This week in The Wall Street Journal, my "Anatomy of a Song" interviews with Gary Numan and Chris Payne on Numan's early elctro-pop hit Cars in 1979 (go here). The song's inspiration was a road rage incident in London followed by his accidental discovery of the Minimoog synthesizer and his struggles with Asperger's syndrome.
Here's the official video of Cars...
And here's Gary with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails in 2009...
Also in the WSJ, my "House Call" interview with Oscar-winning actor Chris Cooper, who stars in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (go here). As a child, Chris had no intention of being an actor. He studied carpentry and metal shop in high school. As his school buddies in Jackson County, Mo., drifted into petty crime, he took jobs at local theaters in Kansas City as a set builder. Then one day, he decided to give acting a try. [Photo above of Chris Cooper at the Conrad Hotel in Manhattan by Bryan Derballa for The Wall Street Journal]
Here's a scene from Matewan, Chris's first film in 1987...
SiriusXM. On Wednesday, I'll be on Feedback (Channel 106) with Nik Carter and Lori Majewski to break down Gary Numan's Cars. Plus I'll have another 10 fabulous tracks in the hour's final segment. Catch me from 9 to 10 a.m. (EST).
Family finds. Last week, I accidentally came across artwork by my mother and father I didn't know existed—and I collect both of their works. The first was Being Nice Is Lots of Fun (above), a children's book on manners that my mother, Bernice Myers, illustrated in 1955 for a London publisher while living in Paris with my father. She's the author of more than 100 children's books and has quite a following. Three fan sites are here, here and here.
The second discovery was the back of an album jacket by Henri Rene that my father, Lou Myers, illustrated in 1958. Dad was a New Yorker cartoonist and fiction writer as well as one of the leading advertising artists of the 1960s and '70s. He was so in demand that clients let him sign his work in large lettering, virtually unheard of at the time in commercial work. How strange that I came across both of these items in the same week.
John and Yoko. Following my post on the new documentary Above Us Only Sky, John Horan sent an email on a fascinating post he wrote in 2016 about the couple's residency at New York's Dakota. Go here.
Smile. Last week, I found myself detained at YouTube by videos of Candid Camera episodes. I loved this series as a kid—the kind and gentle series that poked fun at human behavior and instincts. Where oh where has this type of humor gone and why did it evaporate? Here are four segments that had me roaring:
Here's Gorgeous Teacher...
Here's Blank Pickets...
Here's The Wet Guy...
And here's Trampoline Surprise...
Billy Ainsworth was a saxophonist in several major big bands of the 1940s and '50s, including Tommy Dorsey's. Here's my post on him last year. The other day, I came across this little-known Dorsey side from June 1951. The record, They Didn't Believe Me, has a nifty arrangement by the great Bill Finegan. Here's the band: Charlie Shavers (tp) Ray Wetzel (tp) George Cherub, Bobby Nichols (tp) Nick DiMaio, Sam Hyster, Tommy Pederson (tb) Billy Ainsworth (cl,as) Hugo Lowenstern (as) Paul Mason, Babe Fresk (ts) Bob Lawson (bar) Freddie Deland (p) Bob Bain (g) Norman Seelig (b) Tommy Guinn (d) Bill Finegan (arr) Tommy Dorsey (tb,ldr) Dig the Sauter-Finegan twists, turns and dissonances.
Here it is...
Richard Wyands radio. On Sunday, Sid Gribetz will presents the music of pianist Richard Wyands from 2 to 5 p.m. (EST) on WKCR-FM's wonderful ongoing series, Jazz Profiles. You can listen from anywhere in the world on your phone, iPad or computer by going here.
Les McCann in need. Pianist Joe Alterman, who is close with Les McCann, tells me Les is struggling with debilitating health issues and that friends of McCann are trying to raise money for his care. For more information, go here.
Here's Les McCann's classic soul-jazz rendition of Compared to What (by Gene McDaniels) with Eddie Harris at the 1969 Montreux Jazz Festival...
What the heck. Someone at YouTube has combined a video of Henry Mancini's music and early '60s Parisian modernist architecture, design and fashion. That person is after my heart. Pure bliss...
Oddball album cover of the week.
Must have been released on Pain in the Ass Records.
