Music News: Songwriter and Singer Robert Hazard Dies

An Appreciation by Noah Mallin

Back when Cyndi Lauper was going to be the superstar of the 80s and Madonna was a ho-bag writhing around in her undies, Lauper was riding a wave based on her debut album much of which consisted of cover songs. The least likely was "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" a very 80s femme freedom anthem that was originally written and recorded by Philadelphia songwriter and musician Robert Hazard. Hazard with his band The Heroes had his own hit with "Escalator of Life" in 1982.

Hazard, like Lauper's backing band The Hooters, was a regular on the Philly and South Jersey music scene and even as further success eluded him kept singing, writing and playing, moving to Florida and pursuing a country inflected folk sound.

"Escalator of Life" is a great lesser-known new wave gem with some very clever lyrics and of course "Girls" is a timeless classic. Below is "Escalator" and "Change Reaction."

TV: The Best TV of 2007 Part Two

Here's the final 5 of my best of the year, televisually:


1) Mad Men (AMC)
I resisted this show mightily, mainly because its on AMC. AMC once stood for American Movie Classics but now stands for Always Mostly Crap. Once it was a haven for commercial free Hollywood classics very much like Turner Classic Movies but the braindead money grubbers came in and added commercial breaks, curtailed black and white movies, and traded in fare like Bringing Up Baby for Jaws 3. Ratings went down but no doubt profits went up as the commercial coffers filled. The last step in the MTV style brand denaturing that every cable channel seems to be falling for is the lure of original programming. It’s therefore sweetly appropriate that Mad Men takes place in the world of advertising.

What’s confounding is that Mad Men turns out to be a phenomenally great show, with a brilliant cast and top notch writing and production values. In a perfect world, HBO would have picked it up to replace The Sopranos. Set in 1960, Mad Men recreates the man's man's man’s world that James Brown sang about, red meat eating chain-smoking drinking and driving wife-is-at-home-cooking-dinner yesteryear. But under the surface there are secretaries aching to be copywriters, wives bored out of their skulls, and men’s men who really are men’s men in every sense of the word.

Jon Hamm, as brilliant and mysterious adman Don Draper, is mesmerizing. John Slattery as his womanizing rake of a boss does the best work of his career. I rooted for Elizabeth Moss all year as a secretary who starts to rise above her station and January Jones is beautiful and startlingly complex as Betty Draper.

Here’s Hamm as Don Draper pitching Kodak:




2) The Shield (FX)
The Shield is the most edge of the seat show on television. Even 6 seasons in, the ensemble cast of cops dirty and clean headed by Michael Chiklis is riveting. Every episode ratchets up the tension and like The Wire (which doesn’t qualify this year) the entire season feels like a satisfying novel. Loyalties will switch back and forth as characters reveal new depths but devotion to this show has a way of becoming total. Here’s the promo for last season:



3) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)
Like NBC’s The Office, Sunny spent its third season by expanding several episodes to the hour mark with sometimes mixed results. When they were firing on all cylinders this is the funniest envelope pusher on TV. The gang at Paddy’s bar spend their days undermining and backstabbing each other and anyone who crosses their paths. Along the way they dress up like cops, get hooked on coke, rig a dance contest, and exploit a baby found in a dumpster. Here Dee and Charlie try to sell cocaine:



4) The Office (NBC)
This has been a strange season for The Office. Jim and Pam are now officially A Couple (usually the sitcom kiss of death), and hour long episodes have led to more weird ennui and awkwardness rather than jokes – not necessarily a bad thing. This was a show I was prepared to hate, having loved the original brilliant BBC series. However the great cast and writing crew has made this a real gem. Enjoy the bullhorn dance:



5) 30 Rock (NBC)
Here’s another show that looked like a dog even through it’s first few episodes, but has grown into a real pleasure. I was never impressed with Tina Fey or Tracy Morgan on Saturday Night Live but the writing and performances on 30 Rock make them look good. The real key to the show are Jack McBrayer as a goody-two-shoes NBC page and the incomparable Alec Baldwin as the head of the network. Baldwin steals every single episode. Here's clips:

TV: Nightman -- Glam Butt Rapist?

It looks like Flight of The Conchords isn't the only cult TV show to mine comedy gold out of glam rock. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia continues to be one of the best shows on TV and this weeks episode featured a great band parody. Though Charlie wants to channel Dylan in this clip, his later song Dayman makes the Bowie connection more apparent. Dig this hilarious clip of Chemical Toilet's "Nightman" and catch Sunny Thursdays on F/X:

TV/ DVD Review: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia Shines

Danny DeVito recites lines from Ethan Hawke's poetry to Charlie Day

Basic-Cable channel FX has made a fetish of edgy dramas like The Shield and Rescue Me. Perhaps this has been a detriment to one of the few comedies they've tried, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia . Despite being one of the funniest shows on television it continues to have a profile lower than the average hour of C-Span. Fox Video has just released Seasons 1 and 2 together on DVD and believe me, now is the time to catch up with this hilarious boundary tweaking program. That way you'll be ready for the third season premiere on FX, Thursday September 13 at 10PM.
Like Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, and Arrested Development, It's Always... feels like the humor that comes out of a conversation with close friends, when you push a situation beyond what you would want someone else to overhear. This makes sense since the evil geniuses behind It's Always... are three old friends Rob McElhenny, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton. The three star in, write and produce every show. They are joined in front of the camera by the very talented Kaitlin Olson, who plays Sweet Dee. For Season 2, the show scored a major coup by bringing Danny DeVito aboard to play Howerton and Olson's father. The cast is impeccable, with perfect timing and delivery. Here's a scene from Season 2:



The DVD has some good extras but only includes snippets from the pilot that was reputed to cost less than $400. You do get to see Olson's audition tape and hear some good behind the scenes info. Overall this is a great way to see a great show, and I highly recommend this set.
Five out of five Philly cheesesteaks: