6 Dec 2012: it's... 1979

[RGMike]

borderline LN but I'll give RLJ a pass to avoid seeming too cranky.

[Lightnin' Rod]

BOS for the Jerk and Talking Heads' "Heaven".

Dang, I must have been on the phone for the Jerk clip.

"the new phone books are here!  the new phone books are here!"

[Here'sToYa!]

Slot 10 goes to the uptempo rocker. Shades of AL.

[RGMike]

uber-uber-uber LN6 (!) Cheap Trick.

1. The Eagles - Heartache Tonight
2. Rupert Holmes - Escape (Pina Colada Song)
(News: Iranians take hostages)
3. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Refugee
4. George Harrison - Blow Away
5. Joe Jackson - It's Different For Girls
6. John Mellencamp - I Need A Lover
7. Supertramp - Goodbye Stranger
(Movie: "The Jerk")
8. Talking Heads - Heaven
9. Ricki Lee Jones - Chuck E's In Love
10. Cheap Trick - I want You to Want Me

[Davefish]

I'll put on the crankypants for WOSing Cheap Trick. I never got them, and this song is lame. I do appreciate the reference to them in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

[Lightnin' Rod]

I love early Steve Martin but am lukewarm on mature Steve Martin (I feel the same about REM).

His later middle of the road stuff is questionable for sure, but he's still capable of greatness when he rises above sell-out mode (see Bowfinger).

[Lightnin' Rod]

I'll put on the crankypants for WOSing Cheap Trick. I never got them, and this song is lame. I do appreciate the reference to them in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

I'm not a fan either, and I find the song annoying as well.

[RGMike]

"Oh man... bummer... I was just getting into it" says Renee... and no one else.

[RGMike]

What was that RLJ/Tom Waits anecdote? I thought "Chuck E" was her manager or an exec at Warner Bros.?

[RGMike]

I love early Steve Martin but am lukewarm on mature Steve Martin (I feel the same about REM).

His later middle of the road stuff is questionable for sure, but he's still capable of greatness when he rises above sell-out mode (see Bowfinger).

Bowfinger is awesome.  And he wears the best toupees in showbiz -- Elton could take a lesson from Steve.

[urth]

What was that RLJ/Tom Waits anecdote? I thought "Chuck E" was her manager or an exec at Warner Bros.?

Nope, she is in fact correct. He was a crony that Waits used to hang with at the Troubadour, along with Paul Body and Robert Marchese, who was the club's manager, and later RLJ. (I just finished reading a Waits bio by Barney Hoskyns, so this stuff is fresh in my cerebrum.)

[urth]

I love early Steve Martin but am lukewarm on mature Steve Martin (I feel the same about REM).

His later middle of the road stuff is questionable for sure, but he's still capable of greatness when he rises above sell-out mode (see Bowfinger).

Fully agree. Both LA Story and Roxanne are loaded with lots of physical comedy as well as wonderfully inventive bits, some of which occur in the background and can slip by if you're not watching the right thing at the right moment. I seem to remember The Man With Two Brains being great, too, although I probably haven't seen it in 25 years.

[RGMike]

I love early Steve Martin but am lukewarm on mature Steve Martin (I feel the same about REM).

His later middle of the road stuff is questionable for sure, but he's still capable of greatness when he rises above sell-out mode (see Bowfinger).

Fully agree. Both LA Story and Roxanne are loaded with lots of physical comedy as well as wonderfully inventive bits, some of which occur in the background and can slip by if you're not watching the right thing at the right moment. I seem to remember The Man With Two Brains being great, too, although I probably haven't seen it in 25 years.

"into the mud, scum queen!" -- one of the great lines of all time.

I'll also put in a plug for The Lonely Guy, which is quite hilarious too.