The Best/Worst Moments of last night's show

[justinmh05]

It was great to hear Jon Daly on - too bad he had to be a toilet mouth!

[deathdrive83]

It was nice to hear Wearing and Tearing. It's probably the only song on Coda where I can immediately recall how it sounds. I was obsessed with Zeppelin as a teenager, but can't even recall a good number of tracks off Coda or Presence.

Some article I read in junior high said it was Led Zeppelin's response to punk rock. I don't know about that, but I think it holds up as a good late era track. Just typing this has the guitar riff stuck in my head.

Edit: Oops, should have finished listening to the show. Didn't realize some guy called in to talk about the punk thing.

[Crusherkc]

Best:

This Wurster call is for the ages, even cracking Jon and Tom up! (italics added by this poster)

-Bad Company hat trick

Agreed.  Especially using "bitch" in his song.  Instant Gem.

Worst: Nathan Rabin sounds like a nice guy but a) his talking over/not listening to Tom b) his rising inflection toward the end of every thing he said like it was a question and c) claiming to growing to like Phish was grating.  Loved Tom for raking him over the coals for it.  I found him just as annoying on the Fogelnest Files about a month ago and really loved Jake's description of his first/last Phish show: "Walked in, saw a girl do half a hippy twirl, and walked out.  10 seconds."

[erg79]

Worst: Nathan Rabin sounds like a nice guy but a) his talking over/not listening to Tom b) his rising inflection toward the end of every thing he said like it was a question

Yes. There's a certain group of people in their 20s and 30s who seem like they'd be interested in the same things (I'm going to guess that they're all big fans of This American Life, and I say that as someone who loves TAL), who have this habit of speaking.

[Epic Soundtracks]

I'm not sure why callers seem to always keep talking underneath Tom...is it a technical thing?

[not that clay]

I'm not sure why callers seem to always keep talking underneath Tom...is it a technical thing?

I'm no expert, but I think old-fashioned phones let both people talk and hear at the same time (duplex?) so people could tell if they were talking over each other. I think mobile phones try to minimize that to save bandwidth. There's also a lot more latency with mobiles.  It wouldn't surprise me if WFMU's telco's quality has degraded over the years as well. The switch from copper wire to internet-style networking has generally been bad for voice quality.

[akaJudge]

cell phones have improved incredibly in every aspect except being an actual phone.  I believe the callers can't hear Tom talking if they're talking already.

[Steve of Bloomington]

I'm not sure why callers seem to always keep talking underneath Tom...is it a technical thing?

I'm no expert, but I think old-fashioned phones let both people talk and hear at the same time (duplex?) so people could tell if they were talking over each other. I think mobile phones try to minimize that to save bandwidth. There's also a lot more latency with mobiles.  It wouldn't surprise me if WFMU's telco's quality has degraded over the years as well. The switch from copper wire to internet-style networking has generally been bad for voice quality.

Based on my one ill-fated call in to the show I can confirm it's kind of hard to determine when your window to talk is plus whether somebody on the other end is talking (I was on a cell phone at the time). So when people do that I tend to chalk that up to technology more than rudeness on their part.

[Josh]

Rabin said early on in the call that he went to his father's house (in an apparently crime-riddled neighborhood) specifically because that was the only landline to which he had access. I think it was more a case of attempting to defend his book's ridiculous thesis as it withered under Tom's dissection.



I was walkin' down the street just the other day
When a high-legged chippy(?) started walkin' my way
I couldn't think straight, I didn't feel right
And then my dungarees started gettin' real tight
Long-legged sexpot, get into my bed
We can get crazy and then get out of our heads
I got a pile of pills I stole from my uncle's stash
We can get blasted and make love 'till we crash, because

Baby, baby you're such a tease
But I'm a man who needs to be pleased
So please me bitch, I need your love
Just like I need the love from g-d up above

Pills 'n thrills are the name of the game
I love the way I don't remember your name
It might be Kim, it might be Ruth
It might be Alice and the only way to know the truth
Is when I go through your purse when you're using the can
And if there's money in there I'm gonna take it and scram, because

Baby, baby you're such a tease
But I'm a man who needs to be pleased
So please me bitch, I need your love
Just like I need the love from g-d up above
Ow!

[deathdrive83]

Nathan might still be figuring out the rhythms of radio. It sounds like he's had other troubles on his podcast tour.

[Epic Soundtracks]

Just getting to the Wurster call part of the show, one of the all-time greats. Love too when they use the cough button or whatever to stop from laughing...

[Carver]

Worst: Nathan Rabin sounds like a nice guy but a) his talking over/not listening to Tom b) his rising inflection toward the end of every thing he said like it was a question and c) claiming to growing to like Phish was grating.  Loved Tom for raking him over the coals for it.  I found him just as annoying on the Fogelnest Files about a month ago and really loved Jake's description of his first/last Phish show: "Walked in, saw a girl do half a hippy twirl, and walked out.  10 seconds."

Yeah, Rabin brings a real childlike / personal and emotional attachment to his subjects that puts off a lot of folks and leads to some serious critical beatdowns in a few reviews of his books.  Personally, this is a big reason I love the guy and his writing.   I really think that giving into a sort of "Stockholm Syndrome" with these groups made his book a lot better.   It's fascinating in part because as the reader you keep wondering how the heck he and his girlfriend could put up with the moronic craziness they are surrounded by.  At the ICP gatherings in particular, there are some verbal assaults lodged at Rabin's girlfriend that they both seem to laugh off as "oh, isn't that wacky!" that would have most folks running for the exits.  But the book is a total page-turner, and there are anecdotes, such as one involving Rowdy Roddy Piper and the Iron Sheik at the Gathering, that are as surreal as anybody could ever hope for.

[amiright??]

Tom mentions talking with Rabin that he felt like ICP were like a Law and Order writer's idea of a rap group.

I hadn't thought about it in years, but that interview reminded me that the Juggalo murder episode of Law and Order actually happened in the Cyrus Lupo era of the show.

Great stuff!

[Crusherkc]

Rabin said early on in the call that he went to his father's house (in an apparently crime-riddled neighborhood) specifically because that was the only landline to which he had access. I think it was more a case of attempting to defend his book's ridiculous thesis as it withered under Tom's dissection.



I was walkin' down the street just the other day
When a high-legged chippy(?) started walkin' my way
I couldn't think straight, I didn't feel right
And then my dungarees started gettin' real tight
Long-legged sexpot, get into my bed
We can get crazy and then get out of our heads
I got a pile of pills I stole from my uncle's stash
We can get blasted and make love 'till we crash, because

Baby, baby you're such a tease
But I'm a man who needs to be pleased
So please me bitch, I need your love
Just like I need the love from g-d up above
-
-
-
Ow!

My god it's even funnier in text.  And yeah, Rabin was on a land line.  He was also live in the studio with Fogelnest and did the same thing.  Tech is no excuse here, he's just precocious.  Did he even laugh at that joke- that ICP was what rap music was to a writer from Law & Order?

Oooow!

[Epic Soundtracks]

Can anyone tell me what the classical/movie music type thing that is used in early episodes? An example is January 22, 2002, around 20:40...thanks!