Braindead Shithead

I'll admit to being somewhat fanatical when it comes to this trailblazing USA Network show from the 80s.


Night Flight was the best music video program ever! It was true 20 years ago, and it's still true today. Where else were you going to see The Residents? What about Laurie Anderson or Tom Waits? And forget about seeing Church of the Subgenius stuff anywhere else!

Night Flight went out of its way to find the weird and the obscure, probably because the music video boom was still in its infancy and they had time to fill. I'm still amazed that some network executive allowed this show on the air. They must have been pretty convinced that no one was watching!

Anyway, it seems that clips from this timeless classic are starting to appear on YouTube. This is a good thing, as there is absolutely no hope that Night Flight will ever come to DVD. The licensing is a mess, apparently.

Get ready for a clip extravaganza!

The first two clips are vintage Night Flight. A video about the Church of the Subgenius starts things off, followed by a weird animated short.


Next we have a perfect example of the type of video shown on Night Flight. The song "Love is All," as sung by Ronnie James Dio.



Lastly, a word about Night Flight "interviews". They were very different from normal interviews, consisting of snippets of the artist's music videos, interspersed with the artist answering questions or cracking wise. Here are two great examples, featuring Tom Waits and John Lydon.




I hope you guys enjoyed these little clips. I really hope more and more surface. It was a terrific show that deserves a second life in digital form.

One of my all-time favorite Rush songs from the great album, Signals. It's hard to believe this album is almost 25 years old! What a terrific song; it captures perfectly the pain of growing up a freak in suburbia.

"Any escape might help to smooth the unattractive truth,
but the suburbs have no charms to soothe the restless dreams of youth."

Preach on, Brother Geddy!

Holy crap, this wouldn't upload anywhere! Bolt and vSocial couldn't do it. Finally, after several tries, YouTube took it.

From Grammar Rock comes "Busy Prepositions". I don't really remember this song, I must admit. Strange.

Since I'm trying everything to avoid working tonight, I decided to pay tribute to the hardest worker man in comedy, Mr. Brian Posehn. I figured I owed him, seeing as it was his body I swiped for my James Dobson tribute at YTMND.



Anyway, I'm sure you recognize the guy, even if you don't know his name. Just one look at him and you bust out laughing.

A couple of vids of Mr. Posehn doing what he does best; bullshiting and heavy metal. The first clip is a very funny interview he did recently on Conan O'Brien. The second clip is a genius music video that absolutely rips and salutes (sometimes simultaneously) heavy metal videos. I especially love the guitar break, which includes Brian's advice about moshing, as well as a cameo by Bob Odenkirk. Enjoy.

Now we know where Bobby Henderson got the idea from.

Some good stuff to steal from WFMU.

** First off comes the dreaded "Bad Album Covers" website. Man, there is some scary shit here. Check it out.



** Next comes the "Unfortunate Domain Names" website. This seems familiar, so somebody might have already posted it on BS. If so, I apologize. If not, enjoy!

** The great Flannery O'Connor receives a fitting salute in this WFMU post. It also links to some audio files of O'Connor stories, and a short film inspired by my all-time favorite piece of writing, A Good Man Is Hard To Find. Flannery O'Connor is my favorite writer ever. Nobody else even comes close. While most writers leave me bored after about 20 pages, Ms. O'Connor has a direct line to the center of my brain. She isn't the reason I wanted to become a writer (that's a very long story), but she captured the element of humanity I understood but could not communicate as a young writer; the indifference of the Universe makes our petty human tragedies almost comical.

btw I haven't forgotten your tag, TNG. Even though this post might have spoiled it!

Oh, this is just too good.
Remember all those crappy inspirational posters you find in schools and offices and therapy places?

Mm, Star Trek Inspirational posters.

Well, I made my first pitiful attempt at producing a YTMND. It is truly sad. A picture and a mp3--doesn't get more basic than that!

Anyway, here is my tribute to Focus on the Family's James Dobson, to the tune of Metallica's "Damage, Inc."

The reaction of Mike the Prank King, to his spiffy new cardboard office...

You have got to be fucking kidding me!

"Serious" network broadcasters are actually asking this question on a nightly basis. Here is a great clip from The Daily Show. Provided by the incomparable TayTV.

Yeah, I had to.
I'm sure you've all heard, and maybe watched, the "Flava of Love" Crap moment.
I'm having to watch it in stages, it's so cringeworthy.
Shudder.



I don't do well with watching other people be embarrassed. Makes my teeth hurt.
But god, how could I NOT post this? I mean, really.

Yeah, it's a link. But you need to see this.

Sometimes, it's good to prank the prank king.

Introducing the OhMiBod:

The audio enabled integrated microchip allows the OhMiBod to vibrate to the beat and rhythm of your music while you listen. Measures 5 1/2" long (insertable) and 1 1/8" in diameter. OhMiBod comes with an additional multi-speed endcap for use without an iPod or music player. It really is 2 products in one!

And it comes with a velvet "privacy pouch"... which is bright pink, the size of a vibrator, and says "OhMiBod" on it.



Go straight to the tips and tricks: OhMiBod Music Powered Vibrator - Tips and Tricks
Or start at the main page: OhMiBod Music Powered Vibrator

You accidentally post on the wrong blog and don't even realize it!

Head over to Don't Floss With Tinsel for some classic Letterman clips from the early 80's.

Another amazing band that eludes description. Go!Go!7188 manages to incorporate elements of jazz, rock, blues and punk all with an Eastern flavor. Don't make the mistake that I did and judge them from their name, which just screams "high school girl band" to me. You'd be very much wrong. Quoting from the excellent ProjectJ again:

"It is hard not to get instantly gripped by this band's style from the get go. They are so playful, energetic, cute, retro, edgy... just to name a few. Regardless what branch of the enormous "rock" tree you swear by, GO!GO! has what you are looking for. Even if they still need to get over the foreign lyrics, J-Music uninitiated are more than likely to appreciate this band for its true worth."

To that description I'd add that their music has a distinctively impressionistic quality to it. Even without understanding the lyrics, powerful, not-quite-remembered images come to mind.

Hope you enjoy Go!Go!7188 as much as I have. I have several of their albums (which I've been listening to all day!) and the tunes that are available online do not do justice to their impressive catalog and range of style. What's represented here should give you a good taste of this trio and leave you wanting more.

Be sure to check out ProjectJ, as well as Rock of Japan's English fansite for more info.

Set List [links to English lyrics]: Ukifune, Thunder Girl, Aoi Hoshikuzu (I think this translates as Blue Stardust), C7, Tane (Seed), Otona no Himitsu (Adult Medicine), Punk, Polaroid, Tokyo [English, Romaji].

Note: I had to use vSocial's thing this time around since YouTube's playlists are no longer showing up on remote sites for me, and Bolt seems to have misplaced their 'add to album' feature after their recent "upgrade".

Looking over this week's Mix I'd have to say, while I had no intention of implementing one, a pattern did emerge. There is a definite retro feel to many of the songs, both in style and substance.

For instance, the opening song by Action Action might very well be the type of song referenced in the Datafreq song, "Just Like 1981." The second song by Dr. Rubberfunk is such a mish-mash of different genres, it just screams 'retro'. I'm not sure of the actual release date of the Dr. Rubberfunk album, but I predict very big things for it. It's a uniformily great record, effortlessly mixing jazz, funk, soul, and pop.

I suppose you can't classify the shoe-gazer by Cyann and Ben as retro, but hey, I told you I didn't have an intentional theme! Whatta ya want from me?!? After a warble start, TV on the Radio really hits its stride...so give it a chance. Max Richter kicks in a morose little number, just for good measure. Then there's Echo West with some industrial noise to swing us into the 'theme' portion of the Mix.

The entire album from Wayne Shorter, The Classic Blue Note Recordings, is a real treat. "The Chess Players" is my selection for the 'long song' entry this week. Things get a little quirky with Dillinger Girl & Baby Face Nelson. Not particularly experimental, as with most #9 songs in the Mix, but just a little...different. Two oldies this week: the first is the great movie trailer for Brain Eaters, the second a piece of ultra-cheese from Jerry Murad's Electronic Harmonicats. Enjoy!

Mix Time: 44:42