The Genius That Is Nick Hornby

Nick Hornby is the type of author who makes me want to write, too. He makes it seem effortless, so I feel like I must be able to do it. How hard can it be, right? Um…hard. To get at raw emotions the way he does, while simultaneously not making you want to slit your wrists is very tricky, indeed. His books rule, but are often made into mediocre films (exception to this rule: About a Boy), such as Fever Pitch and High Fidelity.

One of my favorite books of his is "Songbook," a collection of essays he has written about songs that he loves. 'Songs are what I listen to, almost to the exclusion of everything else. I don't listen to classical music or jazz very often, and when people ask me what music I like, I find it very difficult to reply, because they usually want names of people, and I can only give them song titles.' At one point, he talks about Badly Drawn Boy's "A Minor Incident" that was included in the film About a Boy (based on Hornby's own novel). He discusses how it resonates with his own difficulties in raising his autistic son, and also, how it brings a whole new perspective to the characters in his novel that he hadn't thought of previously.

Badly Drawn Boy - A Minor Incident

His new book, The Polysyllabic Spree, is a collection of essays he writes for The Believer magazine (part of the media I regularly stalk) about books that he is reading, has just read, and may someday read. The collection is awesome, but the best part about it is that all the proceeds are split between two charities: Treehouse, a London-based charity for kids with autism and 826NYC, a Brooklyn-based (like The Believer, and, soon, yours truly) charitable writing center that helps local kids learn to read and write better (they also have adult workshops and seminars on occasion). So, do it for the kids and buy the book! (or just do it for yourself)

John Cusack Film Soundtracks - First Installment

High Fidelity

"Rob, top five musical crimes perpetuated by Stevie Wonder in the '80s and '90s. Go. Sub-question: is it in fact unfair to criticize a formerly great artist for his latter day sins, is it better to burn out or fade away?" ~ Barry

So I’ve been going through all my old cds, and had forgotten how awesome many of the soundtracks to John Cusack films are. Well, at least the ones he co-produces. Well, at least two of them are good. I actually bought the soundtrack for High Fidelity in between reading the book and actually seeing the film. The book and the soundtrack totally did it for me, so I was stoked to see the movie…and then somewhat disappointed. I feel like they were really close to having a great film, but just didn't quite pull it off.

I found it bizarre that they didn’t even use “High Fidelity” by Elvis Costello on the soundtrack at all; but rather, chose “Shipbuilding” instead? I understand the pun of using “High Fidelity” as the title of a story of a man who doesn’t really know how to have a real and meaningful connection to another person, but still…the song kicks ass. It probably had to do with copyright laws and fees. But, John Cusack: yummy, always.

This is the track listing for the commercially produced soundtrack. There were many more on the film that didn't make the cut for the album. Click here to see crazy-detailed comments on what was left out.

1. You're Gonna Miss Me - 13th Floor Elevators
2. Everybody's Gonna Be Happy - The Kinks
3. I'm Wrong About Everything - John Wesley Harding
4. Oh! Sweet Nuthin' - The Velvet Underground
5. Always See Your Face - Love
6. Most Of The Time - Bob Dylan
7. Fallen For You - Shiela Nicholls
8. Dry The Rain - The Beta Band
9. Shipbuilding - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
10. Cold Blooded Old Times - Smog
11. Let's Get It On - Jack Black
12. Lo Boob Oscillator - Stereolab
13. Inside Game - Royal Trux
14. Who Loves The Sun - The Velvet Underground
15. I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever) - Stevie Wonder

LOVE how they ripped on Stevie repeatedly in the film, but still included one of his best songs (and one of my personal favorites ever) on the soundtrack: I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever).

Barry's Customer: Hi, do you have the song "I Just Called To Say I Love You?" It's for my daughter's birthday.
Barry: Yea we have it.
Barry's Customer: Well, can I have it?
Barry: No, actually, you can't.
Barry's Customer: Why not?
Barry: God. Do you even know your daughter? There's no way she likes that song. Oops, is she in a coma?

If you haven't heard the soundtrack, or just haven't listened to it in awhile, I highly recommend it. It's a great mix of old and new, and even the new are still relevant five years after it was released (Stereolab, etc.).

Here's a few of my favorite tracks to get you started.

Sheila Nicholls - Fallen For You

Stereolab - Lo Boob Oscillator

Commerically produced High Fidelity soundtrack  

Big Tragedy in TV History

Freaks and Geeks

"The dance is tomorrow. She's a cheerleader. You've seen Star Wars 47 times. You do the math." ~ Neal Schweiber

Bad Reputation theme song clip

I don’t think I can begin to express the awesomeness of this show, and the tragedy that it is not still around. NBC really f&%ed it all up. It was not even on for one full season in 1999 before they pulled the plug on it. Originally, the show was aired on Saturday nights and then moved to Monday. The next year, the Fox Family Channel (now the ABC Family Channel, I believe) bought all of the episodes and aired them in 2000. I taped every episode. Since I now have the dvds, the VHS tapes are up for grabs if anyone wants them.

The “dramedy” is about some kids in high school in 1980. The main character, Lindsay Weir (played by Linda Cardellini), had been a big nerd her whole life (she was a star on her school’s Mathletes team). When we first meet her, her grandmother has just died, and she starts questioning everything. She begins hanging out with the “freaks” because she has a big crush on Daniel Desario (played by James Franco, who is now getting to be quite the star…). The characters and the actors are so real in a refreshing way that is so rarely seen on television. Like, Bill Haverchuck, with his obsession with nighttime soap Dallas (played by Martin Starr)? My mom would come in the room when I was watching it, and comment that he was so geeky that he was painful to look at. The show captured a very accurate view of high school that isn’t always seen. All of the characters were pretty multi-faceted; even though they had labels, they didn’t embody all of the stereotypes that go along with being a called a “freak” or a “geek.”

There was a lot of drama surrounding the dvd release, because of the copyrights for the songs played throughout the episodes. The soundtrack plays a pretty integral role in the series, and the creators didn’t want to release the show without the songs. (One of the writers was The Good Girl and School of Rock writer Mike White) In order for them to break even, they would have had to charge something crazy, like, $200 for each set of the dvds. But, somehow, they ended up making it work, and now you can buy the regular copy for just $52.49 . You can also buy a deluxe copy with all kinds of sweet extras, like a script they never shot, a faux yearbook, and biographies of the actors and creators. I was super close to getting the deluxe, but, being po’ and in school, I could only afford the regular version :-( Maybe someday :-) .

The web site is really well-maintained. There’s an audition video of Samm Levine doing an impression of William Shatner and promo spots and an SAT test and all kinds of freakish and geekish fun.

One of the standout characters is Harris, played by Stephen Lea Sheppard (you might remember him as Dudley from The Royal Tenenbaums).

Another classic quote from Lindsay’s dad that fits in quite nicely with yesterday’s post…

Mr. Weir: Elvis didn't expectorate on his fans.
Sam: No. But he died on the toilet.
Mr. Weir: Well, that's paradise compared to where the Sex Pistols are gonna end up.

Side Note: On a related Mike White/shows being cancelled note, did anyone else ever watch that show on Fox called Cracking Up? I used to watch it because I had a minor obsession with Jason Schwartzman (and by minor, I of course mean major), but it was cancelled after only a few episodes.

Cast of Freaks and Geeks...I heart Neal Schweiber...especially his Shatner impressions. 

This is one of my favorite Viv pieces. It's the feather bum skirt Carrie wore in Sex and the City. This is such a poor representation of the gloriousness of this skirt, but it was the best I could do (darn HBO film still archives). 

Vivienne Westwood

"The only reason I'm in fashion is to destroy the word 'conformity.' Nothing's interesting to me unless it's got that element." ~ Vivienne Westwood

If I was living in London, I would so be stalking this woman right now.
Vivienne Westwood is a fashion god, and I‘m always surprised that she's not a household name. Especially for music fans. She was completely instrumental in the beginning of the punk scene. It’s such a good representation of the relationship between fashion and music, since she dressed both the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls.

Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK

I’m really not digging Marilyn Manson as the current poster child for Viv, but, whatevs, I don’t do her marketing. It must have something to do with how he supposedly doesn’t “conform” but, I don’t know, he seems kind of manufactured to me. That’s a whole other topic. He doesn’t really scare me like I think he’s supposed to. But maybe that’s because he’s from my home town, and I know people who went to his private Christian school, before he got kicked out. (Side note: Macy Gray is also from my home town, and she was so drunk that she got booed off the stage when she was asked to sing the national anthem at some event a few years ago. She kept messing up the lyrics. ).

Viv had a shop with her partner, Malcolm McLaren, and they renamed it every few seasons. Let It Rock was the title of their first shop in 1970, in the Chelsea area of London. Their merchandise consisted of 1950’s themed fashion and music, that whole “teddy boy“ drainpipe trouser look. In 1972, the shop was renamed Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die, a tribute to James Dean and his premature death. It went from a '50’s innocence (Vivienne was turned off by the often racist and sexist nature of the teddy boys) to provocative leather clothing adorned with zippers and chains. In the fall of ‘73, some of the British shops were invited to sell merchandise at the National Boutique Show in New York. Vivienne went, and was interviewed by Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine. She also ran into cross-dressing glam rock group the New York Dolls’ guitarist Sylvain Sylvain, who she then started designing for. In 1974, Westwood started selling ripped tee shirts and rubber S&M clothing, with their shop renamed, appropriately, Sex. Viv and Malcolm were actually fined in 1975 for "exposing to public view an indecent exhibition." In 1976, punk is born with the Sex Pistols, who played their first show in Westwood and McLaren’s clothing (the shop at that point was named Seditionaries). Malcolm was a marketing genius, and it’s speculated that he actually put together the Pistols as an advertising tool for the Sex shop (Johnny Rotten denies this). Westwood was finally coming into her own, and the Pistols’ clothing was all rips, zippers, chains, bondage, slogans and porn. Viv's shop was renamed “World’s End” in 1981 (after she had her first runway show, a pirate-themed collection), and it still is today.

The best part about Viv’s story is that she started out so subversively, and it now touted as one of the greatest living designers, with exhibitions in museums all over the UK. And the fact that she was chosen over and over again by (arguably) the best film costume designer working today, Pat Field on Sex and the City, shows what a phenomenal impact she has had, and continues to have, on fashion. That feather bum skirt Carrie is wearing just kills me.