Thus far my theme weeks have covered artists I consider among my very favorites — people such as Ben Folds, Fiona Apple, Elvis Costello, Billy Joel. And there are more artists along those lines who I can (and will) cover.
But this week I’m taking a little detour and featuring a group I don’t know much about and who show up only twice in my CD collection.
So how did Dire Straits earn this distinction? Well, I’ve heard several of their songs on the radio in recent weeks and every time I boost the volume and think “Ah, here’s a song I need to feature on the blog.” And after saying that for three or four different songs, I thought I might as well take a week and do it.
One of my musical pet peeves is songs about current events, particularly protest songs. Even worse are songs that name-drop political figures.
There was a time, prior to 1964, when ‘My Girl’ didn’t exist. That collection of notes, arranged in that order… it hadn’t been thought of yet. Or if it had, it hadn’t been recorded either on paper or tape. And then Smokey Robinson sat down and pieced it all together into the song we all know and love.
It’s funny how you become a fan. 
I think the real measure of a movie’s effectiveness is how it makes you feel months or years later when you think about it. I have films on my top ten lists — like Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s A Very Long Engagement (2004), to pick one at random — that impressed me at the time but fail to move me at all as I think back on them.
Meet Me In Montauk 