...became an icon in the mid-1970s because rock and roll had never really crossed paths with the white house. It took a stoned Elvis--armed with a pistol that he presented to Nixon as a gift--to break down that barrier between the devil's music and the commander-in-chief. Once Elvis had left the (most powerful) building (in the free world), though, the barrier went back up. Ford danced, poorly, to the big band music of his youth. Carter was all about the slightly purer derivation of African-American music from the South: gospel (where as *secular* black music birthed the blues which birthed rock&roll, *spiritual* black music birthed gospel). Reagan and Bush pretended to like bad country music.
Then, outta nowhere,
We had our first rock&roll president. He played that Fleetwood Mac song over and over again, Michael Stipe and Natalie Merchant performed at the inauguration, and the dark, dark, Reagan-Bush-LeeGreenwood years were over.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, we may have our second rock&roll president:
Kerry's high school garage band, The Electras, is enjoying a comeback. No need to shell out hundreds of dollars for an original vinyl copy on ebay, at least two websites are selling a CD version of the only album by the band:
http://www.johnkerryandtheelectras.com
http://www.electrasrockandrollband.com
$14 too steep? Enjoy the Electras on New York's cool indie radio station, WFMU, which has given the old disc a good amount of airplay. Check out the band's rendition of Summertime Blues, and smile at the "Gonna take my problems to the United Nations" line. To hear the track, scroll down the track list to the Electras and click on the time ("2:26:45").
3 comments:
Is Kerry going to bone up on his rape-in' and perjurin' as well so he can be more like Clinton?
At least as you see it, I guess a drunken hobo has more in 'common' with the 'common' man than Kerry; shall I scour East Cleveland for the next DNC candidate?
I don't get it...who's the drunken hobo? Is that a Clinton joke?
Why is the idea of scouring a racially diverse neighborhood for a presidential candidate so absurd? More absurd than scouring prep schools, exclusive spas, or corporate board rooms?
As a clarification, crazypoet hopes that this scheme will "help direct the working class into seeing that Kerry is more like them". How strumming a guitar makes a multi-millionare, wind surfing, New England blue blooded gigolo like Kerry more like a "working class" person is beyond me. By contrast, a drunken hobo has lots more in common with the mythical 'common man' than Kerry (I would agree with your assertion, however, that the drunken hobo may be as equally a qualitfied candidate as Kerry).
BTW, last I checked, East Cleveland isn't ethnically diverse and is corrupt as sin. If they get rid of that nasty mayor, I may stop making quips at their expense.
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