mixcloud

Completely Conspicuous 375: Reeling in the Years, 1982 (Part 2)

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1982. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
 
 

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape
- Recording industry was warning of the evils of home taping
- Jay: Would tape my records so I could listen to them on my Walkman
- Streaming is convenient
- '82 was a good year for both hard rock and synth pop
- Guess the chart toppers
- Bubbling under albums
- Brian: Prince, Captain Beefheart, James White
- Nebraska was an interesting departure for Springsteen
- XTC releases another great record
- Jay: Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Van Halen
- Rush enters their synth phase
- Pete Townshend released another solid solo effort
- Joe Jackson blew up with "Steppin' Out"
- Brian's #5
- Jim Jarmusch's band made a splash on the no wave scene
- Jay's #5
- R.E.M.'s hugely influential debut EP
- Brian's #4
- The worst Lounge Lizards album was still pretty good
- Jay's #4
- Brian's #3
- Not the best Clash album, but a decent effort
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Stuck In Thee Garage #80: May 15, 2015

Let's face it, rock bands come and go with alarming frequency. But with any luck, the good ones leave behind a legacy of quality music for us to enjoy long after they're gone. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I play music from defunct bands in hour 2.

Gone, but not forgotten.

The Herman Menderchuk-approved playlist:

Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
METZ - Acetate/II
Grave Babies - Eternal (On & On)/Holographic Violence
Hard Left - Imagination/We Are Hard Left
Mikal Cronin - Ready/MCIII
Tame Impala - Cause I'm a Man/Currents
Blur - Ong Ong/The Magic Whip
Nadine Shah - Fool/Fast Food
Chromatics - I Can Never Be Myself When You're Around/Dear Tommy
Torres - Cowboy Guilt/Sprinter
Wolf Alice - Moaning Lisa Smile/Creature Songs
Ex Hex - Waterfall/Live on WVAU
Parquet Courts - Content Nausea/Content Nausea
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Woke Up in Chelsea/The Brutalist Bricks
Guided by Voices - Christian Animation Torch Carriers/Universal Truths and Cycles
The Henry Clay People - California Wildfire/This is a Desert EP
The Riverboat Gamblers - Year of the Rooster/To the Confusion of Our Enemies

Hour 2: Defunct bands
Big Star - Don't Lie to Me/#1 Record
LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change/This is Happening
Sonic Youth - Kim Gordon and the Arthur Doyle Hand Cream/Sonic Nurse
The Jam - Away From the Numbers/In the City
The Clash - One More Time/Sandinista!
Black Flag - Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie/Damaged
Husker Du - I Apologize/New Day Rising
The Gun Club - Fire Spirit/Fire of Love
Minutemen - This Ain't No Picnic/Double Nickels on the Dime
The Nation of Ulysses - Hot Chocolate City/13-Point Program to Destroy America
Fugazi - Walken's Syndrome/In On the Kill Taker
Thin Lizzy - Rosalie (Peel Session)/Fighting (Disc 2)
D Generation - Frankie/No Lunch
Kyuss - Odyssey/Welcome to Sky Valley
The White Stripes - I Think I Smell a Rat/Peel Session 8/11/01
McLusky - Collagen Rock/McLusky Do Dallas
Obits - Pine On/I Blame You

Stuck In Thee Garage #80 by Koomdogg on Mixcloud

Completely Conspicuous 374: Reeling in the Years, 1982 (Part 1)

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1982. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
 
Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape
- Brian was born in '82
- "Ebony and Ivory" was the #1 song the week he was born
- Strange year for music
- The band Fear is better to talk about than listen to
- John Belushi's death
- SNL was a very different show at first
- Jay: Started watching SNL in '81-'82 when Eddie Murphy was blowing up
- The brilliance of SCTV
- Strange year for Ozzy
- First CDs were sold in Japan
- Big year for top 40
- Thriller was a monster hit
- The Who's "farewell" tour, sponsored by Schlitz
- The abrupt ending of "Young Turks"
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Stuck In Thee Garage #79: May 8, 2015

A good insult is something to be cherished. As is a good insult song. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I dedicated hour 2 to insult songs. Not like you'd notice, you hockey puck.

The knuckleheaded playlist:

Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
Mean Creek - Forgotten Streets/single
Mikal Cronin - Made My Mind Up/MCIII
Kuroma - Love is On the Way/Kuromarama
Jeff Rosenstock - Beers Again Alone/We Cool?
Speedy Ortiz - Puffer/Foil Deer
POW! - Liquid Daydream/Fight Fire
Courtney Barnett - Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go to the Party/Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
Sleater-Kinney - Price Tag/No Cities to Love
Shana Falana - Know UR Mine/Set Your Lightning Fire Free
Crosss - Lo/LO
Expert Alterations - Midnight Garden/Expert Alterations EP
Creative Adult - Travel/Ring Around the Room EP
Sarandon - Massive Haircut/Odd Box Weekender V
Pinkshinyultrablast - Blaster/Odd Box Weekender V
Nervous Twist - Jonny's Got a Gun/Odd Box Weekender V
Feature - Psalms/Odd Box Weekender V
Varsity Drag - Billy Ruane/Live Owls: Varsity Drag Live on WFMO
Pods - Name in Vain/Where I'm Calling From
The Lemonheads - Hate Your Friends/Hate Your Friends

Hour 2: Insult songs
The Replacements - Lay It Down Clown/Tim
Mudhoney - Douchebags on Parade/Vanishing Point
Fishbone - Lyin' Ass Bitch/Fishbone
Bob Dylan - Idiot Wind/Blood on the Tracks
Red Red Meat - Idiot Son/Bunny Gets Paid
Krill - Dumbass in a Pair of Shorts/Alam No Hris
Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm/Favourite Worst Nightmare
Big Black - The Ugly American/The Hammer Party
Jarvis Cocker - Running the World/Jarvis
Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant/Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols
The Hellacopters - You Are Nothin'/Payin' the Dues
Goo Goo Dolls - Bitch/No Alternative
Van Halen - You're No Good/Van Halen II
The Von Bondies - Shut Your Mouth/Love, Hate, and Then There's You
Jonny Polonsky - Truly Ugly and Dead Too/Hi My Name is Jonny
New Bomb Turks - Apocalyptic Dipstick/Information Highway Revisited
Bad Religion - Hooray for Me.../Stranger Than Fiction

Stuck In Thee Garage #79 by Koomdogg on Mixcloud

Completely Conspicuous 373: Best Before

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about whether songs have an expiration date. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Critical writing about rock musicians is important and rare
- The corruptness of Rolling Stone reviews
- Songs that focus on obsolete technology
- Songs you like at first but grow to hate
- The problem with Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Goo Goo Dolls, Soul Asylum started strong but sucked later
- JK: U2 was once my favorite band, but not anymore
- The Strokes fizzled after a strong debut
- JK: Listen to a lot of top 40 thanks to kids
- Tidal and Pono
- Different relationship with music today
- Classic rock stations now include and overplay music from the '90s

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
 
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Trust Fund Challenge #12: Lassie's Rescue Rangers (1973)

On the latest installment of Trust Fund Challenge, Ric and I watch an episode of Lassie's Rescue Rangers, a short-lived '70s Saturday morning cartoon that was essentially a Scooby Doo takeoff. Only remove the amusing talking dog and stoner buddy and replace him with a smug know-it-all collie, a deadly serious patriarch figure who never opens his eyes, an effeminate teen and some other lunkheads solving half-baked mysteries. Oh, and an insipid yet insanely catchy theme song that will burrow its way into your brain like a Ceti eel from Star Trek 2.

Stuck In Thee Garage #78: May 1, 2015

We spent a long winter mostly stuck inside, and it seems like it has taken the warm weather extra long to finally arrive. But things are looking up. And after a week off, Stuck In Thee Garage was back for the attack today with a show that featured songs about the great outdoors in hour 2.

Don't look so stunned.

The wet hot American playlist:

Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
Speedy Ortiz - The Graduates/Foil Deer
Joanna Gruesome - Psykick Espionage/Peanut Butter
Mommy Long Legs - Life Rips/Life Rips
Flagland - Lay Down With Me and Die/Flagland-Washer EP
Washer - Joe/Flagland-Washer EP
Built to Spill - Never Be the Same/Untethered Moon
TV Colours - Bad Dreams/Purple Skies, Toxic River
Sick Sad World - Sick Sad World/Fear & Lies
Jackson Boone - The Dolphin Turned Into a Cat/Natural Changes
Elvis Depressedly - Big Break/New Alhambra
Tim Foljahn - Etant Donnes/Fucking Love Songs
Summer Fiction - Perfume Paper/Himalaya
Wishyunu - Photoplay/Photoplay
Grounders - No Ringer/Grounders
Jesse Malin - Freeway/New York Before the War
Turnover - I Would Hate You If I Could/Peripheral Vision
Expert Alterations - Three Signs/Expert Alterations EP
Nic Hessler - Expel Me/Soft Connections

Hour 2: Outdoors
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Pitch a Tent/Primary Colours
Ty Segall - Come Outside/Sleeper
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Nature Boy/Abattoir Blues-The Lyre of Orpheus
Savages - Dead Nature/Silence Yourself
Grant Hart - Run for the Wilderness/The Argument
The Kinks - Kentucky Moon/Muswell Hillbillies
My Morning Jacket - Into the Woods/Z
The King Khan and BBQ Show - Lil' Girl in the Woods/The King Khan and BBQ Show
The Afghan Whigs - Lost in the Woods/Do to the Beast
Buffalo Tom - Mountains of Your Head/Let Me Come Over
Jane's Addiction - Mountain Song/Nothing's Shocking
Flaming Lips - Mountain Side/In a Priest Driven Ambulance
Eddie Vedder - Guaranteed/Into the Wild soundtrack
The Pink Mountaintops - Outside Love/Outside Love
Black Mountain - Wild Wind/In the Future

Stuck In Thee Garage #78 by Koomdogg on Mixcloud