Craig Finn Does It Again

This song kicks a whole bunch of ass. Craig Finn, leader of The Hold Steady and a Minneapolis native, recorded this song with something called The Baseball Project. I'm not sure what that is, but I know they rock. The song is entitled "Don't Call Them Twinkies," and sounds like an upbeat, rocking Hold Steady song. But the lyrics are the pure genius, and speak of a true Twins fan experience. (see the rough transcription at the bottom of this page)

You may remember The Hold Steady from their so-so Twins-themed cover of Take Me Out To The Ballgame. Craig Finn is a lifetime Twins fan - he even has a 20-game package to Target Field, although I haven't spotted him there yet.

This also could spell the demise of the nickname "Twinkies." There has been a small underground campaign against the term for quite some time, but I doubt if the general population knows about that backlash. This should create a whole legion of annoying fans, eager to correct someone when they say,"Twinkies."

Here's what Finn says about the song:

I wrote the lyrics quickly on tour about a year ago, and then over the next few months played with a few lines that bugged me over time. My intentions were twofold: I wanted to remind people of the proud history of my team, but also to try to capture the language that real sports fans have when boasting or arguing about their teams. I love living in NYC but I really don't like Yankee fans and the way their team outspends everyone and calls it part of baseball. I had to bring up the fact that the Twins win at baseball in a more admirable way than teams like the Yankees. I had to bring up the awfulness that was the Braves fans' Tomahawk Chop in the 1991 World Series. I had to bring up Ron Gant, and his infamous brush with Kent Hrbek at first base.

I recorded the vocals this summer at Wild Arctic Studio in Brooklyn with Dean Baltulonis, who knows just about nothing about baseball. I ended up having to explain all the references to him, and when he heard about the Ron Gant play, he suggested we do a harmony on that line, just to make it stick out. I liked that idea.

Since collaborating on the song with The Baseball Project I've gone to the new stadium a few times. Downtown Minneapolis is so alive, the bars are bustling, and the Twins are winning. It's a great summer, and hopefully this song is some way of giving back some of the joy that the Twins have given to me.

Anyway, here's a link to the streaming audio at The Current.

Please Don't Call Them Twinkies
 

In 1965, I wasn't quite alive yet
But I'm told they gave the MVP to Zoilo Versalles
Oliva hit the singles and Harmon hit the homers
Mudcat Grant won twenty games and we didn't play in a dome yet
The Dodgers came to Bloomington to play for the World Series
The Twins took the first two, you can even ask Vin Scully
but Sandy Koufax proved to be a bit too much to crack
and the Twins went down in seven but they vowed that they'd be back

From Nicollet to Hennepin, from St. Paul to St. Cloud
The Minnesota Twins are making Minnesotans proud
and we don't buy our titles, so there's summers where we stink
But these are grown men, these are heroes
So please don't call them 'twinkies'

In the fall of '87 I was pretty much in heaven
I got my license and a girlfriend, the Twins had won the pennant
I prayed more in the dome than I ever did in church
Kirby Puckett had the smile, Kent Hrbek has the smirk
First we tamed the Tigers then we were dealt the Cards
And they came to the Twin Cities tried to make sense of our park
It was loud and it was close, and it went to seven games
But the Twins took home the title and that Sweet Music played

Edina to Duluth, from the south side of downtown
Minnesota Twins are making Minnesotans proud
so hear us make some noise, c'mon wave those Homer Hankies
These are grown men, these are heroes
please don't call them 'twinkies'

in 1991 the Twins were once again on top
we faced Atlanta in the series, and they thought that they were hot
And I ain't seen somethin' so lame as that Fonda-hawk Chop
But we were up against the ropes when Kirby called his shot
And as he ran around the bases, smilin', pumpin fist
We all knew that he had won it, and it was only just game six
And the next night Jack Morris came and made his hometown proud
You should watch it in slow motion:
Ron Gant was clearly out.

From Mankato up to Brainerd, from Burnsville to Bemidji
Now we're playing outdoor baseball and that's the way it should be
Raise a toast to Kirby Puckett, raise another to Tom Kelly
They're the Minnesota Twins
So let's not call 'em 'twinkies'

We got Justin, we got Joe, that's enough reason to party
We don't buy our titles but we still won two World Series
So grab yourself a 3.2 beer and raise a toast to Gardy
They're the Minnesota Twins
So please don't call them 'twinkies'

Season thus far: part 2

It's come to my attention that Alright Hamilton has featured literally no content about the play of the Twins this season.

Okay, maybe one line:

...it appears those of us that have devalued a closer's worth have been validated. Albeit less than two weeks into the season, Jon Rauch has been just fine.

Sound analysis from Soup. Rauch actually leads all AL closers in Just Fine.

So before April ends, we're going to try to recap and analyze the on-field exploits of the Minnesota Twins.

It's been a pretty amazing April, definitely unlike any other in Twins history. The combination of a new ballpark, high expectations and Mauer-mania have propelled this spring into the stuff of legend. And that was even before they took the field and started playing great. Are there any other Aprils that can compare with this?

1961: Calvin Griffith moves his Senators to Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota. In a brilliant marketing move, he decides to rename the team, "the Bloomington Twins of Minneapolis." They played their first game on Minnesota soil in front of 24, 606 fans, losing to the new Washington Senators. They finished April with a 9-6 record.

1966: Coming off a seven game World Series defeat, the '66 Twins has a number of returning stars in Zoilo Versalles, Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva and pitchers Grant and Kaat. Expectations were high, but the Twins went just 4-6 in April and eventually lost to the emerging powerhouse known as the Orioles. Wait, they only played ten games in one month?

1985: The Twins had a young crop of talent who had surpassed expectations the season before, miraculously finishing in 2nd place. The team looked like it was on its way up. They went 11-9 in April, but couldn't keep it up and finished tied for fourth.

1993: After winning 90 games in 1992, the home team probably thought, "I hate Oakland." Alas, they took a big step backward and finished the season at 71-91.

But 1993 was great.

Remember when you first became conscious of the culture in which you lived? Everything was awesome. Nothing sucked. Heck, even Hootie was cool. I'm talking about sixth grade here. I don't think a young person realizes that there are dissenting views on stuff that was popular. If it's played on the radio, everyone likes it!

Great albums from around 1993 :

Alanis Morrisette - Jagged Little Pill
Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
Green Day - Dookie
Weezer - Blue Album
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Jeff Buckley - Grace
The Offspring - Smash
Oasis - What's the story morning glory?
Live - Throwing Copper
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Sublime - Sublime
Ace of Base - The Sign
Blues Traveler - Four
Adam Sandler - They're all gonna laugh at you
TLC - CrazySexyCool
The Fugees - The Score
Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
Wu-tang Clan - 36 Chambers
Nas - Illmatic
Beck - Odelay

Tons of sonic memories on that list. If you compare 1993 albums to 1998, it becomes clear that the quality of music dropped dramatically. That's only five years.

Oh right, the Twins season analysis. I think they've done Just Fine.

GB Leighton makes Twins fans blush in embarrassment

Have you seen this? The Twins have inexplicably allowed their good name to be put to music. Awful music. It looks like their television partner, FSNorth, needed some rousing tune they could play before the game and during advertisements. They probably thought they wanted something raw, original, and exciting. So where did they go to find this next great sports rock anthem?

The suburbs. Not the band, the place. FSNorth are a bunch of suits looking to make a buck off some music, so why would they investigate the seedy underbelly of the Minneapolis music scene to find something actually good? Instead, they turned to GB Leighton, whose most famous tune is 651-488-8888 (Pizza Hut Delivery Is Really Great.) With a hit single like that with amazingly wide airplay, this seemed like a sure thing.

The suits must have been ecstatic when they first read these lyrics, which GB probably wrote while shopping at the Galleria in Edina.

We got baseball outside
Minnesota Pride
Target Field bring on the heat
Twins are the team to beat

Duluth, St. Paul, Rochester, Minneapolis
Are you ready? Get Ready.

This is where we start the World Series story
this is Twins Territory

Bring on Mauer and Morneau
the fans are ready to go
Dick and Bert on every call
they're gonna circle em all
Brainerd, St Cloud, Winona, hey Dakotas

Are you ready? Get ready.
This is now our time to shine in the glory
Fox Sports is Twins Territory

This is how we start the World Series story
This is Twins Territory

As Bert Blyleven would say, that's a Grammy-type tune. It's Very Serious.

[Watch the music video HERE ]

If the Twins win the World Series this year, I know I'll be telling the story to my kids someday. And how will I start that story? By explaining that GB Leighton kicked it off by singing a very clutch and inspiring tune at the beginning of the season.

But whatayagonnado? It seems like no one can write a song for a professional sports team and get away with it (besides The Hold Steady). Prince's fight song for the Vikings was decidedly awful, but at least it wasn't completely bland and cliche. I would take that over "Twins Territory."

Amazingly, this song falls somewhere in the middle of pro sports songs. Because nothing will ever be as bad as this:

Scott Stapp Makes the Marlins Suck More - watch more funny videos

Agree with our anti- GB Leighton stance? Join this Facebook group!

Music at Target Field

This is going to be a real quick, ugly and disjointed posting continuing our discussion from yesterday concerning music at Target Field. I could probably just shoot an email over to Twins audio guy Kevin Dutcher, as I did last year, but we don't need his input just yet.

I think we can all agree that God Bless America and I Saw Her Standing There are not going to cut it as post-Take Me Out To The Ballgame tunes. Additionally, Van Hagar's Right Now should be played Never Again.

Instead of those tired songs, the home team should try to incorporate a little bit more local music. Minneapolis has a rich tradition of great music, from The Trashmen to The Hold Steady and Yanni to Tail Chaser. Dutcher certainly understands this, stating in an interview, "A lot of Prince, Replacements, Husker Du. I enjoy playing local bands. I'm trying to play more current local bands: Red Pens, Solid Gold. We'll see how that goes."

As I recall, he doesn't get a ton of free choice during the game. However, before the game he can play basically whatever he wants. So if we want to influence the music choices at Target Field, we'd have to petition the upper-management.

Until then, here are some recommendations.

Prince - Let's Go Crazy (possible replacement for Van Hagar. Warning: This video will make you want to watch Purple Rain.)




Recommendations by reader Greg yesterday:


Prince - Baby I'm a Star


The Hold Steady - Constructive Summer


The Hold Steady - Party Pit


Morris Day & The Time - Cool


I like The Time selection there, but in terms of early 80's Prince side-songs, this song has no peer. I'm not sure if we've discussed it on this blog before, but please take a listen:

The Screams of Passion by The Family.



Lastly, Howard Sinker had this note in his section 219 blog today:

Interesting thoughts in the Section 219 blog comments Wednesday about what Jon Rauch's entry music should be. So far, Woolhouse's suggestion of Drowning Pool's "Let the Bodies Hit the Floor" is my fave.

I can't believe anyone would think that would be an acceptable song to play ever. Let alone blasting across a beautiful ballpark to the horror and revulsion of 40,000 people. Just because Jon Rauch has a neck tattoo does not mean everyone who watches him pitch has to listen to awful music.

I'm too disgusted to suggest better alternatives, so I'll leave that to you. Here's a hint: ANYTHING

Microsoft Songsmith Making Music and Making it Better

While I am probably the worst person to be writing a post about music, I thought all of you actual musicians would get a kick out of this. I am sure many of you know about Apple's music program Garage Band, and some of you might know about Microsoft's attempt to enter into consumer music producing business. It's called Songsmith (tm). And to give you an idea of what it's supposed to be used for I present you their (unintentionally) hilarious commercial.



So now that you know what it's supposed to be used for, I will present you with what it really has been used for.

Basically, people have taken the vocal tracks from famous songs and imported them in to Songsmith. Now in theory Songsmith should take these vocals and match them with awesome music. Let's see if that works out.

"Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor


"Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne


"Creep" by Radiohead


"White Wedding" by Billy Idol


And my favorite: "Wonderwall" by Oasis


Sorry I know this post is a little video-heavy, but I thought you might enjoy it. The techno Oasis song is already on my iPod.

Canadian Music is Mediocre At Best

By Michael Haas

Have you ever been listening to the radio and a song comes on, and you think, 'Damn, this song kinda sucks.' Chances are good that the song you heard was Canadian.

Many people don't even know which bands come from Canada and which ones don't. But once you put some of them together, you start to see and hear some common themes - and those themes all suck. BTO (Let It Ride, Takin' Care of Business) Steppenwolf (Born to be Wild, Magic Carpet Ride) The Guess Who (American Woman, No Sugar Tonight) Rush (Working Man, Tom Sawyer) Bryan Adams (Summer of '69, Run to You)

See what I mean? Using just those four bands, one could start a crappy cookie-cutter classic rock radio station. And if you threw in Americans Bob Seger and John Mellencamp, you'd really have something.

Even new bands like Nickelback suck. Nickelback does not even deserve to be mentioned on this fine website. If an American band was named Nickelback, the American band would be stronger. It's science. (one Canadian nickel = 0.04752 U.S. Dollar)

So without further ado, I present the top ten Canadian songs of all-time. (excluding Neil Young, since this list would be almost all Neil Young songs.)

10. Celine Dion - It's All Coming Back To Me Now
9. Tom Cochrane - Life is a Highway
8. Steppenwolf - Born to be Wild
7. Alanis Morissette - One Hand in my Pocket
6. Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown
5. Trooper - We're Here For a Good Time
4. The Band - Up on Cripple Creek
3. Bare Naked Ladies - One Week
2. The Band - The Weight
1. Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald


ah, shoot. No room for Workin' for the Weekend by Loverboy.

Light My Fire (In Review)

By Josh Holm

In this autobiography/biography, Ray Manzarek takes you on the roller coaster ride of The DOORS throughout the psychedelic sixties. Manzarek, a talented music geek from Chicago, meets up with intellectually radical Jim Morrison at UCLA film school. After Jim's many failed attempts at becoming a director of film, he started writing abstract poetry. Ray's film career wasn't very bright either, so they started mixing Jim's eclectic poetry with Ray's inovative music. They loved what they had created, but how could they make the rest of the world love their music? After picking up a drummer (John Densmore) and a guitar wizard (Robby Krieger) to accompany the unique organ and voice duo they already had, they started getting opening gigs all over California.

They knew they had something special and unique, something nobody had ever heard before. It was an upbeat mixture of jazz, classical, California surf, Flamenco guitar, and Chicago blues that made an irreversible impact on the music world. As we all know, their music wasn't kept inside Californian borders. With their first number one hit "Light My Fire", they hit the big apple and moved their way inward. Their music brought them all the fame and fortune that they could have ever imagined, especially for doing what they loved.

The book is well written, and gives you a great understanding of each band member's feelings as they rode the tidal wave lives of rock stars. Ray's focus always seemed to be on Jim. As the book goes on, Ray speaks of Jim as if he studied and worshiped every move he made. He constantly brings up the girls he would woo, and is amazed by the charisma that Jim effortlessly gave off while on stage. Ray, on the other hand, was always hiding behind his organ, playing with head down and eyes closed, one hand on the organ, and the other on a bass keyboard. Ray would go on and on about how Jim would take control of the crowd with his "Shaman dances" and his spot on vocals.

Although the band seemed to be like a functional family on stage, they struggled to stay together off it. "Jimbo", (as Manzarek refered to Morrison's alter-ego. The Jim Morrison that would abuse alcohol and dabble in hard drugs) skipped many rehearsals and recordings, which drove the band crazy. The other three members had to confront Jim about his heavy alcohol use on a number of occasions, but it never seemed to sink in. As we all know, "Jimbo" lead the rock icon who had so much potential, to spontaneously separate from the DOORS, and eventually take his life at the early age of 27.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in getting to know the ways of the sixties rock scene. Manzarek does a great job of putting you in his shoes on stage with the likes of Van Morrison, the Grateful Dead, Simon and Garfunkel, and many other epic rockers of the time. Jim will intrigue you with his witty/spiritual poetry, and his careless spontaneity that made him the huge radical rebel that shaped the future of rock n' roll and its stars forever.

"That day, which you fear as being the end of all things, is the birthday of your eternity."

Three Newish Bands I've Listened To Lately

By Haas

The Black Keys

This duo from Akron, OH has been around for about five years. Their brand of raw rockin' blues is a breath of fresh air in this crappy rock age of the 00's. They sound like the White Stripes exept more straight forward; and they've been at it for longer than Jack has. I first heard these guys when I was using my little brother's computer and I played the first two songs of their most recent LP, Magic Potion. Those two songs immediately caught my attention. I quickly downloaded the other five albums they've put out and was not disappointed. Their music does have an AC/DC type quality to them, in that many of their songs have the same sound and feel. They range from softly rocking (Act Nice N Gentle) to rockingly rocking (Grown So Ugly) But they all have one thing in common: they rock. Most of them are pretty short, so much so that I was able to fit 23 songs onto one CD that I burned. I recently heard them on 93X, so I guess they are starting to get noticed.

Check these out: 'Stack Shot Billy' on Letterman, 'Your Touch' myspace

Jackie Greene

My hip friend in Chicago turned me onto this guy, but I’m not too sure about him. I’ve looked at his bio and seen that he has a blues background and can rip on the guitar, but I’ve yet to actually hear one of those songs. The songs that I have heard are either really awesome or bad (maybe I’ll like the bad ones more once I hear more of his catalogue). The bad ones sound like the run of the mill dave matthews-john mayer acoustic college rip off music. The good ones are acoustic, but are either bluesier or dylanesque. Jackie is probably not deserving of the mention on AH! since I haven’t heard more than ten songs of his, but his song called “Cry Yourself Dry” is fucking awesome. Anyone who writes a song that good deserves...... well, something more awesome than this blog has to offer.

Check these out: Jackie on Conan, myspace

The Hold Steady

These fellas have been around the block in the music biz. They sound like a pretty standard straight forward rock n' roll band, until you actually hear their songs. The songs are weird. The weirdness starts with front man Craig Finns vocals. He doesn't really sing, but kind of drawls like he's making fun of Bruce Springsteen. The hooks and the riffs are different too - it's kind've hit or miss. But what really gets my attention is their radical lyrics. Although their homebase is in NYC, four of their five members are veterans of the Twin Cities music scene. Many of their lyrics include references to Minnesota and getting high - two of my favorite things! Like this: "Your little hoodrat friend got me high though, we were 17 and stuck up in Osseo" Their album "Boys and Girls in America" was ranked a top ten album of 2006 by Rolling Stone Magazine. I'll admit that I probably never would have heard of this band if it weren't for an article in the sports section of the Strib last fall. You see, The Hold Steady are huge Minnesota Twins fans. They even wrote a Twintastic version of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" that you might hear at the dome this summer. A rock band that loves the Twins? Hell YEAH!

Check these out: Interview with Craig Finn about the Twins, 'Chips Ahoy!', myspace

References to purple in rock music

by M.L. Haas


1. Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix (1967)

2. Deep Purple (Band created in 1968)

3. Purple Rain - Prince (1984)

4. Purple (album) - Stone Temple Pilots (1994)




Am I missing anything?

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ First Ave. . . . . . . . . I Was There!

By Andy Bresnahan

I went to a concert at the legendary First Avenue Night Club in downtown Minneapolis on Tuesday night with my roommates and I thought I would share my experience/thoughts with y’all. The band on the ticket was Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Perhaps you have heard of them, but I have been familiar with the band only in the past few months. I am unaware of what inspired the unorthodox mouthful that is their band name, but I don’t let it bother me when people ask who the eff is that?

BRMC comes to us from somewhere on the west coast even though they’ve found most of their commercial success in the UK. They were co-founded by their two front-men shortly after high school. The current drummer didn’t join until later on. They have released four full length albums including the new one, “Baby 81”. They kick out a brand of bluesy, guitar driven rock n roll that doesn’t sound like the main stream garbage we all are forced to ignore these days. “Baby 81” has received mixed reviews, most claiming their previous release “Howl” captures their true appeal. I would agree with that so far, “Baby 81” does have a higher dose of the slow stuff, but I will give it a couple more listens. I came to the show with a good sample of their stuff on my itunes and thought it was all about average. Nothing to get really excited about but good enough to see at First Ave.

Opening act was some struggling cookie-cutter modern rock band that lasted just long enough for me to drink two very large coronas and find a nice spot on the main floor. Three songs into BRMC set I found myself very impressed with the energy and stage presence they present. The studio recordings did most of the songs little justice. They really put on a good show.

It is a shame Newton’s 3^rd law of motion did not apply however. The crowd did not respond with nearly as much intensity. In fact when one guitar/singer requested house lights for a song (dumb idea) I looked around and felt like everyone was watching a car crash.

One could argue this had an effect on the chosen set list. This is the first concert I’ve been to that I didn’t hear my favorite song. In fact, when I got home I realized there were several rockin’ tunes they should have played. It frustrated me they wasted time with 3 acoustic solo songs in a row but what do expect with a Tuesday night in Minnesota… Don’t get me wrong, I like it when a band can be dynamic and hit you in the face with a powerful psychedelic finale then come back and do an acoustic ballad. It’s like someone who gets you stinking shitfaced but then sticks around to help you puke later. It’s good stuff, but please keep the limit at 2 in row, otherwise you leave people wondering what happened to their rock show.

All in all I’d say I became a bigger fan of BRMC after seeing them live. I can’t say my opinion really means anything but I encourage you to check them out. I guess this blog entry wont really spark any hot debates but I figure all of you are into rockin’ out just like me so here ya go. Anyone else see a show lately?

for more info and to hear BRMC, visit their myspace page or their official website