Song of the Day: 'So You'd Like to Save the World' by Lloyd Cole

Damian and I are heading to see Lloyd Cole tonight at the new and improved City Winery. (Had to change my work hours to attend!) Lloyd and Maria McKee are my two favorite "next big things" who never lived up to the industry's expectations for them. Both would argue that they refused to conform to what was being asked of them, but truth is they're both brilliantly quirky and were never meant to be mainstream successes ... which merely means more for me. 

Find Lloyd's fascinating Patreon HERE.

Song of the Day: 'Tell Your Sister' by Lloyd Cole

Bet you'll be shocked to see me blogging about missing music from the "good old days." But I do have to laugh at myself -- 30 years(!) later -- for actually thinking music was starting to suck in the early '90s, something this Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart dated Jan. 4, 1992, makes abundantly clear couldn't have been further from the truth.

If U2, Nirvana, Enya, Talking Heads, INXS, Ian McCulloch (Echo gone solo!), Pixies, Siouxsie & the Banshees and Kate Bush weren't enough, how about a Lloyd Cole sans Commotions single?!!!

Description: "Don't Get Weird on Me Babe" is the second solo album by the English musician Lloyd Cole, released in 1991. The title comes from a Raymond Carver expression. Unlike the original release, the American version of the album leads with the "rock" half and ends with the orchestral songs. The album peaked at No. 40 on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart. It peaked at No. 21 on the U.K. Albums Chart. Cole promoted the album by touring with Robert Forster and Grant McLennan.

"Weeping Wine" might even be better. Watch HERE.

Song of the Day: 'Rattlesnakes' by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions

Today's pick seemed destined to be, as "Rattlesnakes" -- one of my favorite albums ever, as exuberantly catchy as it is youthfully pretentious -- was featured on #TimsTwitterListeningParty  and then a former colleague wrote on Facebook that he drove from Southern California to Mohave County, Ariz., where he could obtain a marriage license online and then get married with adequate room for social distancing, give or take a a killer reptile. 

Read what Lloyd's been listening to while sheltering-in-place HERE.

Remains of the Day (12/19)

Michael Musto: The year's queerest moments in gossip, nightlife, and coming out

Baseline: Roger Federer up for GQ's "Most Stylish Man of the Decade"

Boy Culture: With Trump, there's always a tweet

Greg in Hollywood: Gus Kenworthy is carrying some serious baggage

Reuters: 2019 a year of upheaval -- except for Nadal and Djokovic

SMH: Lloyd Cole: "The world seems to be split between people and idiots"

Dlisted: The highest-paid person on YouTube is an 8-year-old who reviews toys

Metrosource: 11 sexy photos of men shaving

NewNowNext: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau orders an end to conversion therapy

Socialite Life: A hottie with lots of heart: Meet NYC event producer Jake Resnicow

The New York Times: “The Far Side" is back. Sort of. Gary Larson will explain.

Towleroad: Let me guess: This nut isn't anti-LGBTQ enough for Trump

The Film Experience: The 50 biggest documentaries of 2019

The WoW Report: Shocker! One Million Moms is really just one sad sack

Washington Blade: Gay tarot card reader settles lawsuit with Virginia town

Hot Cat of the Day: Meet the Six-Million Dollar kitty!

Song of the Day: 'Night Sweats' by Lloyd Cole

Outstanding track from Lloyd Cole's new "Violins" album. Many songwriters begin to slip with age. But like Rosanne Cash, the former head Commotion seems to flourish with each new release, which explains why it's getting rave reviews.

Song of the Day: 'Hey Rusty' by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions

Caught Lloyd Cole at City Winery on Saturday night. It was my third time seeing the ex-Commotions frontman live -- always in his indie era -- and once again he didn't disappoint. Although he has a new album that's about to come out, the tour was actually the final stage of a "best of" show he initially started to support a box-set of his work, only to have it be so popular that it's extended for three years. (It was just as well, he said, given that he wasn't writing new material during two of those.) Although Cole comes across as a bit of a misanthrope -- he was friends with Morrissey back in the day, after all -- I love that he understands that so many of his fans fell in love with his cerebral pop musings by way of his debut album, "Rattlesnakes." Whether it's purely out of a desire to play lots of other material yet still give the people what they want -- or whatever the reason -- Cole performed about 30 songs last night, including "Rattlesnakes" all but in its entirety, broke into two incredible sets. In addition to a great selection of songs from the other Commotions albums and his many solo efforts, he also did "Famous Blue Raincoat" in honor of Leonard Cohen, who left us in 2016.

Cole had played two other "best of" shows at the great City Winery, which he noted would be closing soon to make way for the Walt Disney Company. "I used to live across the street from here," he explained. "And now none of us will ever set foot on this block again ... unless you love princesses.” (Read about the breakup of the Commotions and Lloyd' move to NYC back in the 1980s HERE.)

The first time I took Damian to see Cole, at the Bell House early in our relationship, he was so moved  by what he heard he later told me he'd spent the majority of the show in tears. I wasn't surprised. Although I think the Commotions' guitar work is similar to the Smiths -- one might even accuse Johnny Marr of "borrowing" from it -- it's Lloyd's relationship-focused lyrics that get me every time. And with that said, Saturday was a dry-eyed evening for me ... until he played "Hey Rusty" near the end of the second set. "Rattlesnakes" wasn't one of the albums my brother Bill introduced me to as a kid -- I discovered it on my own. Yet Cole's lyrics have a way of getting to me like few others can. So as he sang about two men recalling growing up together, the waterworks were in full swing. Enjoy for yourself, below. xo

Cole, who was a bonafide heartthrob back in the day, loved poking fun at his aging body throughout the show. (Although he's long lived in the U.S., I suppose it speaks to his British roots that he has no problem announcing that he may never be hot again, but at least he's "not fat"!) So this video set to a very young and beautiful Matt Dillon in "Rumble Fish" seems fitting. As Lloyd said, we may never be young and beautiful again, we also at an age where we don't have to give a f**k about many things we used to. 

Leonard Cohen Is Dead at 82

Hard to complain about living to 82, but the enigmatic singer/songwriter's dying does seem like a fitting cherry on this listeria sundae known as 2016. Read HERE.

Here's are two of my favorites, one set right here in my neighborhood, by another huge fan of his named Lloyd Cole.

I'd Tumble 4 Them

Loved Michael Musto's list of the 10 Cutest Guys From the 1980s New Wave. Did my own and found we had surprisingly little overlap.

Simon LeBon and Nick Rhodes were all the girls at Dobson High ever talked about. But Roger Taylor was the stud in the band for me. 

Bono who? Larry Mullen Jr. was all I was looking at back in U2's heyday ...

The Kemp brothers were handsome, but Spandau Ballet saxophonist/jack-of-all-instruments Steve Norman (and Larry) had me doubting I wasn't "into blond guys." 

Kooky-looking Dale and Terry Bozzio were the focal point of Missing Persons, but guitarist Warren Cuccurullo (left) was the sexy one ... 

and he only got sexier when he joined Duran Duran and started dabbling in home-made pornography.

Easy to see why Boy George was so lovesick back in the '80s -- his bicurious drummer boyfriend, Jon Moss, could cause anyone's self-esteem to take a tumble.

Pretty boys aren't usually my thing, but Adam Ant had just the right hint of masculinity mixed in to make him irresistible.

Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet is the dictionary definition of tall, dark and handsome.

Annabella Lwin was an underage sex kitten, but I barely noticed she was in Bow Wow Wow with David Barbarossa behind her on drums.

Michael Hutchence was definitely sexy, but I always thought the hottest man in INXS was Jon Farriss. Maybe I have a thing for drummers.

Lloyd Cole's face was almost as sexy as his brain.

BONUS BOYS:

Not that I'd kick John Taylor out of bed for smoking cloves.

  Nick Heyward was the pretty-boy face of Haircut 100. But percussionist Mark Fox -- who became lead singer after Nick's nervous breakdown -- was my love plus one.

He was a pretty boy, indeed, but KajaGooGoo singer Limahl was too cute to resist.

UPDATE:

Billy Idol should have been on there, huh?

Song of the Day: 'Forest Fire' by Lloyd Cole (& the Commotions)

Caught Lloyd Cole sans the Commotions Saturday evening at the Bell House, a charming and rustic little venue in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn (aka The Middle of Nowhere). Would be lying if I didn't confess to sobbing through half the show, which isn't to say I wasn't exactly ready to be heartbroken. But something about his odes to failed relationships and midlife what-could-have-beens seemed to affect me harder than last time. The show was thorough and broken into two sets. And while it's impossible for someone with 150 songs in his repertoire to please everyone, he didn't exactly disappoint by doing "Past Imperfect," "Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken?," "Rattlesnakes," "Why I Love Country Music"/"Like a Broken Record" medley, "2cv," "Hey Rusty," "Cut Me Down," "Lost Weekend," "Undressed," "Pay for It," "Like Lovers Do," "Late Night, Early Town" and righting the wrong from the last time I saw him in 2007 by performing "Forest Fire" as an encore. A similar setlist is HERE. To find out if his "Neverending Standards" tour is coming to a venue near you, click HERE. You won't be disappointed, but you might wanna bring a hankie. 

Lloyd Cole Coming to Brooklyn May 30

Every time I say I'm not going to double-dip on concerts by my '80s faves I end up going back on my word. This one's especially forgivable, though: His solo albums have remained every bit as good as his legendary work with the Commotions, plus I just realized it was 2007 that I saw the gifted singer-songwriter at Joe's Pub, and oh what a show it was.

Tickets HERE.

Song of the Day: 'Rattlesnakes' by Tori Amos

From my '90s chick blind spot, a cover straight from my '80s New Wave sweet spot.

Virgin Territory

While most people 40 and under have turned exclusively to music downloads I still can't get enough of those square plastic dust collectors. So I headed over to the Virgin Mega Store in Union Square last night after a low-key dinner with Michael (we're both recovering from being ill). I'd heard so many good things about Bruce Springsteen's new album, "Magic," that I had to have it. Turns out it doesn't come out until today, but a Starbucks we stopped at afterward had it out already and although they weren't allowed to sell it to me, they were allowed to charge me for another one of their collections and let me take "Magic" home (HUH? Sorry, no royalties for that one, Bruce!). I'm no Bruce expert. In fact, I'm obsessed with "Nebraska" and "Tunnel of Love" ("Tougher Than the Rest" rules) but have never even heard any of his other albums (well, not counting "Born in the U.S.A." 'cause virtually every song was released as a single). But every so often I get the urge for Bruce and it cannot be denied. I've only played "Magic" a couple times and I'm already really enjoying it. I was sort of startled that the opening track, "Radio Nowhere," doesn't even credit Tommy Tutone's "867-5309/Jenny" for a sample -- it's the exact same guitar riff -- but the rest of the album is all Bruce and casts a dark spell with an upbeat feel to it. "Girls in Their Summer Clothes," "You'll Be Comin' Down," "Long Walk Home" and "Livin in the Future" are my favorites so far.

I also picked up the Bat for Lashes album, "Fur & Gold," that includes the video I posted last week. I'm intrigued by the variety of the songs (none of the other tracks sound hardly anything like "What's a Girl to Do?"). Shades of Kate Bush?

I was listening to Lloyd Cole's charming collection of lost tracks and rarities from 2004, "Etc.," this afternoon and my disc started to skip, so I replaced it with a fresh copy.

And last but not least (don't laugh) I finally picked up "The Best of Corey Hart." A friend (Jen) at Kandy's wedding mentioned her girlhood crush on the pouty-lipped Canadian pretty boy and it really took me back. (I was smitten with him too.) I was devastated a year or two ago when VH1's promotional materials said Corey was going to be on "The Surreal Life" but it turned out to be the motocrosser Carey Hart. Although I could only think of "Sunglasses at Night" and "Never Surrender" by name, it's easy to forget that he actually had 10 great chart hits back in the day (While Bryan Adams may have had a bigger and longer career, Corey will never have pox marks). "I Am By Your Side," It Ain't Enough," "A Little Love" and his cover of "Can't Help Falling in Love" are instant iPod classics around my house -- and I certainly don't regret not just downloading this one: just look at that cover photo :-)

Read all Music Box posts HERE.

(Still) Causing a Commotion

Michael and I saw the insanely talented and under-appreciated singer/songwriter Lloyd Cole (or is literary rocker the term?) on Saturday night at Joe's Pub. I've been a huge fan since high school but never had the chance to see him live, so was thrilled to have my first experience be a one-man acoustic performance in such a great, small venue. Now 46, Cole poked fun at his graying hair ("Silver fox" is what the onetime heartthrob says he shoots for staring into the mirror these days) but showed no signs of aging, his voice sounding no different than it did in 1984 when the precocious "Rattlesnakes" album came out. He did a nice selection of songs from his Commotions days through his current (and absolutely wonderful) album, "Antidepressant." And while he disappointed the crowd by not performing "Forest Fire," he more than made up for it (in my mind) by doing "Late Night, Early Town," his eerie and sad homage to life in Los Angeles from 2003's stark "Music in a Foreign Language."

Lloyd was much friendlier than this photo would indicate!

Setlist:
Woman in a Bar
Don't Look Back
Cut Me Down (LC mentioned how he'd like it if he had "colored(!) men singing backup" -- a la Lou Reed)
Pay for It
Lady Came From Baltimore/Reason to Believe (Tim Hardin medley) (LC talked about being in the Navy and hoping to quit heroin, which he never did -- T.H. story, I'm guessing)
Music in a Foreign Language
Rattle Snakes
Like Lovers Do
Butterfly ("the second saddest song I ever wrote")
Why I Love Country & Western Music ("the saddest song I ever wrote")
NYC Sunshine
Late Night, Early Town
Patience
No More Love Songs
I'm Gone
Everysong
Undressed
The Young Idealists
My Bag (LC called it a Johnny Cash tune, but it's not)
Encore:
Lost Weekend