The Ryan Adams ‘Summer of ’69’ incident is not as storied as Bob Dylan’s “Judas!” moment, but in the annals of moderately famous alt-country singer-songwriters, it’s reasonably well-known.
Playing at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville 12 years ago, Ryan Adams was heckled by a concertgoer repeatedly asking him to play ‘Summer of ’69,’ which is of course a Bryan Adams song.
As a lifelong David Letterman fan, I’m disappointed with myself for not paying closer attention to his show in the weeks leading up to his retirement.
I still have time to tune in, though. The official countdown began about a week ago with a prime time special that hasn’t aired as I’m writing this (and which I plan to watch). Guests such as Bill Murray, Oprah Winfrey, Ton Hanks, Steve Martin and Tina Fey are scheduled to hit the couch.
Liz Phair’s 2003 self-titled album was her most commercially successful but her most critically savaged.
Phair is the indie rock queen who was credited with starting a frank, feminist revolution within the alternative music scene through the release of her debut, Exile in Guyville. On this record, she teamed up with pop hit factory The Matrix to record songs that would have felt at home on an Avril Lavigne or Britney Spears album.
No Doubt was one of the great 90s bands, and their Tragic Kingdom one of the great 90s albums.
I didn’t really follow the group much past this record, but it’s impressive to see Gwen Stefani looking even more gorgeous two decades later. Honestly, it’s hard to differentiate the woman in this 1995 video from the woman who coached on the last season of The Voice.
Full disclosure: I created this top ten list pretty much so I could list today’s SOTD in the #1 spot.
John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club is, incomprehensibly, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and has been very much in the cultural spotlight recently. All that coverage has teleported me back to my early teens, when this film (and this song) were godlike.
The funny thing is that I’d always assumed the track was not written for the film but unearthed by Hughes from a Simple Minds record. Not the case, as it turns out. The song was written for the film by Keth Forsey and Steve Schiff and recorded by Simple Minds only after three other acts declined.
