That's a sad, sad story, LD — I've had friends go off the rails so I know whereof you speak. I would agree that it sounds more like "real" crazy a la Patton Oswalt.

Thanks from one Tommy to another — I hadn't heard the Captain Beefheart detail before, which hints at some of the specifics I was wondering about. I don't suppose I ever contemplated Beefheart as an influence but it makes sense. Trout Mask Replica —-> Swordfishtrombones.

Yes, Soggy, I agree. It's a magical fantasy where the woman's wondrous allure is enough to make the man overturn his priorities, reform his behavior, and become the Prince Charming she requires. Um, there is probably a less bitter and jaded way of saying that.

The pre-internet era was completely different. Music was scarce. You owned those little objects that the music was imprinted on. If you wanted another one of those little objects, you either had to buy an empty object and copy your friend's object, or you had to go buy your own, which might have meant special-ordering…

Thanks, TableTopJoe and others. It's really the artistic contribution I'm interested in, although the relationship/family details are cool too. Does she write lyrics? Melodies? Arrangements? What exactly did she expose him to (no crude jokes, you cretins) that turned his head around? I'm sure a lot of it comes from…

You know, I haven't scoured every interview he's ever done, but I've got to think that someone at some point has asked him, "So, why do you sing like that?" I'm sure he'd have an interesting answer.

Nothing in the catalog is dispensable, it's all interesting and cool. In his early years he proved he was a great songwriter in a more conventional vein ("Sight for Sore Eyes," "Martha," "Tom Traubert's Blues"). He was playing a part but hey, so was Bob Dylan at the beginning, so was Mick Jagger. Then in the Island…

Better listen to him, Flounder, he's in pre-med.

Yeah, Ribot is a New York guitarist known for playing with John Zorn, Lounge Lizards, Jazz Passengers, and Elvis Costello as well as Waits. He uses an alligator clip as a capo; his style is very angular and cool. He's prominent on "Jockey Full of Bourbon" from Rain Dogs:

I think it was (improbably) one of the guys from the Pet Shop Boys who said the songs that really recapture an era are the ones you heard over and over in 1983 (or whatever) but you haven't heard them since. I don't really remember "Coward of the County" but I goddamn would if I heard it. Just thinking about it, I'm…

I had that album, i, and I'd completely forgotten about it. I probably haven't heard it in 25 years, but looking at the tracklist I remember a bunch of those songs. Listening to it again would probably be like a seriously fucked up version of Proust's madeleine. I might have to get Jon Heder to play me in that movie.…

Not a Ramones cover, Felt; it's the other way around.

I wish I had the entire oeuvres of Crumb, Pekar, Clowes, Hernandez Brothers, Chris Ware, etc. at my fingertips — i.e., in my library, which was assembled with a rapacious zeal during my twenties but which I augment only sporadically now, real life having annoyingly gotten in the way of such pursuits. I didn't really…

Well if Franks Wild Years won't do it, nothing will. I've come to think he was trying a bit too hard with the pseudo jazzbo thing in the 70s, and that he really figured out who the fuck he was in the 80s. Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs, and Franks Wild Years remain the truly great records for me. Aside from Tom, the…

Kenny Rogers, i and 1? I'll admit with a kind of shamefaced thrill that the first records I ever bought myself were Columbia House country LPs, back when popular country was more or less a twangier form of disco. I got in some deep shit with Columbia House, too, back when I was about 13, and had to write a tearstained…

Thanks, guys, for the encouragement. I'll give it a drunken chance. I don't know enough about Roger Corman, I've heard of Manos but never seen it, and I don't know any of those other guys. I love Ed Wood though, which is probably a good sign.

Like Leonard, I can't think of any huge gap in youth that wasn't gradually corrected … but I can think of a couple I didn't get then and don't get now, one of them being MST3K. My younger brother has always been a fan; he has a pretty good sense of humor; to me it's always seemed kind of boring and dorky. But I still…

Especially given Dr. Robuttnik's post below! Holy crap, does Satriani not have a case. Common chord progression, nothing particularly distinctive about the melody. It's a stupid world we live in when anyone thinks they own the rights to some mediocre variation on Songwriting 101. Or rather, thinks they can make bank…

Now that's a ripoff!

The funny part in all of this is that Joe Satriani would be hoisting the banner of originality.