In Praise Of Jason Hare
(Hint: He’s the one on the left. No, your left)
Jason doesn’t Chart Attack as often as he should these days. Then again, by “as often as he should,” I mean, “every day until he collapses under the strain of having to listen to all that dreck, and every other day after that.”
But his one today, about the Top Ten of April 11, 1987, is inspired. Not just because of the Kids, Incorporated motif, but because of the use of the phrase “This one part” near the end.
Jason is ideal for features like Chart Attack (and Mellow Gold, of which I recently spent hours one night going through the archives, getting no work done in the process. Thanks, Timothy B. Schmit) because, when he slams a band, it’s entirely without hipster posing. Yeah, it’s easy to laugh at Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now for the most obvious reasons. It’s quite another to research it and break it down into why it’s an mid-80s crapfest of the highest order. And yet, even when he’s taking the most gratuitous of cheap shots, he never comes across as malicious. His love of the music, no matter how awful it is, always comes through.
I do have plans to incorporate Popdose into the podcast once I get it started again. It was something we had talked about before I went on hiatus (yes, it is coming. My new project has forced me to put it aside for another month. But at this point, maybe I should rename it The Big Dig). But until then, you can catch Jason and Jeff (who is Johnny Ola to Jason’s Hyman Roth – where are my oranges, Jeff?) on Episodes 45 and 52.
I’m truly flattered, Dave. Thanks so much.
I’d like to Chart Attack! much more than I currently do. I’d like to Mellow Gold more often also, and I’d also like to keep both of those post titles as verbs, so thanks for starting the trend. But the problem with writing so often (and balancing it with the rest of my stupid life) is that my posts — especially Chart Attack!, and especially when I didn’t grow up with the songs — run the risk of devolving into bland chart facts (okay, I find them interesting, but I’m guessing most of our readers don’t care) without anything personal/interesting/mildly amusing about it. Taking a little bit of time between posts allows me to, y’know, really contemplate on which part of “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” is the worst part. (Although I kind of knew, I wrestled with whether or not to include Craig Chaquico’s uninspired solo. I’m happy with my decision, though.)
Ensuring that my love of the music comes through is the most important thing, though, and I appreciate you catching it.
I had a blast doing the podcasts with you and Jeff, and I’m ready to do it again whenever you are!
Why does everyone’s reflection in the back of a spoon look like Pete T?