It’s October, which means it’s time to crank up Roky Erickson while sliding Junior Mints down your candy chute:
I should’ve sent this a few days ago, but all the rocking and recovering swallowed my time. Some highlights:
princess/talking heads
I took several 11-year-olds to see Princess, the Prince tribute fronted by Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum. It was a blast, although the kids were freaked out by whomever tossed their lacy black undergarments onto the stage. The only thing missing from the set was When Doves Cry, but I suppose you gotta leave ‘em wanting more.
The next day, we saw Stop Making Sense (back in theaters for a limited time), and — cool your jets, Last Waltz fans — it’s still the greatest concert film ever made. With Talking Heads, you can leave bells and whistles at home, just don’t forget the pillow-sized shoulder pads. I knew the film had worked its magic when my kid came home and picked up a guitar.
For a deeper dive, Pitchfork’s podcast has a new interview with the band, which you can also read here. Here’s the “Tina Weymouth cut” they reference, where a fan reedited the film to only include Weymouth’s parts onscreen.
I also love this 1984 interview with the late director Jonathan Demme by the late Deirdre O’Donoghue, host of SNAP, KCRW’s old college rock/alt-music show. She lets him play whatever music he wants, and he runs with it.
In addition to Demme’s astounding narrative films and documentaries, he directed a bunch of music videos back in the day. Here’s the one he did for New Order’s “The Perfect Kiss”:
retirements
I got teary-eyed listening to All Songs Considered’s farewell to co-host Bob Boilen. (He’s alive, just retiring.) It’s a star-studded episode with sweet tributes from Brian Eno, Thom Yorke, Sharon Van Etten, Jeff Tweedy and others.
I don’t know Boilen personally, but we both worked in D.C. for years doing similar things, and I’m sure we saw a lot of the same shows at the 9:30 Club, Black Cat, Merriweather Post Pavillion, on and on. He spent 35 years at NPR, which blows my mind. Journalism has changed so much that it’s rare someone stays in one spot for more than five minutes anymore — and it’s nearly impossible that they’re able to go out on their own terms. Love and respect to Bob Boilen, and I know whatever he does next will thump with rhythm and heart.
Back in NYC, our old pal Bob Borden shared this photo from Rupert Jee’s recent retirement celebration. Jee opened the Hello Deli in 1993 next to the Ed Sullivan Theater, where Dave Letterman did The Late Show. He appeared on Letterman more than 400 times over the years.
lydia davis
Last week I went to see Lydia Davis read from her new book of stories, Our Strangers. I love how she can say so much in just a few sentences — and with this book, she even makes a statement through its distribution, only allowing it to be purchased through independent bookstores and Bookshop.org, who published it.
At the reading, she shared just how difficult it is to keep your book off Amazon and how New York has been shedding bookstores in the last couple decades. At this point, New York has around 80 bookstores; Paris has more than 1,000.
the ‘mats
The Replacements’ Tim was great before, and now it’s even sweller with the “Let It Bleed Edition.” I wanna live inside these songs; they’re certainly roomier and more welcoming than my apartment. Invest in noise-canceling headphones just so you can experience this reissue on an intimate level.
Going to New York Comic Con? See me Friday when I moderate a panel called “For Mature Readers,” or just say hi when I’m walking around and trying to avoid getting the dreaded Con Ick.
On Oct. 21-22, visit my studio as part of Gowanus Open Studios. Holler if you want more details; my studio is located within TI Art Studios at 183 Lorraine St.
Here’s a recent diary comic — head to Patreon to see more:
And finally, thanks to all of the paid subscribers to this Substack! For $5/month you can get exclusive posts and help me keep on livin’.
Say hi at whitmath@gmail.com. Say goodbye at — well, nowhere. We will never say goodbye.
this is not my beautiful wife,
helen roper