Culture: The Week in Death

I gave Boyd Coddington more play this week because I simply enjoyed his work more than the other three famous folks who shuffled off this mortal coil -- and yet they deserve mention. Remember to refresh this page if the vids don't play at first.

Buddy Miles, wonderful drummer though he was, seems fated to be remembered for his very short stint with Hendrix rather than for his own hitmaking, voicing a California Raisin or any other gig he's had. Still, great drummer. Here's Buddy Miles doing "Them Changes" on Playboy After Dark and boy that party at Hef's pad looks wild. Too bad it cuts away before the orgy starts:


Then there' s Mike Smith, lead singer for the Dave Clark 5 whom I maligned last year as a second string British Invasion band that didn't deserve Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ahead of other more worthy artists. Well great, now I feel bad not only because the induction was less than a week away, but also upon learning that Smith has been paralyzed below the ribs since 2003 from a spinal cord injury, and now he is no longer with us. Here's the Dave Clark 5 doing one of my favorite songs of theirs "Catch us if You Can":


Finally William F. Buckley, patrician grandpapa of modern conservatism and erudite wordslinger died as well. Buckley helped form the intellectual underpinnings of a movement that would find it's flowering with President's Reagan and Bush the Younger. He was funny, an unreconstructed snob, an intellect whose conclusions were often dubious but rendered with such high-falutin' language and superiority that followers and some detractors were often left speechless. Buckley founded the National Review one of the most influential conservative publications in the country. Here's patrician demagogue on the right (literally and figuratively) Buckley getting a mite hot and bothered with patrician demagogue on the left Gore Vidal in 1968:

Music: Worst Rock Hall Inductee List -- EVER!

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced their 2008 inductee list and it took 600 'industry figures" to come up with a list this lame:


Madonna shares some love with younger husband Guy "Snatch" Ritchie

1) Madonna -- Not a surprise, the one shoo-in this year and deservedly so.


Cohen in his not so famous grey overcoat

2) Leonard Cohen -- Deserves a prize for schtupping Rebecca DeMornay surely, and he has done some wonderful records though "rock" is pretty loosely defined here.


Peter Noone and co. dispel those not-really-British rumours

3) The Dave Clark Five -- Insufferably twee third string British invasion band. Barely cool at the time with almost non-existent impact.



4) John Cougar Mellencamp -- I like Mellencamp fine but he's a Springsteen knockoff. He's being honored here for sales and longevity which I suppose count for something but aside from a few well-regarded late eighties albums there's not much here.


The Ventures pioneer business casual style

5) The Ventures -- Yes I love the "Hawaii Five-O" theme too, but should we put Harald Faltermeyer in here for having a synth-pop hit with "Axel F." from Beverley Hills Cop?

See my post on the shortlist to see some alternative acts that should have made the cut. Shame on the old fogeys at the Hall of Shame for such a depressingly uninspired list.