In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed the Cars on My Best Friend's Girl for my "Anatomy of a Song" column (go here). I spoke with band members Ric Ocasek, Elliot Easton and David Robinson as well as former WBCN disc jockey Maxanne Sartori. The Cars played their first gig in Boston at the end of 1976, they were signed to Elektra in early 1977, toured for the balance of the year and recorded their first album, The Cars, in early 1978. The album remains a masterpiece. Unlike most songs about a guy who was jilted or dumped, My Best Friend's Girl displays no bitterness or calls for revenge. Actually, through much of the song, you think the singer is upset at his best friend for stealing his girl. But in a twist, you learn the opposite is true and there doesn't seem to be any hard feelings. Ric and I talked about that. Here are the Cars in 1978 performing My Best Friend's Girl...
For my "House Call" column this week, I interviewed John Mellencamp on his childhood in Seymour, Ind., and why his parents named him Slate when he was born but changed it almost immediately to John (go here). John's new exhibit at New York's ACA Galleries has the energy and darkness of the German Expressionist art movement. You'll find information about John's exhibit here as well as images of the works on the gallery walls. Here's John last year on Late Night with Seth Meyers...
And finally, in the Review section, I wrote about my baseball-card habit in the mid-1960s (go here). I also explore the current digital-card phenomenon and the phone apps that let you trade and collect, and why the average age of baseball's TV viewers keeps inching up.
SiriusXM. I was on SiriusXM's Feedback (Ch. 106) with Nik Carter on Thursday to talk about my WSJ piece on the go-go craze of the mid-1960s. I brought along 20 music clips to illustrate the music trend's rise in 1964 and '65 and entry into the mass culture in 1966. To listen, go here.
Benny Golson. Here's Benny playing his composition Killer Joe...
To read my 2008 multipart JazzWax interview with Benny, go here.
Tracey Ullman portrays Queen Elizabeth in this hilarious series of shorts as Her Royal Highness is introduced to a series of celebrities...
Jimmy Wilkins, a trombonist and brother of arranger Ernie Wilkins, will celebrate his 97th birthday. If you're in Las Vegas, the Jimmy Wlkins New Life Orchestra will present a concert in the Count Basie style in celebration on May 6 from 1 to 4 p.m. The concert will be held at the German American Social Club (1110 E Lake Mead Blvd, North Las Vegas). For information and reservations, call Marsha at (702) 453-8451.
Photographer Herb Snitzer will exhibit his images in a new show, Can I get a Witness, from May 5 to August 5 at the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Fla. Herb's says his 34 images on display will focus on civil rights, freedom and humanity. There also will be a documentary video. For more information, go here.
What the heck. Nancy Ames was a well-known pop singer and recording artist in the 1960s and '70s who was probably most famous for her singing voice on the theme to TV's That Was the Week That Was from 1964 to '65. She was born in Washington, D.C., but was the granddaughter of Ricardo Joaquín Alfaro, who served as President of Panama from 1931 to '32. She had a beautiful voice. Here she is with Andy Williams singing Marcos Valle's Summer Samba (So Nice), with the pair throwing off quite a bit of heat...
Oddball album cover of the week.
Wow, the first "air baton" album! Not only do you get the vinyl but there's also an illustrated do-it-yourself conducting booklet by Deems Taylor, who was a critic and broadcaster who promoted classical music in the 1950s. I guess you had to find your own chop stick to conduct.
