First off, was it absentmindedness or restraint that kept you from phrasing the footnote in your essay as "Reader, I married her."? Secondably, speaking of Rocking the Pride, did you ever listen to Pansy Division? Fun 90s indie pop-punk with more graphic references to gay sex than you can shake a... well, a lot of them, okay?!?
hi christian! hate to remind you of the passage of time, but i used to listen to your “au contraire!” stand-up special when i was young teen and i’m now in my thirties. i just found this substack while looking for other music publications to follow and did a double-take at the name. like running into an old friend. nice to see you, buddy! ya still make me laugh, and i’m excited to keep reading this. you’ve got good taste!
Hey, welcome aboard! Thanks for the kind words. I'm not quite sure how you're in your thirties when Au Contraire was only released FIVE YEARS AGO (Shhhhh, let it go).
I've always thought that Ben Folds was one of the few pop artists who owes more to Burt Bacharach than the Beatles. New music from him is always (usually? often?) something to celebrate. This is one of the many times he insisted I join him for a photo shoot: https://instagram.com/p/BFAplNTt55E/
I know mix tapes are supposed to be for lovers, but I used to belong to a CD mix trading club in NYC where a dozen or more of us would get together every month at a bar and trade new mixes we'd made. I have nearly 700 mix discs from that time period (over a hundred of which are ones I made myself).
That's an excellent photo and I'm certain Mr. Folds appreciates you going along with it.
What was the name of your mix tape group? My pal Todd Levin hooked me up with his and I participated once, but I never felt like I passed the secret handshake test with them. The group had a one-word name, but it escapes me.
Our mix club was called CDMOM, for CD Mix of the Month. It was not generally a snobbish outfit, even though we had Michael Pitt’s sister as a regular member. Also, the woman who did the voice of Daria on MTV showed up once and contributed a mix of wedding songs.
Lotion was a mainstay of my mix-tape years for the same reason. Then I'd throw in del Amitri's Tell Her This to show I wasn't an indie-rock snob, but that if I was going to include major-label pop, it would sure as shit be Scottish.
I swear Ben Folds wrote (the much more obvious musical stage number) "Movies Kick Ass" from the 2002 MTV Movie Awards, but there's barely proof of that song's existence at this point, never mind the credits to it.
I don't know this for certain, but I think it's more likely that Ben Folds has a symphony-ready show, where he is the guest of that city's orchestra — part of their scheduled season — rather than the other way around. Rufus Wainwright, Steven Page, famed Finnish ABBA a capella tribute act Rajaton all do it.
That makes a ton more sense than whatever my brain was coming up with. If only I had done the slightest bit of research! Or maybe I can just spin this as “peer review“?
Ben Folds!! Have been a fan forever. Have seen him more than a dozen times live (including twice with an orchestra) and he never disappoints. My favorite tour was the Paper Airplanes tour, where the setlist came from song suggestions written down by fans and delivered to the stage in, well, paper airplane form. If you check out his Patreon, there is an incredibly extensive "Rock This Bitch" catalog.
Ben Folds’ 2019 autobiography is very interesting. He talks a lot about songwriting and about those marriages.
Yeah, I could see him being a good writer.
First off, was it absentmindedness or restraint that kept you from phrasing the footnote in your essay as "Reader, I married her."? Secondably, speaking of Rocking the Pride, did you ever listen to Pansy Division? Fun 90s indie pop-punk with more graphic references to gay sex than you can shake a... well, a lot of them, okay?!?
Pansy Division is one of those bands I was vaguely aware of at the time, but I never game them a shot, for whatever reason. The time is now!
hi christian! hate to remind you of the passage of time, but i used to listen to your “au contraire!” stand-up special when i was young teen and i’m now in my thirties. i just found this substack while looking for other music publications to follow and did a double-take at the name. like running into an old friend. nice to see you, buddy! ya still make me laugh, and i’m excited to keep reading this. you’ve got good taste!
Hey, welcome aboard! Thanks for the kind words. I'm not quite sure how you're in your thirties when Au Contraire was only released FIVE YEARS AGO (Shhhhh, let it go).
oh my god, you’re right! my desk calendar was accidentally turned to 2023! tuesdays, am i right?
I've always thought that Ben Folds was one of the few pop artists who owes more to Burt Bacharach than the Beatles. New music from him is always (usually? often?) something to celebrate. This is one of the many times he insisted I join him for a photo shoot: https://instagram.com/p/BFAplNTt55E/
I know mix tapes are supposed to be for lovers, but I used to belong to a CD mix trading club in NYC where a dozen or more of us would get together every month at a bar and trade new mixes we'd made. I have nearly 700 mix discs from that time period (over a hundred of which are ones I made myself).
That's an excellent photo and I'm certain Mr. Folds appreciates you going along with it.
What was the name of your mix tape group? My pal Todd Levin hooked me up with his and I participated once, but I never felt like I passed the secret handshake test with them. The group had a one-word name, but it escapes me.
Our mix club was called CDMOM, for CD Mix of the Month. It was not generally a snobbish outfit, even though we had Michael Pitt’s sister as a regular member. Also, the woman who did the voice of Daria on MTV showed up once and contributed a mix of wedding songs.
Lotion was a mainstay of my mix-tape years for the same reason. Then I'd throw in del Amitri's Tell Her This to show I wasn't an indie-rock snob, but that if I was going to include major-label pop, it would sure as shit be Scottish.
Lotion is one of my irrational shoulda-been-big causes. I think they'd have had more success in the Aughts.
Glad I found this, fucking hilarious man, cheers!
Thanks, man. Glad to have you onboard!
I swear Ben Folds wrote (the much more obvious musical stage number) "Movies Kick Ass" from the 2002 MTV Movie Awards, but there's barely proof of that song's existence at this point, never mind the credits to it.
Lost to the digital dustbin of history (sigh)
I don't know this for certain, but I think it's more likely that Ben Folds has a symphony-ready show, where he is the guest of that city's orchestra — part of their scheduled season — rather than the other way around. Rufus Wainwright, Steven Page, famed Finnish ABBA a capella tribute act Rajaton all do it.
That makes a ton more sense than whatever my brain was coming up with. If only I had done the slightest bit of research! Or maybe I can just spin this as “peer review“?
Ben Folds!! Have been a fan forever. Have seen him more than a dozen times live (including twice with an orchestra) and he never disappoints. My favorite tour was the Paper Airplanes tour, where the setlist came from song suggestions written down by fans and delivered to the stage in, well, paper airplane form. If you check out his Patreon, there is an incredibly extensive "Rock This Bitch" catalog.
Yeah, I need to make that happen this time around.