Midnight Music

Drew from Fark and I are doing this thing for Tech TV on December 9 (more details when the date gets closer) and TTV called today for a pre-interview.
All talk shows have a pre-interview. It’s where a producer asks a future guest lots of questions, to detemine what the host will ask the guest when the guest is actually on the show. That’s what’s on those blue cards that Letterman is always smacking around, and it lets the host “control” the interview better.
(Big industry secret: on most of the late night talk shows, if a guest strays too far from the questions on that card, that guest will never be invited back to the show. I know people who have been shown the cards and told, “[Host] will ask you this, and you’ll say this. Then [Host] will ask this, and you will say this, then [band leader] will say this, then [wacky character] will run in and say this . . .” it’s almost as scripted as Average Joe.)
Well, here’s how lame I am: the pre-interview used up all my creative energy for the day, and I just wasn’t able to make any progress on my rewrite. Which is a bummer for me, because it’s sort of like waiting for the next chapter in a serialized book to come out.
Well, I guess that’s exactly what it is, isn’t it?
I was determined to make some progress, but it was like standing at an old TV with one hand on the rabbit ears, and another on the fine tuning, trying to get enough of the static out of the way to see the show . . . but there was just no way to get a clear picture today.
Eventually, I gave up, and spent the afternoon playing with the server on my desk, breaking and fixing code and junk. I also wasted tons of time at TotalFark. Dudes, if you don’t have a TotalFark membership, you missed out on one of the funniest threads in history today.
When I was done not making any progress installing qmail or understanding DNS, I thought I’d make myself a mix CD on my iBook, with some music to listen to while I did cooking and cleaning later on.
I started out with stuff like Flogging Molly, Radiohead, Get Up Kids, Tenacious D, Chixdiggit, The Cure, Underworld, Pixies, I was even going to put some Iron Maiden on it . . . oh yeah, it was gonna be an alternative rockathon.
But when I sat down to make the playlist, Anne called.
With Anne on my mind, here’s the playlist that I ended up burning:

Pictures Of You — The Cure
Fragile — Sting
A Summer Song — Chad and Jeremy
Jump — Aztec Camera
See A Little Light — Bob Mould
Under The Milky Way — The Church
Going To California — Led Zeppelin
Nothing In This World Can Stop Me Worryin’ Bout That Girl — The Kinks
Whenever You’re On My Mind — Marshall Crenshaw
I’m A Loner Dottie, A Rebel… — The Get Up Kids
Texarkana — R.E.M.
More Than This — Roxy Music
Gold — Spandau Ballet
I’d Rather Go Blind — Etta James
Bad — U2

Yeah. I am such a sissy. But don’t let it get around, okay?

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74 thoughts on “Midnight Music”

  3. I wont tell anyone your a big sap if you don’t tell on me. Oh wait you don’t even know me, all the better for your defense I guess, haha!

  4. Good stuff.
    Lloyd: “Hey my brother, can I borrow a copy of your “Hey Soul Classics”?”
    J-Man: “No, my brother, you have to go buy your own.” – Say Anything

  5. Any playlist that ends with U2’s Bad is almost as good as any playlist that ends with U2’s 40. If you’re man enough.

  8. I love Flogging Molly! And if you like them, check out Dropkick Murphys. They’re a Boston band that play a cool cross of traditional Irish music and punk rock. They even manage to work “Guiness” into a song. Mmmm, beeeer.

  9. Oh sure, it’s more than okay for girls to be tomboys these days, so why isn’t it okay to be a sissy?
    You be you, Wil, you’re cool and you’ve got friends online, and a great life otherwise.
    Good luck getting cable for your brain. 🙂
    Chris

  10. I always liked you, Wil, but now that I’ve seen Aztec Camera’s “Jump” on your list, there is no doubt in my mind that you rock.
    Best. Cover. Ever.

  13. You get a hundred points for “Going to California.” Because Stairway really obscures everything else on that album, which is a shame because there are so many good songs on that classic.
    Interviews? Scripted? Say it ain’t so, Wil! Say it ain’t so!! *cries in the corner*

  15. PS: I highly recommend a Canadian act called Tragically Hip. Get there album, “Up To Here.” You won’t regret it.

  16. Flogging Molly.. The Cure.. Etta James.. Radiohead.. Dude.. You SO OWN.
    Mister Wheaton.. There simply aren’t words to express the urge I have to relive my “Gordy/Wesley” adolescent fantasies, at this moment. I therefore dub myself unworthy in the presence of your greatness.
    I very recently (coughtodaycough) discovered your site, and have been captivated for hours on end. I have nothing but respect for the man that you’ve become.
    Many wishes for a marvelous Thanksgiving to you, and yours.

  18. Wil, some of that music is on my own playlist…and some of it isn’t only because I haven’t ripped the CDs in question yet. That isn’t “sissy” music by a long shot.
    I just got the new Strong Bad CD (“Strong Bad Sings And Other Type Hits”) in the mail two days ago. You should get that one…it’s got the fully-arranged versions of “Trogdor,” “The Cheat Is Not Dead,” “Everybody To The Limit” (live!), Limozeen’s “Because It’s Midnight,” and a bunch of other good stuff.

  19. Sweet! I knew you were a fan of Fark, but I didn’t know you knew Drew. Guess I should’ve known. 🙂 Tell him I said “hi”? Haven’t heard from him since I suggested he talk to Rob about an idea of his.
    Oh: and I heard from Warren Ellis’s email list that you’ll be one of the invitational exhibitors at *SENT in February. Congratulations. 🙂

  21. holy shit wil…
    “see a little light” by bob mould?
    you sir, have officialy gone up eleventy hundred cool points in my books…
    i got the album ‘workbook’ by bob back around grade 11 in highschool…it totally blew my mind…
    songs like ‘sinners and their repentences’ and compositions for the young and old, my friends and i used to sing them all the time…
    awesome music..
    copper blue by ‘sugar’ was a pretty excellent album as well, but i don’t think he’s produced anything nearly as excellent as ‘workbook’..
    that is until this past year..
    if you haven’t heard or picked up ‘modulate’ then do so..
    it’s incredible..
    about 1/3rd of the album is some bizarre experimental type stuff…atmospheric or something..anyhow..it’s arty noise..
    but man…
    the other 2/3rds of the album is like a bob mould i haven’t heard in over a decade..
    check it out wil..
    you won’t be disappointed..
    cheers
    ty

  25. hey wil, isn’t great how one little thing, like a phone call, can change your mindset totally!? i think thats great!! That is one cool playlist..hope you’re rockin out to it right now!! And just to back up Rook, Tragically Hip ROCK!!!!
    good luck on the rest of the book….hope your creativity becomes clear again…those damn bunny ears just don’t cut it any more….
    anyway, happy thanksgiving everyone, take care
    rach
    xxx

  26. again…. i relate… i take pride in my mix CDs, regardless of content (btw ‘That’s The Way’ is also a good Zep song that the wives love)…
    and if you need DNS help, let me know. I used to work for the DoD in that regard. I could tell you more, but they’re watching….. always watching…

  27. What? No, Gin Blossoms, or REM?
    For shame.
    Wil, what was the thread at TF?
    Because the best one (I was involved way too deep) was when the ldcandies.com “webmaster” (boyfriend of the owners daughters) put naked pictures of her(daughter) as a popup. So I called the 888 number on the mirrored website and told the father he had “a problem” with the website, couldn’t say what it was. Some others already had called. The thread went TF, then vanished (and I was banninated ’til I cried like a little girl)
    Crazy.

  28. Opps, didn’t see that REM… hehe
    Anyway I have it on some good authority that Marshall Crenshaw is friends with Jesse Valenzuela of the Gin Blossoms.
    They even worked together on Til I Hear IT From You for that movie Empire Records.
    But I still prefer Doug’s work from the first album (Hey Jealousy, Found Out About You, Pieces of the Night, Lost Horizons)
    Damn, I’m rambling… later.

  31. Wil, have a great Thanksgiving and a great weekend. I’m really thankful that I found your blog and become a member of your posse, it has really made this year so much more fun and enjoyable. Maybe some would find that pathetic, but I don’t care, I’m a geek too.
    Peace and love to all.

  37. Hey Wil,
    You ever read that Leonard Cohen poem called ‘For Anne’? It just twigged when I reread your wife’s name. There was a Canadian compilation of poetry a number of years ago that asked Canuck authors to send in their favourite poems.
    Cohen sent in a postcard that said simply:
    “For Anne. I don’t want to discuss it.”
    The poem itself is short and wonderful and I thought you might like it. Goes something like this.
    With Anne gone
    who’s eyes to compare
    with the morning sun
    Not that I did compare,
    but I do compare
    Now that she is gone.
    L. Cohen

  38. Sap.
    But seriously, go back and make the first mix, too. There’s nothing like a mix that combines the D with Radiohead, the Pixies, and Maiden. \m/
    Also, don’t forget Cake. Thanks.

  41. You seem very in love with your wife, Let her know I think she is a very lucky lady. Although I guess she knows. You are such a sweet guy.
    ~Maris~

  45. Huh. Your politics are a complete 180 degrees from mine, yet that mix cd could have come straight from my collection. Isn’t “See A Little Light” one of the most unappreciated songs of that era? Growing up in Oklahoma, I hadn’t been exposed to Husker Du or Bob Mould via the radio… it was on a 120 Minutes compilation cd that I first heard that song.
    Now that I think about it, that might have been the only time MTV actually exposed somebody to music they might not have heard otherwise.

  48. In reference to the earlier comments about the Tragically Hip – if you are going to listen to their music, might as well go for all their albums. While I agree that “Up To Here” is indeed great, let us not forget such gems as “Day For Night” and “Phantom Power”. *Best Canadian band ever.* (Last sentence sounds funnier if said in voice of the Comic Book Store Guy from The Simpsons.)

  50. “I’m A Loner Dottie, A Rebel… — The Get Up Kids” Good song.
    Have you ever heard of a band called the pillows? They’re a Japanese rock group. As you might have guessed, they sing in Japanese, but you don’t have to know Japanese to appreciate them. They actually have a song called “Kim Deal” that’s dedicated to a member of the Pixies. Good stuff.

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