Legendary Halloween Costumes: Tom Baker, Doctor Who (1973–1980)

By Emily Carney

When I was a kid growing up in the 1980s, American public broadcasting stations (PBS) played episodes of the English cult TV series Doctor Who. Personally, as a young child I couldn’t really get into the show; I thought the episodes of Monty Python’s Flying Circus were much funnier, and the guys on that show seemed less freakishly scary than the star of DW, Tom Baker. (Of course, I ask myself now why my parents let me watch Monty Python at age 4. That show could get a bit adult-oriented to say the very least). As a child I found Baker less engaging than other TV characters, and more frightening and unusual than anything. Peter Davison (the next Doctor after Tom Baker) was far more “cuddly” and seemed more tailored to smaller children with his wan, handsome smile and cricket clothes.
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Bringin’ the Crazy: John Cale in the 1970s

By Emily Carney

John Cale’s musical career has encompassed many genres—rock and classical notwithstanding—and at present time he still shows no sign of letting up. He also notably produced many other artists’ albums; it’s impossible to imagine Nico’s The Marble Index and Patti Smith’s Horses without his dark sonic influence. Cale’s own 1970s solo albums—particularly his Island Records trilogy of Fear, Slow Dazzle, and Helen of Troy—have also dated remarkably well.
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Top Five Most Unexpected Summer Songs

By Emily Carney

I grew up in South Florida, where summer was obviously guaranteed to be oppressively hot and sticky. The worst part about being in Florida is how people assume you were probably growing up by the beachside, chilling out, getting tan, and doing something constructive and athletic. I was usually found doing embarrassing things like writing awful “confessional” poetry, reading books that were way over my head, and working on my paleness, when I should have been out, say, making friends. Another diversion was—of course—listening to a lot of Goth, indie, and shoegazer “hits” of the 1990s and before. Because of that, the following songs have sounds I will always associate with summertime.
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Sex, Death, and Philip Michael Thomas: The Five Most Incomprehensible Music Videos of the 1980s (In No Particular Order)

By Emily Carney

You are getting verrrry sleepy. . .

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Hating The Eighties: Frank Tovey and Fad Gadget

By Emily Carney

Frank Tovey

During the first years of the 1980s, electronic music underwent a mutation into synth pop. In the United States, the new synth pop seemed to be represented by two imports from England, namely Gary Numan and the Human League. While Gary Numan specialized in overly serious songs about urban alienation (and aliens!), the Human League shifted their focus from overly serious songs about urban alienation to slick, well-produced hits about guy-girl relationships and “good times.” While both entities have been idolized by fans and musicians (particularly within the last decade), another pioneer of electronic music has been overlooked, even posthumously.

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Those Old Melodies: Songs Rediscovered

Intro by Less Lee Moore

Recently I was listening to The Vines’ Highly Evolved album again. My history with this album is intriguing, and proves my theory that some music needs to be fully digested before you can appreciate it.
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WASTED! The Top Five Most Inebriated Performances/Tours (In No Particular Order)

By Emily Carney

1. Jefferson Airplane, two nights in Germany, 1978

“Give me head.”

Grace Slick earned the sobriquet “the Liz Taylor of rock” during the 1970s due as much to her propensity for Liz-like excess as her attractive appearance. Her heights of Babylonian overindulgence climaxed with two wacky nights in Germany in 1978, during which Ms. Slick single-handedly managed to alienate an entire European nation and change the lyrics to much of her band’s back catalogue, both tasks equally momentous in scope. Some “highlights” of the performances: Grace, who appeared to be completely wasted and was drinking throughout the show from a Dixie cup, changed the lyrics of “White Rabbit” from “Feed your head” to, inexplicably, “Give more head.” It probably didn’t matter what she sang, given her throat sounded completely mangled anyway; she had probably also smoked about 100 Kools that day.
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