Terminalcoffee discussion

One of my favorite TCers made a comment in another thread that made me think it is time for a new thread:

Gail doesn't like The Boss! I say blasphemy.

Now the rest of you must settle this once or for all. The line in the sand has been drawn. Where do you stand?
Springsteen: turn it up or oh god turn it off?

Springsteen? Meh. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes stinks, sometimes shines.

Thank you Phil! I'll put you down as one for my side.:D

Oh and I owe you a big squishy hug Sally. You are one of my favourite TC'ers too. In spite of your poor taste in music!

Up to and including "Born in the U.S.A" - Yay. An art-meets-music-lightning-flash golden age, especially the three-album whammo streak of “Born to Run,” “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” and “The River,” when he was like Enrico Fermi at the drawing board, working without a net, an old dog flogging old tricks while nearly sending himself into pulmonary arrest with each turn at the mic, one fist in the air like he’d just blown up a federal building with the White Panthers.

Most everything since - Nay. A spiraling, two-decade-plus funk that has seen him dabbling in everything from wretched soundtrack music to acoustic discourses on bad relationships, bad technology, and bad government - not to mention wasting an entire album on post-9/11 hand wringing – that not even a truly dazzling redhead like Patti Scialfa has been able to pull him out of. He’s never fully recovered, at least musically, and I fear he never will.

Clark, I must disagree. Clearly Bruce had his Glory Days in the early years, when he was influenced by the Asbury Jukes and Bob Dylan, amongst other luminaries. But my take on the recent stuff is, well sometimes it works and sometimes not so much but at least he's open to trying new things. I especially love his covers of Woody Guthrie.

I adore Clark, no matter what his girls may say about him. Nice answer!

Sally wrote: "I adore Clark, no matter what his girls may say about him. Nice answer!"


Speaking of which, I spent another delightful few hours in urgent care yesterday with one of them.

Sally wrote: "I adore Clark, no matter what his girls may say about him. Nice answer!"

Living in the past, hold all calls.

Sally wrote: "I adore Clark, no matter what his girls may say about him. Nice answer!"

I also adore Clark. Us old music critics never die, we just fade away into Classic Rock radio addicts.

Clark wrote: "Sally wrote: "I adore Clark, no matter what his girls may say about him. Nice answer!"


Speaking of which, I spent another delightful few hours in urgent care yesterday with one of them."

What happened? I think you should go visit Dr. Cynthia while they can still use a pediatrician. Speaking of which, remember the time Random Anthony was sucking up to me because he thought I was a podiatrist? That was pretty funny.

Clark wrote: "Speaking of which, I spent another delightful few hours in urgent care yesterday with one of them."

Oh no! Que pasa?

Love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
He is one of the best live performers in the history of live performance. He's a bandleader extraordinaire. Unlike most of the performers of his generation, he has managed to continue writing relevant music instead of resting on his laurels. There have been some lesser works, but even those gain something in live performance. Born to Run is one of the best albums of all time, but some of the newer ones hold their own.
I thought Magic was an excellent album. And all of the Seeger Sessions stuff was great.



There's a big New Yorker piece on him this week: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/20...

I just knew there were more ardent Boss lovers out there!

Sarah Pi wrote: "Born to Run is one of the best albums of all time"

I never get tired of it.

Sarah Pi wrote: "He is one of the best live performers in the history of live performance."

There was a time when being The Boss (punctuation is mine) seemed to be just about the best job in the whole world, based on the promo clip for “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight),” anyway. Starry-eyed women climbing up one another’s backs to get on stage for a hug and a kiss and one of the greatest live bands to ever tread the boards watching your backside and well, what else is there, really, except for a really good record collection?

Cynthia wrote: "Clark, I must disagree. Clearly Bruce had his Glory Days in the early years, when he was influenced by the Asbury Jukes and Bob Dylan, amongst other luminaries. But my take on the recent stuff is, ..."


Based on those early albums, maybe I hold him up to a now-unattainable standard? It's like expecting Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey to come up with something like "Who's Next" or "Quadrophenia" again.

Cynthia wrote: "Clark wrote: "Sally wrote: "I adore Clark, no matter what his girls may say about him. Nice answer!"


Speaking of which, I spent another delightful few hours in urgent care yesterday with one of them."

What happened?"

See "How Are You Spending Your Weekend?" thread.

Clark wrote: "Based on those early albums, maybe I hold him up to a now-unattainable standard? It's like expecting Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey to come up with something like "Who's Next" or "Quadrophenia" again. "

Right, which they couldn't do. So they just settled into playing Who's Next and Quadrophenia for forty years.

Bruce may never have written another Born to Run, but he keeps trying, so in the process we've gotten Darkness and Nebraska and Magic and the Seeger Sessions and a whole lot of stuff that would be career-defining for anybody less than him.
And he plays the new stuff, and he plays the old stuff, and then he turns his crack band into a cover band just because he can. The last show I went to of his - the last of the ones in which they did Born to Run start to finish - I had a thought flash through my head that I would love to see him cover "Higher & Higher" by Jackie Wilson. And then somebody suggested it, and they did it. And it was incredible.

Phil wrote: "Springsteen? Meh. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes stinks, sometimes shines."

This really hurts to say, but what Phil said!

There, there, Jim. You can survive this.

Mr G is with Clark, Sally and co. I have had to listen to BS ad nauseum for over a quarter of a century. Enough already.

Yay Jim!

Poor Gail. I've had to listen to Phish for the last seven years.

Clark wrote: "Sarah Pi wrote: "Born to Run is one of the best albums of all time"

I never get tired of it."

I have a ritual of playing Born to Run (on vinyl, naturally) every time I move into a new house/apartment. I have done this several times and it is magic, I tell you. Good kharma.

Clark wrote: "Cynthia wrote: "Clark, I must disagree. Clearly Bruce had his Glory Days in the early years, when he was influenced by the Asbury Jukes and Bob Dylan, amongst other luminaries. But my take on the r..."

Sorry I am NOT a huge fan of The Who.

Sally wrote: "Poor Gail. I've had to listen to Phish for the last seven years."

PHISH? Pretty sure that is grounds for divorce. Stupid band.

Someone get this lady a glass of wine and a zanax. STAT.

As part of a mix? Sure, why not. More than 20 consecutive minutes? Not fair.

More than 20 minutes of Phish? Why, that's not even half of a bootleg tape!

I was talking about Springsteen, my bad.

Cynthia wrote: "Sorry I am NOT a huge fan of The Who. "


Ooooffff!

Sally wrote: "Someone get this lady a glass of wine and a zanax. STAT."

Wine, yes. I don't know what a Xanex is. Zanex? Tardis, help me out here. I was riled up last night by the Eagle Scout thread.

Riled/writhed.

Riled up writhing and wrestling ruthlessly.

Who said anything about wrestling? Have you been reading too many early John Irving novels, Jim?

Cynthia wrote: "Who said anything about wrestling? Have you been reading too many early John Irving novels, Jim?"

The new one is full of wrestling too.

Nope, not sure what I was saying, but I can say that about a lot of things I say.

Sarah Pi wrote: "Cynthia wrote: "Who said anything about wrestling? Have you been reading too many early John Irving novels, Jim?"

The new one is full of wrestling too."

Really? Any bears? Circus people? Maine? Boys schools?

There's a boy with a single mother and an absent father. He grows up to be a writer (view spoiler)[
[There are transgendered former athletes and little boys who play dressup. (hide spoiler)]
It's set in New England with a boys' boarding school and a trip to Vienna. There's a grand old house and a domineering grandmother and a jock older male relative who works at the school. There's a character whose every sentence is cried rather than spoken. And of course, lots of wrestling.

There are no actual bears, but there is mention of the bear subculture.

OK, THAT sounds like classic Irving.

I like that Barb doesn't go wild.

I totally go wild.

I like that Cynthia totally goes wild.

Totally.

Yay, up until Born in the U.S.A. I still like that album, but more for nostalgic reasons. That’s all anyone listened to for a year or so in my neighbourhood and it makes me think of long, long, summer days. After Born in the U.S.A. I’m kind of hit or miss with Springsteen- I like some.

When I hear a Springsteen song start to play on the radio I turn it off because that is a millisecond faster than switching the station. Or maybe I am just blaming the messenger.

((Hugs Gertie))

I hate (the song) Born in the U.S.A. Musically, harmonically, it's one of the least interesting, least complex things ever written. Compared to it, a song like Born to Run is Beethoven's Missa Solemnis.

Lobstergirl wrote: "I hate (the song) Born in the U.S.A."

Ditto.

Well at least it's better than that just-after Sept. 11 country crapola, God Bless The USA.

Yeah, that stuff sucked.