Imagine the smile on my face when I stepped out of my office building to get lunch yesterday and laid my eyes on this double-decker bus covered in an advertisement for the 40th anniversary of "London Calling"! Read about 10 things you didn't know about the classic Clash album HERE.
When I was in high school, me and each of my friends had "their" band. Mine, of course, was Blondie. Lisa's was Split Enz. Mark's was the Go-Go's. Tina/Yuki/Deanna's was Duran Duran. And Nina's was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, despite her status as "most original" -- aka most new wave -- at school. But Kristen, who wore black leather miniskirts to match her jet black (dyed) hair, was a bit edgier than the rest of us. Joe Strummer was her man, and the Clash was her band. Perhaps because she already called dibs on them -- and because they were a little more punk than what we usually listened to -- I never really pursued the Clash as much as I should have. I eventually got a best-of CD, but given the critical acclaim they received over the years, that's like saying I have "Pretenders Singles," which would mean I don't know the first thing about "Precious," "Up the Neck" or "The Wait." One song I do know and love by the Clash, of course, is their cover of "I Fought the Law." And finding out now that it was written by Sonny Curtis -- who penned the Leo Sayer smash "More Than I Can Say" and "Love Is All Around" for "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" -- makes me feel like more of a rebel today than I did then!
If "The Death of Chelsea's 8th Avenue" served as a stark reminder of the post-Bloomberg era of New York City, I'm ...
Fake Jan Alert
My blog is featured in Susan Olsen's tell-all about the ill-fated "Brady Bunch Variety Hour"!
Little Kenny
Growing up in Madison Heights, Mich.
Back to the Old House
The Web leads to an unexpected return to a house I grew up in.
Oceans 11
Carlsbad, Calif. (2008)
1983
Go Behind the Music of my high-school band, A La Plage
A Death in the Family
Little Larry left us too soon.
Once I Had a Love
With Debbie Harry
'Jungle' Fever
With Robert Buckley
Roger & Me
With Roger Federer
Step Brother McMullen
With Ed Burns
Headline News
With Thomas Roberts
Disclaimer
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Click to revisit the heyday of Chelsea's 8th Avenue
My blog is featured in Susan Olsen's tell-all about the ill-fated "Brady Bunch Variety Hour"!
Growing up in Madison Heights, Mich.
The Web leads to an unexpected return to a house I grew up in.
Carlsbad, Calif. (2008)
Go Behind the Music of my high-school band, A La Plage
Little Larry left us too soon.
With Debbie Harry
With Robert Buckley
With Roger Federer
With Ed Burns
With Thomas Roberts
You've read the blog -- now read the book!
My memoir is available at Three Lives & Co. in the West Village
Like my book on Facebook here.
