MY TWO FAVORITE HIGH SCHOOL MOVIES

It is back to school time, so I decided to look at my two favorite movies about high school: 1955's Rebel Without a Cause and 1986's Ferris Bueller's Day Off. There are basically two kinds of high school movies: 50s "juvenile delinquent" films and 80s teen comedies. When it comes to the later, John Hughes (Director and writer of FBDO) was to teen comedies, what John Ford was to the Western.

These two movies are the best examples of both of those kinds of high school movies and polar opposites of each other. One is a heavy drama, inspired by a non-fiction book by a psychologist and the other is a comical farce about a kid, with a habit of skipping school, being pursued by an obsessive principal.

These movies have staying power because they have managed to stay current through the next generations.
Rebel was far ahead of its time. It deals with problems, such as the "new kids in school," underage drinking, bullying, gangs, sexual orientation, animal abuse, abusive parents, abusive relationships, reckless driving, gun violence, cranky adults, school brown-nosers and over-zealous cops. Ferris Bueller is a brighter world, but every generation encounters boring teachers, school rules, gossip, loquacious stoners, mean principals, jealous siblings, snooty waiters and borrowing a parents car without permission.

One thing that makes these films transcend generations and universal is the fact that they are average kids. Not popular preppies or jocks, just kids. Not a caricature of what an adult believes a kid is like or something to be ridiculed, but the kids in both films are humans with dignity.

However, it is the overall theme that connects these two movies and have made them popular after the number of years since first released (Rebel will soon be 60 years old, Ferris is over 20 years old) is the theme of freedom, something all teenagers long for. The freedom to be yourself and escape a structured environment. Ferris, Cameron and Sloane skip school and go into the city, whereas Jim, Judy and Plato take refuge in an abandoned mansion.  

What I identify with in these films is Jim Stark's need to find friends and a sense of comfort away from bullies and his bickering parents. I identify with Ferris on an intellectual level. He seems to be smarter than the adults in his world and I have always thought I was smarter than most of the people I encounter. His philosophy on life is similar to mine.
 
It is unusual that two movies, made 30 years apart, could become iconic rites of passage for young people.

"If I had one day when I didn't have to be all confused and I didn't have to feel that I was ashamed of everything. If I felt that I belonged someplace. You know?" Jim Stark - Rebel Without a Cause.

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Ferris Bueller - Ferris Bueller's Day Off.


 

THE VALENTINE'S DAY SUCKS IPOD PLAYLIST

"The Future Mrs. Desdinova," Paris Hilton

After the last three post, you probably think I'm a romantic softy who loves Valentines Day. Truth is Valentines Day has not been kind to the Super Villain of the Ozarks. First off, my older sister, Villanova, would insisted on making me a Valentine box for school. They looked like what I imagine Liberace's elementary school Valentine box looked like.

In the sixth grade, I had a rotten teacher. He told the class that they didn't have to give a Valentine to any they didn't like. That year I only received five Valentines from a class of twenty-one kids (That teacher is running for a position on the Lebanon city council. I'd rather vote for this guy, who is running against him. He seems more reputable).

The "second" Eunice Moneymaker

First time I outed was after I made this post on the old blog about my junior high/high school crush, Eunice Moneymaker. A person calling himself "Rod Hance" was planning to e-mail the post to her. He also posted my real name on a local message board. The main reaction was "Who?" and "That makes sense. What is your point?" This "Rod Hance" guy was really a "Bubba" I went to junior high/high school with in Lebanon. His father was a local politician I was poking fun back then.

After that I stopped using a photo of the real Eunice Moneymaker and began using the photo above, which is from a 1950's yearbook (I have no idea who that girl is but she sure is cute - and now in her 70s). I will say that the original photo of the real Eunice Moneymaker is among the retro clutter at the top of the page. Oddly enough, someone at one point asked if that was a photo of Paris Hilton in middle school, because I had a running joke on the old blog that I planned to marry Paris Hilton (This is also what caused a local right-wing blogger to write a long tirade about how he thought Sarah Palin was more beautiful than Paris Hilton - Get a life!). After that I noticed that Eunice Moneymaker and Paris Hilton kind of look alike.

Eunice was always embarrassed that I showered her with gifts on Valentine's Day. My love for her received a chilly reception.  Old habits die hard and, on Thursday, I wished her a "Happy Valentine's Day" via Facebook and she wished me one back. Time changes things.

In college, I had a similar problem with a girl named Andrea. I found out that Eunice was at least nice to me. This little gal was pretty hateful and told me never to talk to her again. I recently found her on Facebook. She is still single. She also was working for the Romney/Ryan and a huge supporter of Todd Akin, so I now thank God that we didn't get together.

So what is the point to all of this? Well, readers if you haven't guessed, it means that I know the perfect songs for when things don't go right on Valentine's Day (or any other day). I'm not sure if KYTV's Ethan Forhetz has ever compiled a list like this, but it would be interesting to see his picks.

1. "Forget You" Cee Lo Green (I like the version with the other word beginning with "F" too)
2. "Positively 4th Street" Bob Dylan
3. "Love Stinks" J. Geilis Band
4. "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write'em Like That Anymore)" Greg Khin Band
5. "Somebody That I Used To Know" Gotye
6. "The Last Time" The Rolling Stones
7. "Goodbye To You" Scandal
8. "Find Another Fool" Quarterflash
9. "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone" The Monkees/Sex Pistols
10. "I Can See For Miles" The Who
11. "The Rain" Oran Juice Jones ("You're a squirrel looking for a nut")
12. "Since You've Been Gone" Rainbow
13. "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" The Byrds
14. "Chain of Fools" Aretha Franklin
15. "Is It True?" Brenda Lee (Not the typical weepy Brenda Lee song-Jimmy Page is playing guitar)
16. "Piece of My Heart" Big Brother & the Holding Company
17. "Don't Bother Me" The Beatles
18. "Laugh Laugh" The Beau Brumells
19. "Blood & Roses" The Smithereens
20. "The First Cut is the Deepest" Cat Stevens/Rod Stewart/Sheryl Crow/P.P. Arnold/The Koobas
21. "We Don't Talk Anymore" Cliff Richard
22. "Fool (If You Think It Is Over)" Chris Rea
23. "Its Too Late" Carole King
24. "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" Bee Gees
25. "You Won't See Me" The Beatles
26. "Walk On By" Dionne Warwick/The Stranglers (Some relationships end so bad, you need the Stranglers version)
27. "I Am a Rock" Simon & Garfunkel/The Church (Same here for the Church version)
28. "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go?" Soft Cell
29. "It's All Over Now" The Rolling Stones
30. "The Smile Has Left Your Eyes" Asia
31. "Any Way The Wind Blows" Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention (The version on Freak Out)
32. "I've Got To Use My Imagination" Gladys Knight & The Pips
33. "Ever Fallen In Love?" The Buzzcocks
34. "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" The Culture Club
35. "Bad Time" Grand Funk Railroad
36. "The Salt In My Tears" Martin Briley
37. "Already Gone" The Eagles
38. "Go Your Own Way" Fleetwood Mac
39. "I've Found Someone of My Own" The Free Movement
40. "You Keep Me Hanging On" Vanilla Fudge
41. "You're No Good" Linda Ronstadt
42. "Vicious" Lou Reed
43. "These Eyes" Guess Who
44. "I Hate Myself For Loving You" Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
45. "One More Minute" Weird Al Yankovich
46. "Kind of a Drag" The Buckinghams
47. "It Hurts To Be In Love" Gene Pitney
48. "We Just Disagree" Dave Mason
49. "Bringing On a Heartbreak" Def Leppard
50. "Liar" Three Dog Night
51. "Sail On" The Commodores
52. "Suspicious Minds" Elvis Presley
53. "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" Meat Loaf
54. "Don't Do Me Like That" Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
55. "What Have I Done To Deserve This" Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield
56. "You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" The Loving Spoonful
57. "She Don't Know Why I'm Here" the Last
58. "Heart Full of Soul" The Yardbirds
59. "Where Were You When I Needed You" The Grass Roots
60. "Who's Crying Now" Journey
61. "She's Not There" The Zombies
62. "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" The Delfonics
63. "You're Gonna Miss Me Baby" 13th Floor Elevator
64. "I'm Not In Love' 10CC
65. "Day After Day" Badfinger
66. "Cold As Ice" Foreigner
67. "Misunderstanding" Genesis
68. "Can't Stand Losing You" The Police
69. "Out of Time' the Rolling Stones
70. "Take It On the Run" REO Speedwagon
71. "96 Tears" Question Mark and The Mysterians
72. "I Ain't Gonna Eat My Heart Anymore" The Rascals
73. "Poor Side of Town" Johnny Rivers
74. "Something I've Got To Tell You" Glenda Collins
75. "Things I'd Like To Say" New Colony Six
76. "I Can't Stop Loving You" Ray Charles
77. "Lies" The Knickerbockers
78. "I'm Crying" The Animals
79. "I Count the Tears" The Drifters
80. "I Know a Heartache When I See One" Jennifer Warnes
81. "I'm Sick of You" Iggy & the Stooges
82. "Without You" Harry Nilsson
83. "Diamonds and Rust" Joan Baez
84. "New Day Yesterday" Jethro Tull
85. "How Many More Time" Led Zeppelin
86. "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)" Bob Dylan
87. "I'll Cry Instead" The Beatles
88. "Runaway" Del Shannon
89. "Since You're Gone" The Cars
90. "Ain't That a Shame" Fats Domino/Cheap Trick
91. "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" Boyce & Hart
92. "Go Now" Moody Blues
93. "The Crying Game" Boy George
94.  "Who's Sorry Now" Connie Francis
95. "Changes" Black Sabbath
96. "Go Back" Crabby Appleton
97. "I'm Down" The Beatles
98. "I'm a Fool" Desi, Dino & Billy
99. "I Remember You" Skid Row
100. "Every Rose Has a Thorn" Poison
             

TWILIGHT: OZARKS STYLE

The hottest phenomenon with teenagers in the past few years has been Twilight.  Most teenagers will tell you if they are Team Edward or Team Jacob.

Of course, if kids or teenagers like it, the Springfield News Leader and the Lebanon Daily Record will run several letters to the editor by magot-brained adults, who don't allow their kids to read, view or own anything Twilight because they feel it is "evil." Yes, these idiots are proud of being abusive parents, who tell their kids what they can or can't read or watch. Would Ozarkers be more receptive if you created a Twilight story that took place in the Ozarks?

Let change the main character to a male high school student, who moves from southern California to small Ozarks town called Spoons, Missouri. He falls in love with a girl named Velda. He is drawn to Velda even though he suffers from strange pains and feels disoriented while he is around her. It turns she is a witch.
He is told by another student, Wiley, that he can't be in love with Velda because she is dating Blaine Alucard, a rich spoiled vampire boy. His father is president of the bank and chairman of the local Republican party. When Blaine doesn't get his way, he tell everyone how much money his father makes. "The Alucards are a pioneer family. My daddy owns most of the builds in this community." He wears Izod sweaters and Dockers.
I should mention that Wiley is a werewolf or as he pronounces it "war-woof." He wears a straw cowboy hat, drives 4x4 pickup truck with a "Nobama-You can keep your change" bumper sticker and a confederate flag in the window, listens to Hank Williams Jr and Lynard Skynard, wears t-shirts that say "I'm a American (he pronounces it "Muricun") by birth, but a werewolf by the grace of God." If he gets into a fight, the first think he does is take off his shirt. He and his werewolf buddies drink Keystone Light and chew Red Man.
Velda had previously dated Tagg, a "patchwork" zombie, who plays football. If he gets hurt on the playing field, they just replace the injured part from another corpse.
This is just a rough idea, so far. 

WHO REALLY KILLED JAZZ-HORN ROCK? NOT PRESIDENT NIXON

This post may shock some of you who read the old blog, but I am going to let a Republican off hook for something he often gets blamed for. First, a little rock and roll history.

In 1967, by a group called the "American Music Band" recorded the music for the Roger Corman/Peter Fonda film The Trip. They soon renamed themselves The Electric Flag, after being signed to Columbia Records. They released their first LP in 1968. This group featured a jazz-influenced horn section.

Also in 1967, Al Kooper of the Blues Project and former Mother of Invention member Jim Fielder decided to create a "rock and roll Big Band" sound based on 40's Big Bands, Maynard Ferguson's band and producer James William Guerico's use of brass backing for the pop group the Buckinghams. They called this group Blood, Sweat & Tears. They also released an LP on Columbia in 1968.

Also, in 1968, producer James Willaim Guerico began working with another Chicago group called The Big Thing. They signed to Columbia and released an LP under the name Chicago Transit Authority in 1969. After that first LP they shortened their name to Chicago.

Soon there was a Canadian jazz-horn rock band on the GRT label named Lighthouse. Over on Capitol Records, a jazz-horn band called Ides of March debuted. Columbia added another jazz-horn band in 1970 with Chase. In 1971, Warner Brothers brought out Tower of Power and RCA gave us the Nite-Lighters. I should also mention two more jazz-piano rock bands, Spirit on Columbia (Surprise!) since 1968, and Steely Dan, who first appeared on ABC in 1972. 

However, by 1973, the jazz-horn bands were not as popular as they had been in their 1969-1970 heyday. Only, Chicago, Tower of Power and Steely Dan managed to stay around to the 80s. Ides of March later dropped the horns and reformed as Survivor. Many rock historians and radio DJs have claimed what hurt the jazz-horn bands was Blood, Sweat & Tears performing at the White House during Richard Nixon's presidency. This supposedly made these groups "uncool." While this sounds good, I think it was two other factors.

Like many fads, jazz-horn rock suffered from overkill. Jazz-horn rock was radio friendly for both the heavy FM album rock stations and AM Top-40. Since it was popular, the record companies wanted to cash in on it. The problem was one record company did the most cashing in: Columbia. As I mentioned Electric Flag, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago, Spirit and Chase were all on Columbia, not to mention about four or five other jazz-horn bands, as well as Ramsey Lewis and Miles Davis, who released critically acclaimed "rock albums." (Let's face it, after Miles Davis did Bitches Brew, there really wasn't any point in some of these bands trying to do jazz rock.) Columbia had put all their eggs in one basket. The story goes that a jazz-horn band called Soft White Underbelly sent a tape to Columbia. When they asked why they hadn't been signed, someone at Columbia said, "We're sick of bands with horns. We're now looking for the next Led Zeppelin, Grand Funk Railroad, Deep Purple or Black Sabbath." The group submitted at new tape with a more heavy metal sound under the name Blue Oyster Cult and the rest is history.

If we want to blame some person, lets blame this kid from Awkward Family Photos and all others like him. Lets face it, we have all heard garage bands do horrible covers of the Beatles, the Stones and the Who songs or country bands, who think they can do songs by CCR, the Eagles, Skynard or the Band. It gets worse when bands try to do Led Zep, Sabbath, Kiss or Van Halen. No band should even consider covers of prog rock bands like Jethro Tull, Yes, or the Moody Blues.

However, just about any good junior high/high school/college pep or marching band can do great version or "Spinning Wheel," "25 or 6 to 4," or "One Fine Morning." I recently heard a MSU Bears Basketball road game on KTXR and while Art Hains was recapping the first half of the game, the home team's pep band was playing Chase's "Get It On" behind him. The school band doing a killer version of your song, hurts your rock and roll street cred more than playing for Tricia Nixon and Tricky Dicky.

The late 70s saw a short boom in jazz fusion groups like Weather Report, Spyro Gyra, Return To Forever and Pat Metheny Group. The closest thing to the jazz-horn bands of the late 60s/early 70s in recent years would be the Dave Mathews Band, which was popular in the 90s with radio programmers. However, many of the big hits of the jazz-horn boom are still heard on radio and still downloaded to MP3 players.

I'll provide you with a list of my favorite jazz-horn hits. Meanwhile, check out this website, Horn Rock Heaven.