-Music Appreciation- Dark at the End of the Tunnel

A brief refresher for those that are not familiar with Oingo Boingo:

Wether you know it or not, Danny Elfman and his music has been a big part of every Red Blooded American's life in one way or another over the last 30 years. From composing The Simpsons theme, almost every one of Tim Burtons' films and countless other classic movies to having his band Oingo Boingo appear in almost every classic 80's comedy.

He got his start as the band leader in his brother's theater troupe The Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo", which he later broke off from to focus on the band Oingo Boingo full time. From there, Oingo Boingo blew up in the early eighties and became one of the bigger acts in the New Wave genre. They did pretty well for themselves and even made it into some of the bigger movies of the day. But as the eighties wound down, the public's(and Elfman's) taste in music started to change and New Wave wasn't so new anymore and music started to change for the better. Thus, they produced this little gem of a record.

Dark Side of the Tunnel was a major departure from the band's earlier records. Although there are little tastes of their earlier New Wave/Ska stylings, most of the music was guitar driven rock and roll. And being 1990, it was the right move to make. Some of their best material is on this record, in my opinion at the least. Out of Control, When the Lights go out, Flesh 'N Blood, and Try to Believe are a couple of my favorites from the band. There isn't as much keyboard on this album and most of the are a lot slower in comparison to their earlier stuff. This definitely gives them a more mature sound than they had before.

Unfortuneatly, it was also the last decent record that they put. Elfman wanted to focus more on his composing career and spent musch less time with the band over the years before releasing Boingo, which probably would have been better off not being released(Insanity being the only good song on the record).

All in all, I'm probably in the the minority with my opinion on this album but fuck it, its a great album. Give it a listen.

Top 10 Songs To Walk To

A list of songs that just make you feel that you can take on/are at peace with the world while walking. Especially at 1 in the morning and three sheets to the wind.

10. Swim - In Flames

9. Love is a Fist - Mr. Bungle

8. Promised Land - The Boss

7. In the House, In a Heartbeat - John Murphy

6. Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode

5. We Close Our Eyes - Oingo Boingo

4. One in a Million - Guns 'N Roses

3. No Easy Way Out - Robert Tepper

2. Striptease - Faoth No More

1. Estranged - Guns 'N Roses

Yakkety Yak

Whats the deal with this song? I know it was a hit when it came out in 1958, but how did it snake its way into three of my favorite movies? And how did I not notice until two days ago? Was it a popular song in the mid to late 80s?

This past Sunday I was sitting in my kitchen, enjoying some Bud Lights and mini-quiches, when I heard the song coming from the other room. It immediately made me think of the opening scene in The Great Outdoors, which then lead me to think about the airplane scene in Twins when Arnold is joyfully listening to rock and roll for the first time. So, naturally, I go to see which of these gems the girls were watching. I peeked in and noticed it was playing during the chicken scene in Stand By Me. How the hell have I never noticed this before? Am I alone here?

Top 5 Movie Assholes

Ah, the movie asshole. Now, I'm not talking about every day villains and the people you love to hate. I'm talking about the guys who show up when everything is going good and completley, intentional or not, fuck everthing up. Sometimes its for self-righteous reasons, some are selfish and greedy and sometimes they are just doing what they think is the right thing to do, realizing only too late that it was wrong. These are the people that once you see them screw up your favorite characters life, you want to hunt them down and knock them out yourself. But, then again, these movies wouldn't be the same without them.

5. Land Calrissian - Empire Strikes Back

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a Lando fan. I know he turned out to be on the good side and even blew up the second Death Star, which is why hes on the bottom of the list. But, you have to remember what he did when he was forst brought into our world. Just when everything was going right for our favorite rebels, Lando invites them into his city, only to turn around and sell his friend up the river to Darth Vader and Boba Fett, thus potentially losing Han to Jabba the Hutt, imprisoning Leia and Chewy on Cloud City, and pulling Luke away from his jedi training before he was ready which resulted in Luke losing a hand, which then resulted in everyone having to risk their lives resuing Han from Jabba's palace. Now, what if Jabba decides to execute Han and Chewy first? What if Luke's hands are still tied together? What then Lando? What then?

4. Richard Thornburg - Die Hard 1+2

This guy straight up sucks. He's a peice of shit reporter for a local news station who only cares about furthering his career. Not only does he endanger John McLaine's family and livelyhood in Die Hard, he does it again in Die Harder. What a piece of shit.

3. Robert the Bruce - Braveheart

I can't even explain this one. Just watch it, then tell the look on William Wallace's face when the Buce takes his helmet off doesn't say it all.

2. Carter Burke - Aliens

What. A. Peice. Of. Shit.
Not only did he risk the lives of a marine unit trying rescue a space colony from the fucking Aliens, he tries to smuggle a couple of Aliens back to Earth inside Ripley and Newt, potentionally unleashing those things here, all for the sake of military weapons testing. And just to make you hate him even more, hes played by Paul Reiser.

1. Walter Peck - Ghostbusters

Yes, this man has no dick.


Did you expect someone else? C'mon. This guy is the biggest dick of all. Just the way he talks makes me want to kick him in the junk.

Everything is going well in the land of the Ghostbusters. Business and profits are up. Egon and Ray have tons of specimens to keep them busy. Venkman and Dana are really hitting it off. Janine is employee of the month. And Winston really seems to be coming around. Then comes Peck. Not only does he unleash every ghost that has been busted on New York, possibly causing a disaster of biblical proportions, he turns around and blames it on the boys in khaki. What a dick.

Big Fan and Just Felt the the Need to Post This

Over the last couple of years I've become a big Four Tops fan. I've always found them a little more soulful than the Temptations, I think they put more emotion in their songs. But that just me.


Four Tops Singer Stubbs Dies At 72

Legendary Four Tops singer Levi Stubbs has died after a long illness, aged 72.

Stubbs, a cousin of R+B legend Jackie Wilson, died on Friday at his home in Detroit, Michigan. The exact cause of death had not been released as WENN went to press.

The star sang lead on some of the vocal group's most memorable hits, including Reach Out I'll Be There, I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch), Baby I Need Your Loving, and Standing in the Shadows of Love.

Born Levi Stubbles in Detroit in 1936, the singer formed a doo-wop quartet with his friends Abdul 'Duke' Fakir, Renaldo 'Obie' Benson and Lawrence Payton in 1954.

Initially going under the moniker Four Aims, the band changed its name to Four Tops in 1956 and gained a following as a club act. After signing to Motown Records in 1963, the group notched up a string of hits which have endured as classics for more than 40 years.

The group continued to tour, but Stubbs stepped down from his role in 2000 after he was diagnosed with cancer. He later suffered a stroke, and had been in poor health ever since.

He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Clineice, and their five children.

The Ancient Forest Of Elves

Forget about Dragon Force and all the other bullshit fantasy metal bands that are around today. This is the real shit. It wasn't written to cash in on the growing speed metal trend, or in jest and irony. They live and believe this stuff. It was written in 1999, before being "metal" was cool and all you needed was a pair of tight pants that you still owned from your hipster/emo days and a bullet belt you bought at Hot Topic.

It is written by Luca Turilli. He is a virtually unknown guitar player from Italy, who also plays in Rhapsody/Rhapsody of Fire. His playing is out of control. You'll be hard pressed to find another guitarist who can play as fast and fluent as him and still play with so much feeling.

As for this song, it fucking rules. String instruments, crazy solos and pan flutes. Fucking pan flutes. They lyrics are absolutely rediculous and he blows up the moon at the end. Enjoy.

Awesome and Intriguing Video of the Day: Klaus Nomi - Lightning Strikes

Klaus Nomi. I don't even know where to start with this guy. So here goes.

He was a German born pastry chef who lived in New York's East Village. When not making pies for the gay community, he was taking opera lessons and debuted in a vaudeville show. He appeared out of smoke dressed in alien-esque clothing, performed the aria from "Samson et Dalila", then disappeared back into the smoke and darkness. Its pretty intense, I suggest you look it up.

Now lets get into video above. Watch it, then come back. The song is awesome. The video, amazing. My favorite part is when the seamlessly wipe to a scene with three Klaus' on screen. I love how two of them sit on the side of the screen, spinning umbrellas while a huge Klaus sings the tenor style chorus. It rules. Then theres the soprano chorus with award winning lighting effects in the backround. And on top of that, he sings all the vocal parts naturally. Pretty fucking impressive.

Now I'm not a big New Wave/Goth fan, but with this guys vocal range, its hard not to listen. He seems like a pretty big creep, died of AIDS in 1983, and from what I heard he was a big fan of glory holes. Sleep well, sweet prince.

A Few Words

The Restaurant on Blossom St.

I met a man there once,
He swept me off my feet,
At the restaurant,
Down on Blossom St.

He worked as a policeman,
He walked the beat,
About a block,
From the restaurant on Blossom St.

His name was Gabe,
He made me complete,
In that restaurant,
Down on Blossom St.

Once a year,
We would go to eat,
In that restaurant,
Down on Blossom St.

I got married,
To a man so sweet,
In that glorious restaurant,
Down on Blossom St.

We shared strawberry carrotcake,
After his loaf of meat,
In that restaurant,
Down on Blossom St.

Two children we had,
Trudy and Pete,
Near that restaurant, that beautiful restaurant,
Down on Blossom St.

It did not last,
They died from the heat,
Close to that restaurant,
Down on Blossom St.

Gabe went too,
Too old to compete,
In that dreadful restaurant,
Down on Blossom St.

Now its just me,
On our anniversary I come to eat,
In that restaurant,
That lonely restaurant,
Down on Blossom St.

Everything I need to Know In Life, I Learned from Billy Joel's Greatest Hits

Billy Joel. I think its safe to say he is one of the greatest story tellers of our time. The characters he comes up with are so realistic and relateable, its hard to believe that its just Billy spinning up a yarn for our amusement. There is a lot you can learn from listening to Billy, and I'm here to explain. Now, in no particular order, here are the important ones.

My Life- I believe this one speaks for it self.

Big Shot- Don't be a dick. People don't like it.

Tell Her About It- Its basic premise is speak your mind, don't keep everything to your self. Many times in ones life, a person will have something great, and let it slip away just because you kept your mouth shut. And then you sit around full of regret and feeling sorry about yourself. That's no way to live, so stop being a pussy and speak up.

Just the Way You Are- Stop worrying about what people think about you, relax, be yourself. You don't have to impress people every time you see and talk to them. People aren't going to stop liking you just because you don't study a thesaurus before you talk to them. And if they do, they can fuck right off.

Movin' Out(Anthony's Song)- Don't work so hard. Enjoy your life. Its not all about money and material things. Do what you like, and do it a lot. Because seriously, who needs a house out in Hackensack, is that really all you get for your money? Come on.

Only the Good Die Young- Get out there and enjoy life. Its there for the taking, so take it. Don't waste your time waiting for it to come to you.

Don't Ask Me Why- Everything doesn't happen for a reason. Most things just happen by chance. God doesn't single you out when you get hurt, shit just happens. You make your own decisions in life and you live with them, and don't worry about the decisions that others make. If you're still breathing after, move on to the next and enjoy it while you can.

Maul Stanley

http://www.maulstanley.com/

Seriously. What the fuck.