See ya White Stripes

Yesterday afternoon twitter exploded with the unsurprising news that The White Stripes were officially calling it quits. Considering that they hadn't put out an album since 2007, and that Jack White has had about 25,000 "side" projects with various bands and producing gigs over the last few years, one can hardly be shocked by this announcement. I did, however, feel a twinge of sadness upon reading this news.

I will always remember exactly where I was when I first heard The White Stripes. It was spring of 2002 and I had just moved to Toronto. I was driving around the west end, completely lost, when I heard "Fell in Love With a Girl" on the radio. Holy crap! What is this? Love at first listen.

I then read in Rolling Stone and Spin about how all of the "The" bands (The White Stripes, The Strokes, The Vines and The Hives, I wrote about this in March 2009) were supposed to "save" rock and roll, like rock needed saving. The White Stripes were really the only ones of this bunch to achieve significant commercial success. And despite Jack White being a totally weird dude, I was completely enamored with his brand of stripped-down, blues-based rock, especially on the first three albums.

Although a lot of critics cite Elephant as their best work (it won a fucking Grammy for Best Alternative Album), White Blood Cells will always remain my main White Stripes love. My friends and I would sing along to the entire album - from the folk-pop "Hotel Yorba" to the "Union Forever," who's lyrics are taken entirely from Citizen Kane lines, to the sweet "We're Going to Be Friends," to the awesome garage-punk of "Fell in Love With a Girl." My buddy Vic would play guitar and I would try to sing along to "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground." The White Stripes did "Dead Leaves" and "We're Going to be Friends" that fall on Saturday Night Live. John fucking McCain was the host.

As the they posted on their web site: "The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to. Thank you for sharing this experience. Your involvement will never be lost on us and we are truly grateful."

Thanks for the music Jack and Meg. Can't wait to see what you do next.

The Big Three Killed My Baby.mp3
Buy: The White Stripes (1999)

Why Can't You Be Nicer to Me?.mp3
Buy: De Stijl (2000)

Fell in Love With a Girl.mp3
Buy: White Blood Cells (2001)

Music and Misery #4 - 3

Don't say that I never finish anything! I started this series on Forbes 20 most miserable US cities and the music that spawns from these cities back in March. Then life got into the way of my blogging, other things came up, and I didn't finish the list. And now that we are 3/4 of the way through 2010, the list may be irrelevant. But anyway, to refresh your memory, here are the first 16 of Forbes 20 most miserable US cities:

20. Philadelphia, PA
19. Gary, IN
18. Youngstown, OH
17. Sacramento, CA
16. New York, NY
15. Toledo, OH
14. Rockford, IL
13. Kansas City, MO
12. Akron, OH
11. Modesto, CA
10. Chicago, IL
9. Canton, OH
8. Buffalo, NY
7. St. Louis, MO
6. Miami, FL
5. Flint, MI

Numbers 4 and 3 on the Forbes list are epic, not only in their misery, but also in their music!

4. Detroit, Michigan
The Motor City. Population 900,000, with a metro area of roughly 5 million. City population has declined every census since 1950. In 2008, thousands of homes were available for less than $10,000. 14.4% unemployment as of July 28, 2010, largely due to the downturn of the automotive industry. According to a 2008 Forbes study, Detroit has the second worst commute time in the US, and only 11% of the commutes walk, bike, carpool, or take public transit, the worst of any city in the US. My brother lives in the Detroit area and he has a two hour commute round-trip every day. According to a 2008 FBI study (which was released in Sept. '09, the 2009 data will be release in fall of '10. Why is the government so freaking slow?), Detroit ranked fourth nationally in total violet crime, third in murder, second in aggravated assault, second in motor vehicle theft, and fourth in arson. The sports team? Exhibit A: The Detroit Lions, who in 2008 were the first team in NFL history to go 0-16. In 2009 they were 2-14. Although the Red Wings usually make the playoffs and give Detroit its second nickname of "Hockeytown." Both the MLB Tigers and NBA Pistons can be hit or miss. In terms of corruption of public officials, just look up Kwame Kilpatrick and the Kilpatrick and Beatty text-messaging scandal. And the weather in Detroit? Similar to Chicago or Toledo: cold and crappy in the winter, with humid as hell summers.

All of this misery notwithstanding, I have family in the Detroit area, and I have met many friendly, upstanding people in and around the Detroit area. And I have partied my ass of in that city. Great times!

Jeez, where do I start with Detroit music? There's this little thing called Motown (combination of Motor and Town), launching the careers of dozens of artists, while having a pivotal role in integrating popular music. From 1961 to 1971, Motown had 110 Top 10 hits, before relocating to Los Angeles. Aretha Franklin, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, MC5, Iggy and the Stooges, Ted Nugget, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Glen Frey, Madonna, The White Stripes, Kid Rock, Eminem, tons of jazz musicians, and a bunch of others that I am leaving out.

Although Parliament is originally from New Jersey, they got their break via George Clinton's job as a staff songwriter for Motown records.

Parliament - Do That Stuff.mp3
Buy: Clones of Dr. Funkenstein (orig. 1976)

I have to add a White Stripes track, since the White Stripes that we know and love may never be together again.

The White Stripes - Jumble, Jumble.mp3
Buy: De Stijl (2002)

3. Memphis, Tennessee
Named for the ancient capitol of Egypt. Population of around 670,000 with a metro area of 1.3 million. Unemployment rate of 10.4% as of June (US national rate is 9.5%). Memphis ranks just below Detroit in having the third worst violent crime rate in the country (the first being St. Louis, #7 on the Forbes misery list, and second is Oakland, CA, which didn't make the Forbes list. WTF?). Memphis also ranks fifth worst in rape and robbery, third in aggregated assault, second in total property crime, first in burglary, and third in larceny. About 17.2% of families and 20.6% of the population lives below the poverty line, including 30.1% of those under age 18 and 15.4% of those age 65 or over. Memphis only has one professional sports team, the NBA Grizzlies, who are consistently mediocre. And recently the University of Memphis mens basketball team had to default its entire 2007-2008 season, after placing second in the national tournament, due to invalid SAT scores from its star player. In terms of political corruption, just read up on Operation Tennessee Waltz, a sting operation where five Memphis politicians gut busted for bribery. You know its bad when someone made up commemorative t-shirts and mugs.

And where to start with Memphis music? How about Sun records which gave Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, B.B. King, and Roy Orbison their first recording contacts. Satellite/Stax records was a major player in early soul gospel, funk, jazz, and blues recordings, promoting artists such as Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Booker T. & the MG's, Wilson Pickett, and many, many others. Alex Chilton and his band Big Star are from Memphis, as is pop star Justin Timberlake. Tina Turner is from tiny Nutbush, TN, about 50 miles outside of Memphis.

Here are two examples of Memphis music, one classic, and one soon to be classic. First we have soul and gospel legends Sam and Dave, follow by one of my favorite alt country bands Lucero.

Sam and Dave - I Thank You.mp3 (composed by Isaac Hayes)
Buy: Very Best of Sam & Dave (2009, song orig. 1968)

Lucero - Slow Dancing.mp3
Buy: Tennessee (2002)

Seven Years in Canada

On this date in the year of our lord 2002, I crossed the US/Canada border from Port Huron, Michigan, to Sarnia, Ontario, and filed my papers to legally work in the Great White North. Of course our good friends at Canadian Customs and Immigration listed me as a man, and I did not notice the error until I started my job on March 4, but that was a minor detail.

About this time, what I like to refer to as the "The" bands were supposedly going to "save" rock and roll, as if it needed saving. Bands such as The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Hives, and The Vines, were all heading a new revival in garage rock, and hearing their albums from this time period always reminds me of moving to Canada.

I first remember hearing Detroit's The White Stripes "Fell in Love with a Girl" on the local alternative station while driving around the west side of Toronto, completely lost. I was like, "Whao! (a la Keanu Reeves in The Matrix) Who is this?" Love at first listen. A few days later I saw their magnificent Lego video on Much Music.


The White Stripes subsequently released three more albums (six in total), and each album brought them more mainstream radio success. All of their albums are great, but White Blood Cells remains my favorite.

Fell in Love with a Girl.mp3
Buy: White Blood Cells (2001)

The first concert I went to in Toronto was The Vines at the Opera House. I won the tickets and their debut CD Highly Evolved from a contest at Eye Weekly. I attended the show with my friend Kathleen, and Chicago's OK Go opened. The boys from Sydney, Australia, put on a crazy show and trashed the stage, which made me yawn. I was not impressed. But I did listen to the heck out of Highly Evolved. Lead singer Craig Nicholl's was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome shortly after this tour, but after Nicholl's sought treatment the band regrouped as a trio and put out three more albums. The subsequent albums had little commercial success in North America, but their 2004 single "Ride" has been featured in numerous advertisements for products such as iPods and Nissans.

Get Free.mp3
Buy: Highly Evolved (2002)
(Sorry the bitrate is crap. I cannot find the original CD and this is the only copy I have!)

When I first moved to Toronto I had a terrible commute on the streetcar from Etobicoke to downtown Toronto. I passed the time listening to CDs on my discman, and listened to a lot of The Hives debut, Veni Vidi Vicious. These boys hail from Sweden, have bizzaro stag names, and always dress in black and white matching outfits. I have never had the chance to see them live, but I hear that they put on a great show. They have released three albums, most recently The Black and White Album, and are about to embark on a US tour. All three of their releases are solid.

Hate to Say I Told You So.mp3
Buy: Veni Vidi Vicious (2000)

The Hives and The Vines appeared together at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. This video kills me. Watch the poser audience pretend to care. You know they are all just there to see that dreamy Justin Timberlake. Howlin' Pele Almqvist of The Hives is hysterical, and much like the show I saw in Toronto, Craig Nicholls of The Vines tries to trash the place. Too funny.


My buddy the She-dog and I gawked and drooled at the 2002 Rolling Stone issue that featured The Strokes. These boys from New York were hot, in an unshowered, greasy kind of way. They and their music also got an enormous amount of hype in the press, especially in the UK, and they were crowned the new "saviors" of rock and roll practically before their album was released. Their debut album Is This It is amazing, one of my favorites of this decade. And, of all of these groups, The Strokes had the most success in terms of album sales (3.5 million units sold as of 2007). Their two follow-up albums were not nearly as commercially successful, but did get some alternative radio play. Guitarist Albert Hammond, Jr., put out two decent albums in 2007 and 2008, and other band members have also done/are doing solo projects.

Last Nite.mp3
Buy: Is This It (2001)

My First, My Last, My Hotel Yorba

This dude I know runs a blog called Photocrap. I saw this today and nearly peed my pants. I think Jack White may frown on this. Too bad!

Hotel Yorba.wma
Buy: White Blood Cells (2001)

You're the First, the Last, My Everything.mp3

Originally released in 1974 on Can't Get Enough, but available on just about every "best of" out there. Barrence Eugene Carter, aka "Barry White," 1944-2003. RIP lover boy.

Sorry about the WMA format, but I ripped White Blood Cells years ago when I was ignorant in the ways of digital music, and I don't feel like re-ripping it. Just buy the album! In my opinion it is that best of the Stripes six albums. Plus, they have a nice photo of a megakaryocyte on the inside cover.