Spitball Army

Tom Clay, a radio DJ and more populist version of jazzy word-man Ken Nordine, created a montage of audio clips from prominent news events of the ’60s and released it to the airwaves in 1971.  I must have heard it dozens of times on my little transistor radio when I was a kid.  I was reminded of it, and of its spirit, as I awoke to the news of the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy this morning.

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“What the World Needs Now / Abraham, Martin & John” (1971) by Tom Clay

It is easy to hear how this single struck a strong emotional chord for Americans who had just passed through an extremely volatile decade in our nation’s history.  I especially recall the intense drama in hearing the excerpt from Kennedy’s eulogy at his brother Bobby’s funeral, toward the end of the song.  That memory popped into my head the moment that I heard CNN roll the corresponding newsreel footage this morning, and I had to seek out this recording.  I hadn’t thought about it in decades.

Rest in peace, Teddy.

This pair of signs was photographed in July of 1986 in New York’s Soho district.  The front-end name of the business – David Davis – struck me as comical, such as Tom Thomas, Joe Joseph, Bill Williams or Fred Frederick might.  I was pretty shutter-happy on this particular trip to New York, also nabbing a sweet photo of the storefront of a Soho knish bakery.

(photo: spitballarmy.com)

Since my move to Alabama, I have met not only a David Davis, but also a Bill Williams, making my initial impression of this sign seem somewhat short-sighted and naive.  Whatever.

This was kind of a neat find: three new-wave era bands!  I was never a huge Blues Brothers fan, but I have owned a handful of skinny ties in my life, all dating from this period (late ’70s, early ’80s).  My favorite was a shiny turquoise one.  Never was much for the porkpie hat, though.  I can also say with certainty that all three of these buttons came from somewhere in Cambridge or Boston.  I remember bringing the first B-52’s album home the summer after my first college year and playing it really loud, and driving my poor Mom crazy with it.  Was that our generation’s “scream-o?”

The Kuumba Singers were founded in 1970 at Harvard College.  They are primarily a musical group, focusing on gospel, spirituals, and African folk songs.  I saw them many times while a student between 1978 and 1982, always an uplifting, joyful and inspirational experience.  “Kuumba” is a Swahili word meaning to serve one’s community through creativity.

These buttons were contained in a promotional packet meant to help promote a CD boxed set of Elvis Costello’s first three albums (on Rykodisc).  By this date, I was no longer wearing skinny ties, so the buttons didn’t get any use.

The “Tell Me Something” button was another promotional tool for Van Morrison’s collaborative recording of the songs of Mose Allison.  The Ernie Isley guitar pin was cool, I thought.  I have no idea what album it was promoting.  Maybe just a plea to listen to groovy soul music.

Three musical things that are making my world a better place:

• Portugal. The Man  The Satanic Satanist  (CD or download)

  

  I’d heard brief mentions about this band from acquaintances over the last month, but never anything describing them or their music beyond the fact that they hail from Wasilla, Alaska.  Yes, that Wasilla.  Not holding that against them, when I pulled into my driveway two Sundays ago and a profile of the band came on the radio, I stayed put and enjoyed ten minutes worth of “driveway moments.”  The NPR interviewer described their sound as reminiscent of Motown, with its thunderous beats, reverb, and multi-tracked vocals.  I could hear that, but to a greater extent I hear an amalgam of current bands such as The Sleepy Jackson, The White Stripes and Of Montreal in their music.  “The Home” channels Jack White with a piercing vocal and squelchy guitar solo.

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  “The Home” (2009) by Portugal. The Man, from The Satanic Satanist

• David Mead  Live at Eddie’s Attic 2/4/09  (download)
  Nashville troubadour David Mead has a new studio album due for release on 25 August.  To whet your appetite before you get your hands on it, he is offering a generous live album, recorded at Atlanta’s Eddie’s Attic this past February.  A good reason to investigate is its price to you: Mead is offering it in the “pay what you want” mode, or in exchange for spreading the word (a remarkably simple gesture for you in these electronic, 21st century days).  The set is basically an up-to-date career-overview, touching on every stage of his career, and featuring his pure, clear croon of a voice.

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  “Choosing Teams” (2009) by David Mead, from Live at Eddie’s Attic 2/4/09

• The Housemartins  London 0 Hull 4  (CD or download)

  

  Whenever I hear this band, I think of my friend Benji, who I see little of in person these days, but whose mug drifts across my Facebook page every few days just to remind me that there are still happy people in Birmingham.  The Housemartins do indeed sound happy, which is probably why Benji always sang their praises.  They also swing.  Not in a ’40s post-War kind of way, though you could certainly groove physically to their music; the Housemartins swing in a cocky, strutting, distinctly British sort of way that weds a veneer of braggadocio with a laughing-to-keep-from-crying desperation.  Later in the history of the band, when they morphed into The Beautiful South, their lyrics played up that cynical quality, sounding happy while telling heavy.  This, their debut album, is a roundly more joyous spin, and richly deserved the double-CD deluxe treatment that it was just given by Universal Europe.

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  “We’re Not Deep” (1986) by The Housemartins, from London 0 Hull 4

I protested loudly (to myself) a couple of weeks ago when I read Michael Pollan’s piece in the New York Times Magazine.  In “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch,” Pollan posits that the relatively recent glut of TV cooking shows is partially responsible for Americans spending less time in the kitchen.  I disagree.  If anything, I am spending more time in my small galley kitchen, trying new techniques (learned from watching Top Chef, most likely) and trying to save money by utilizing local growers’ markets for fresh ingredients.  While I don’t doubt that some people fit Pollan’s description, I refuse to believe that I belong to the minority group whose membership numbers only one.

The Pepper Place open air market was overrun with corn this past weekend, and I expect it to be plentiful through the rest of the season.  I picked up a bundle of cobs of a hybrid variety with both yellow and white kernels.  My aim – besides eating it – was to try my hand at stripping the kernels right off the cob, something I’ve seen done on television a number of times.

This evening, looking for a new accompaniment to my chicken and greens, I went for the corn.  I stripped two cobs, put the kernels in a shallow bowl, placed a few thin pats of butter on top, and sprinkled a light layer of leftover Italian bread crumbs on the surface.  Corn au gratin – “au gratin” translated from the French meaning “with the scrapings from the pan,” but in practice being, simply, something covered with bread crumbs, or sometimes butter and/or grated cheese, and then browned in an oven.  It was an easy, fast, and incredibly tasty corn dish with a slight crunch (from both the corn and from the bread crumbs, which I broiled toward the end of its cooking time).

Here’s the recipe…there’s nothing to it, really:

Ingredients:
2 large cobs of corn, any variety
4 very thin pats of butter
about 2 tbsp. of bread crumbs, seasoned or not, depending on your taste

Instructions:
Shear the corn kernels from the cob using a large knife.  Place the kernels into an oven-proof bowl (I use Fiesta Ware for everything, and a Fiesta cereal bowl worked fine for this dish).  Place the butter pats, evenly spaced, atop the corn.  Sprinkle the bread crumbs over that (it should not be a thick layer).  Place the dish in a pre-heated oven at 350° and let it bake for 15-20 minutes.  Before removing the bowl, place it under the oven’s broiler until the crumbs turn to a deep brown crust (though not burnt).

Serves 2, as a side dish.  It complemented grilled chicken and broccolli perfectly.