"If music be the food of love, play on" -- William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
"Maybe it's the beer talking, Marge, but you've got a butt that won't quit. They've got these big chewy pretzels here that are...(incoherent mumbling)...five dollars? Get out of here!" -- Homer Simpson, smiling politely
Adele, "Lovesong"
The Cure are one of the best 'greatest hits bands' out there. This is defined as a band whose albums are rather hit-and-miss (major exception in the Cure's case: Disintegration) but if you distill their best tracks down to one greatest hits disc, it sounds awesome from start to finish. I'm spending this time talking about the Cure since I know zip-all about Adele, aside from the fact that she has a nice voice and may be the only person named 'Adele' who isn't at least 70 years old. That name is right up there with Mabel and Muriel.
James, "Laid"
HEY, REMEMBER THE 90'S?! There is an eighty percent chance that hearing this song instantly made you think of the American Pie movies. My friends and I recently argued over which of the AP cast had the most successful careers since 1999. Alyson Hannigan and Seann William Scott were the undisputed top two, and Natasha Lyonne is dead last, but you could make some serious arguments over every other placement. For my money, it's....
1. Hannigan
2. Scott
3. Jason Biggs
4. Chris Klein
5. Eddie Kaye Thomas
6. Tara Reid
7. Shannon Elizabeth
8. Thomas Ian Nicholas
9. Mena Suvari
10. Lyonne
Our discussion centered around just the core kids, so obviously Eugene Levy or Jennifer Coolidge weren't included since they already had careers before American Pie was released. Also not included: John Cho (who has a good case for second) and, since IMBD tells me they were actually in the film, Casey Affleck and Christina Milian. I'm not going to embarrass myself and my friends further by saying how long we argued about this list, but let's just say it was probably too long.
No Doubt, "Eleanor Rigby"
You know who would've really appreciated a Valentine on this day? Eleanor Rigby. She and Father McKenzie should totally have hooked up. Well, that is, unless Father McKenzie was into the boys. "Hey Mark, how is this a good cover? Doesn't No Doubt's upbeat ska totally obscure the sombre message of the song?" Uh, moving on....
Talking Heads, "Girlfriend Is Better"
If I keep doing enough of these live music posts, will I eventually just end up posting all 16 tracks off of Stop Making Sense? All signs point to yes. This is the debut of David Byrne's signature 'big suit,' which reigned as the Halloween costume of choice for hipsters for most of the 1980's. If they had made a Fantastic Four movie in the 1980's, Byrne would've been the hands-down choice for Reed Richards, no doubt about it. Could it be argued that including a song called 'Girlfriend Is Better' on Valentine's Day is a slap in the face to single people? Well...
The Raconteurs, "Crazy"
...not if that girlfriend is crazy! Ahhhh, see what I did there?! And what colours better signify Valentine's Day than red and white*, which happen to be the colours of the White Stripes, who were fronted by Jack White, who's also a member of the Raconteurs?! (dusts off hands triumphantly) So with the Stripes breaking up, does this mean I'll have to start really getting into the Raconteurs to get my Jack White fix? I already have the Dead Weather's album....it ain't great. Hopefully it doesn't turn out that Meg was the entire key to the White Stripes, and Jack was merely a frontman. I love that band far too much to see it turn into a musical version of Without A Clue.
* = er, pretend the colour pink doesn't exist.
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, "Walls"
Yeah! Heartbreakers on Valentine's Day! Nice comic moment with the laughably small smatter of applause when Petty starts up the song. Perhaps 'Walls' had just been released at the time of this concert or something, since it seems like it's one of Petty's better-known tunes, in my opinion.
UC Men's Octet, "The FInal Countdown"
And finally, what better way to end things than with the Final Countdown? It fits the theme since you know that somewhere, some guy has rented a smoke machine and will enter the bedroom tonight with great fanfare (possibly wearing a cape) and this song blasting. His girlfriend/wife/girl he's just started dating/boyfriend/Amy Poehler/etc. will laugh and hopefully be into it. If not, well, then this guy will spend his Valentine's Night performing a solo, if you will.
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