Bookmarx

Posted by Tommy Marx July 17th, 2010

When Hanson first had success with “Mmmbop”, I didn’t pay them much attention. I didn’t dislike them but I wasn’t a fan, either. But the brothers kept plugging away, releasing albums and following their dream, and now they have a song that I can’t get out of my head. VH1 has been playing the video for a couple of weeks, and while it got my interest the first time I saw it, it’s grown to the point where yesterday my boss said, “Well you must be in a good mood” because she heard me singing the song in my cubicle.

I hope this song puts them back in the public eye, because it’s a damn good song and a damn good video.

Posted by Tommy Marx February 24th, 2010

Two clips I love:

and:

Posted by Tommy Marx January 14th, 2010

I’ve always been a fan of soul music. From Blue Magic’s lonely “Side Show” to Brian McKnight’s uplifting “Back at One”, I’ve loved listening to Deborah Cox insist nobody’s supposed to be here, Siedah Garrett worry about the everchanging times, and The Temptations wish for rain.

And whether it’s Barry White telling you to practice what you preach or Babyface going on and on about your whip appeal, soul music has defined what sex sounds and feels like for me. It’s impossible not to hear Shirley Murdock belt out “As We Lay” or Gregory Abbot croon “Shake You Down” without getting a little hot under the collar.

For me, Teddy Pendergrass was the epitome of soul music. As the lead singer of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, he broke my heart singing “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” and “The Love I Lost (Part 1)”. As a solo singer, his “Love T.K.O.” was equally memorable.

But it was hits like “Close the Door” and “Turn Off the Lights” that really defined his career. The lyrics were as seductive as his voice, promising a night you would never forget. If sex had a melody, Teddy Pendergrass was the one singing it. I’ll let other people debate whether Barry White or Marvin Gaye or someone else was the sexiest soul singer, but for me, it will always be Teddy. Even after surviving the car crash that left him in a wheelchair, that voice and that power was still undeniable and still sexy as shit.

It seems like the list of people that have died recently just keeps growing and growing, and it pains me that Teddy Pendergrass is the latest to leave us. This is my favorite song by him. “Come Go With Me” never charted on the Hot 100 and peaked at #14 on the R&B chart. But God, I loved this song. To me, it’s everything that’s great about soul music, sex, and Teddy Pendergrass.

Sir, you will be missed.

Posted by Tommy Marx January 5th, 2010

Six hundred million years ago, when I was a waiter at the Pizza Hut in South Hill, Virginia – which still ranks as one of my favorite jobs of all time – I got annoyed by a song that kept playing on the jukebox. It was the mid-Eighties, and seven years after “Sultans of Swing”, the Dire Straits had finally had another major hit with “Money for Nothing” (which featured Sting famously singing “I want my MTV” to the tune of The Police’s “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”).

Everytime someone would put a quarter in the jukebox, I would get to hear Mark Knopfler sing, “The little faggot with the earring and the makeup. Yeah, buddy, that’s his own hair. That little faggot got his own jet airplane. That little faggot, he’s a millionaire.” The video that aired on MTV edited that verse out, but the vinyl single that played on a jukebox in a small southern town in Virginia was less polite.

I remember hearing Mark Knopfler say he heard someone actually say those exact lines (evidently someone who believed in talking in rhymes), and he thought dropping “faggot” would make it less authentic or something. But let me tell you something. When you’re a gay teenager working in a fast food chain in the middle of Bible-belt Virginia and you keep hearing someone singing about those damn faggots with their earings and their makeup, it’s not a pleasant experience.

So I went to my manager and asked her if she could get the jukebox guy to remove the record on his next visit. I told her it really bothered me hearing the word “faggot” so often. (more…)

Posted by Tommy Marx November 17th, 2009

Although I thought some of Adam Lambert’s performances on American Idol last year were amazing, I was actually rooting for Kris Allen to win. I think Adam is very talented, but I’m not a fan of his style of music. And to be quite honest, the over-the-top theatricality turns me off.

But it seems like Adam keeps getting attacked for the most ridiculous things. I thought it was bad enough when Gene Simmons, the fossilized lead singer of the Seventies’ rock group Kiss, said Adam “killed his career because now the conversation is not about his talent but about his sexual preference. He’s done.”

But now no less than the editor-in-chief of Out is attacking Adam Lambert.

“We’re curious whether you know that we made cover offers for you before American Idol was even halfway through its run. Apparently, Out was too gay, even for you. There was the issue of what it would do to your record sales, we were told. Imagine! A gay musician on the cover of a gay magazine.”

That’s just one of the things Aaron Hicklin says in one of the most bizarre Editor’s Letters you’ll ever read. Evidently Hicklin is pissed that while Adam posed for Details magazine (with a woman, no less), he allegedly wouldn’t pose for Out unless it was a group photo.

I’m not much for bullshit, so here’s my open letter to Mr. Hicklin.

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Posted by Tommy Marx November 17th, 2009

Monica is probably best remembered for her duet with Brandy, “The Boy Is Mine”, which spent three months at number one on the Hot 100, but three years earlier, she scored a top ten hit with one of my favorite love songs, “Before You Walk Out of My Life”.

Posted by Tommy Marx November 16th, 2009

I haven’t seen Couples Retreat yet and based on the trailers, I doubt I’ll even bother to rent it. It just doesn’t look funny to me.

Not that I’m a movie snob or anything. I finally saw Paul Blart, Mall Cop a week ago and thought it was cute but ultimately forgettable. On the other hand, Forgetting Sarah Marshall was one of my favorite comedies ever, and I’m not ashamed to say I loved The Proposal. In other words, each to their own. Couples Retreat looks really bad to me, but I bet a lot of people thought it was hilarious.

That said, I find it a little bizarre that the distributor, Universal Pictures, decided to delete the token black couple from the movie poster on foreign releases. Evidently the company feels that British audiences prefer movies that don’t feature those pesky coloreds.

According to a spokesperson for the company, Universal isn’t ridiculously racist. They just wanted “to simplify the poster to actors who are most recognizable in international markets”.

That seems reasonable. After all, Malin Akerman, Kristen Davis, Jon Favreau, and Kristen Bell are international superstars, right?

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Posted by Tommy Marx November 16th, 2009

For a while in the late 90s, The Wallflowers were wildly successful. Led by Jakob Dylan, the son of Bob Dylan, the group’s biggest hit, ”One Headlight”, spent an incredible 70 weeks on the Billboard Hot Airplay chart. Two other singles from their second album, ”6th Avenue Heartache” and “The Difference”, also became Top 40 airplay hits, as well as their cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes” for the Godzilla soundtrack.

Unfortunately, they weren’t able to sustain mainstream success, and the lead single from their final studio album (Rebel, Sweetheart) didn’t even chart. It’s a shame, because I think it’s easily their best song, and almost five years later, it’s still one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy “The Beautiful Side of Somewhere” as much as I do.

Posted by Tommy Marx November 13th, 2009

Although I’m not a major fan of Taylor Swift, I do enjoy her songs. And I admit without any shame that her latest single, “Fifteen”, is easily one of her favorites. I may be quite a bit older than Ms. Swift, but I remember what it’s like to be fifteen. And I also know that girls aren’t the only ones that get hurt at that age.

Posted by Tommy Marx November 12th, 2009

When Susan asked me if I wanted to go with her and Teresa to see Paranormal Activity yesterday, I didn’t hesitate. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen a good horror movie.

Unfortunately, I didn’t care for Paranormal Activity at all.

The gimmick of using a video camera to record all the action is extremely difficult to pull off, and Paranormal fails miserably.

First, the jerky movements of the camera are highly exaggerated. Instead of having the feel of an amateur video, the nonstop bobbing and weaving ends up making you feel nauseous. My friend actually closed her eyes through most of the movie, only opening them during the bedroom scenes (when the camera is stationary), because she was literally getting sick. Yes, we understand that this is supposed to be home video, but I can’t believe anyone – especially a young, reasonably athletic man – would have so much trouble keeping the camera still every now and then.

Second – and this is a major problem with every “camcorder” movie I’ve ever seen – there comes a point when it’s no longer possible to believe someone would keep filming. Cloverfield was the very worst example of this (I don’t care how much you want to document what’s happening, when your life is seriously in danger, you’re gonna chuck the heavy video equipment and get to safety), but Paranormal Activity is pretty bad too.

Even when the worst things start happening, Micah grabs his camera before doing anything. It’s almost believable at the beginning, when he’s determined to document the supernatural. But by the end, when there’s more than enough evidence to suggest they’re in some serious shit, it’s impossible to believe he would face the wrath of a demon with a video camera severely limiting his sight.

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