To the people still checking this blog, you’ve probably noticed it hasn’t been updated in a few weeks. This is because, as of the New Year, I have decided to end my tenure as a blogger for “The Joplin Globe.” So if you see people around Joplin with misty eyes and flags flying half mast, now you know why.

At any rate, if you find yourself nostalgic, feel free to check the archives. It’s been a wild and woolly ride. Thanks for reading.

(I wrote this as a column back in 2006. I re-posted here it by request. It makes more sense if you read the lyrics to the Shangri-Las' "The Leader of the Pack" HERE)

The Last Days of ‘The Leader of the Pack’

Monday

Today Mr. McTaggert said, “Jimmy, do you or do you not have yesterday’s geometry assignment?”, and I said, “Why do you want to know, you writing a book about it or something?” A tense silence fell over the class. Mr. McTaggert told me to march to the principal’s office, and I stood up, knocking my chair over. Someone in the back of the class yelled, “Gut him, Jimmy!” But I said, “Nah, this class is a drag anyway. I’ve been looking for a reason to step out and chew a stick of Juicy Fruit.”

Once I was alone in the hall I reached into my back pocket and retrieved the geometry homework I had spent an hour completing the night before. Oh, the Leader of the Pack, you are a caricature! A farce! A rhombus with four equal sides of chicanery!

Tuesday

When I got home today the old man asked me to rake the yard. I was feeling sore about school and said, “Doggone it, pops! How about you rake it?” Two hours later, after I’d finished raking the yard, I opened the front door and yelled, “Hey pops, I’m finished with the yard and whether you like it or not, I’m rounding up the pack.”

He didn‘t respond, so I added, “Okay then, we’ll probably cruise to the candy store.” Then I left without another word.

Wednesday

Looking back, it’s funny how this “Leader of the Pack” business came about. We only have two motorcycles between five guys, and if you want to get technical, one of the motorcycles is a moped. Four of us ride tandem on the two bikes, and Robert follows us in his dad’s Buick. Rowdy Rob has to keep the wagon below 30 mph because his dad is a real hard case, but this actually works out fine considering the moped tops out around that speed.

Really, we’re more of a fellowship than a pack. In fact, an admitted Tolkein fan, I originally wanted to call us “The Fellowship of the Wheel.“ My second choice was the “Round Pegs,” in which case we would have worn sharp red windbreakers with an inscription on the back that read, “This Town Is Full of Squareholes.” But we came to one too many rolling stops at the town’s stop sign and got ourselves a bit of a reputation. I was named the leader after I bested Bobby in hand-to-hand combat -- thumb wrestling. Best two out of three.

Thursday

Rob was complaining this afternoon about always hanging out at the candy store. He said that since we’re the premiere cycling/station wagon gang in town. We should be out cruising! Then I reminded him of the time I had to fake an epileptic seizure to get out of rumbling with Riverside’s gang when we ventured onto the highway. After that he contentedly returned to munching on his Mars bar, and I resumed trying to figure out which package of jelly beans had the most reds.

That’s when I saw her. She was at the counter paying for a box of Cracker Jack, and, momentarily forgetting my reputation, I turned and smiled at her. She smiled back. I’m pretty sure I’m in love, but I’m going to play it cool.

Friday

Her name is Betty. I gave her my class ring on a chain today and asked her if she would like to go steady. She giggled and said she didn’t know the leader of the pack had enough school spirit to own a class ring. And I said, “Oh, what a coincidence, because I didn’t know you were a dirty strumpet!”

Eventually she accepted the ring and made me the luckiest teen rebel in the world!!! Tonight I’m going to fall asleep contemplating her favorite color. How great would it be if it was taupe, just like mine?

Saturday

Curse this devil-may-care reputation!

Betty broke up with me today because her dad doesn‘t approve. He told her to “find someone new.” He heard the pack and I desecrated some graves last night and used the bodies of the dead in a ritualistic sex act that involved children and wild animals.

I explained to Betty that I was at Harold’s all evening listening to Paul Anka records. She said her father would never understand. She said, “What about the prostitution ring and the cured skin of the old woman you wear under your clothes in honor of your first kill?” I tried to protest, but she threw her arms around me crying and said, “Oh Jimmy, they say you’re bad, but I know you’re sad.”

No one has ever understood me like her.

Sunday

I’m meeting Betty one final time tonight. I hope it goes well. Maybe she’ll kiss me goodbye! I should put in a couple more minutes of practice with the pillow, just in case.

Last night I had a corker of a dream! I was racing down a black road on a rainy night and something was chasing me. I had the needle buried in the red. I must’ve been doing 32, maybe even 35 mph, but no matter how much gas I gave the moped, I couldn’t outstrip this thing. Then, just as it was about to catch me, I looked back to face my demon and looked into my own face! I turned back around, and before I could stop, I drove the moped right off a cliff. I woke up right before I hit the ground and died in a fiery crash.

Gosh, I really hope Betty kisses me tonight!

Wilco - "What Light"

I didn't see my column on-line today, which I was thankful for. I had to rush it just to get in, and it was a little rougher than I wanted and some of the points I made weren't as clear as I would've liked. And I wanted to do right by this album, so here is a more polished version.

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While taking stock of music in 2007 – music I was interested in hearing anyway – I feel compelled to discuss Wilco’s “Sky Blue Sky,” an album I dismissed far too quickly. Earlier in the year I listened to it a few times, usually when I was distracted, and it failed to grab me. I decided it was just a rehash of ‘70s soft rock padded with skillful (but boring) guitar noodling. Now I’m convinced it’s one of Wilco’s best albums.

My proper introduction to “Sky Blue Sky” came in the form of “What Light” popping up one afternoon during a shuffle session with the iPod. I’m sure there is perfect reference point to this song (early Dylan?), but it reminds me of the first song a teenager might try to play after one guitar lesson. This is a compliment.

“Sky Blue Sky” experiments with the kind of universality and populism from which only a band of Wilco’s caliber could extract such tuneful and rewarding songs. “What Light” begins with an acoustic thrum and lyrics that attempt the same kind of direct catharsis as R.E.M.’s “Everybody Hurts” but with a more uplifting, pie-in-the-sky optimism. The song ends with a full minute of Jeff Tweedy repeating “there’s a light (one light), there’s a light (white light," the kind of coda perfect for a group sing-along.

Because of its understated approach, the true appeal of “Sky Blue Sky” can be lost on the first listen or, in my case, the first few listens. But “Sky Blue Sky” isn’t the sound of a band retreating or settling; it’s like watching Michael Jordan in his prime jog up and down the court and then realizing he has just put up 50 points without breaking a sweat.

I think the reason Wilco made an album like “Sky Blue Sky” was precisely for the challenge it presented. It’s almost like the band’s answer to the critics responsible for the backlash against “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” who complained that Wilco’s experiments with noise were dressing for unremarkable songwriting. Here Wilco has stripped everything away but the songs and practically baited the critics with its new sound. Only a truly talented band can avoid the mediocrity that soft rock implies.

“Sky Blue Sky” doesn’t offer emotional escape or tolerate self-pity, like the worst kinds of easy listening, but instead strikes a consistent, quotidian melancholy. The first line Tweedy sings on “Sky Blue Sky” is “maybe the sun will shine today” and this mix of guarded hope and barely suppressed pessimism is shot throughout the album. On “Hate It Here” Tweedy uses everyday details to achieve a precise emotional pitch redolent of the entire album: “I try to stay busy, I do the dishes, I mow the lawn, I try to keep myself occupied even though I know you’re not coming home.”

The member of Wilco most responsible for the dynamism lurking in this straight-laced music is Nels Cline. A virtuoso guitarist most comfortable in experimental jazz, Cline alternates between burning a hole through the song (“You Are My Face,” “Hate It Here”) and using his solos as quiet, understated crystallizations of the songs’ emotional states (“Sky Blue Sky, “On and On and On”). At times, particularly the final minute or so of the brilliant “Emotional Germany,” Cline’s playing gives “Sky Blue Sky” a tinge of 2007’s hippest influence – Steely Dan.

I think what I’ve found most rewarding about the hours I’ve spent with “Sky Blue Sky” is its gradual accruement in meaning. It’s as if every time I play it, it becomes more essential, offering a fuller glimpse of a complete artistic statement. In a time when the music industry is swinging back decisively in favor of the single over the album, Wilco has made a remarkable and definitive album.

Dan Deacon – “Crystal Cat”

I don’t know what this music is, but boy is it insistent! This is kind of music that would be perfect for that moment in a comedy where the main character wakes up on the most important day of his life, checks the alarm clock and realizes he’s overslept. I particularly like the wall-of-sound synths and the driving backbeat. Oh, and when the songs hits that first burst of Chipmunk-style vocals that sound better than I could have imagined. It works as the perfect release-valve for a song that up until that point threatens to steamroll you.

Sissy Wish – “YaYaYa”

Sissy Wish is more pop music from the Nordic countries. Basically, there is this instrumental break full of driving, organic percussion that segues into a nice bridge before the huge chorus hits again. It’s a moment that pretty much makes the song for me.

Justice – “D.A.N.C.E.”

This is the only song I’ve bothered listening to off the Justice album. The Ed Banger label hasn’t done much to impress me, but I do enjoy this song. Click on the link to see a video that does a better job of demonstrating everything good about “D.A.N.C.E.” than words ever could.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Rockers to Swallow”

“Rockers to Swallow” from the “Is Is EP” is a fantastic song. Karen O is in full-on rock-vamp mode, growling and moaning over a track that’s little more than riffage and arena-rock drumming. But it’s enough. I’m still not sure if I prefer this to “Down Boy,” another great single from the EP.

Vampire Weekend – “Oxford Comma”

Check these lyrics. No other band writes about this stuff with such aplomb (or at all), and after a journalism editing class – where Oxford commas are forbidden – I could understand the opening sentiment of the song. (I also particularly like the line “All your diction dripping with disdain” and the truism “Lil John always tells the truth.”) I think Vampire Weekend’s proper debut is scheduled for release early next year, but it has made its reputation this year with a bootleg, burned CD full of the band’s marriage of West African music and Ivy League prep called the “Blue CD-R.” “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” is probably the band’s signature song, but I’m more of an Oxford man. Also, David Byrne likes Vampire Weekend.

The Affair – “Andy”

An absolute keyboard-driven power-pop jam. The vocals are primarily “oh Andy Andy Andy” and first-love observations such as, “the first date was heavenly, in the movies on the balcony, when they dimmed the lights” and “I want to make out like bandits with you.”

Taken by Trees – “Taken by Trees - "Too Young (Toug Alliance remix)”

So Peter, Bjorn and John’s percussive “Young Folks” was a huge hit for an indie single, and while it’s a great song, a large part of its appeal is the guest vocals by the chanteuse who used to sing for The Concretes, Victoria Bergsman. Bergsman went solo this year releasing a nice folk album under the name Taken by Trees, but hearing this remix it’s obvious the entire album could have benefited from a shot of the world-pop that fellow Swedes the Tough Alliance inject into this song.

50 Cent – “I Get Money”

If I were putting my favorite songs of 2007 in any kind of order, this would be top 5. Easy. Sure, Kanye had the better album, but 50 dropping something this good when no one expected it is a minor coup.

Spoon – “Black Like Me”

When the album first came out “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” was my immediate favorite. That and, of course, “The Underdog.” I still love those songs, but I’ve come to appreciate the forthrightness of “Black like Me” – a rarity in the Britt Daniel catalogue of oblique, clever lyrics. It’s a devastating little song.

Of Montreal – “A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger”

In indie music, 2007 was Of Montreal’s year. This was my favorite song on the album the first time I listened to it and despite brief competition from “Bunny Ain’t No Kind of Rider,” it still is. HERE is what I wrote about “Hissing Fauna Are You the Destroyer?” all the way back in January.

LCD Soundsystem – “Someone Great”

“American Scum” and “All My Friends” are fantastic, but “Someone Great” is classic status -- the kind of song that will be revered decades from now. The music is gorgeous, but what was surprising is the way Murphy, as a singer and lyricist, slowly and indirectly approached the emotional trauma that’s at the song’s core instead of boring right to it. His approach is so smart and deft, something I never expected from a guy primarily known for party music. At any rate, a Google search will reveal numerous essays about this song, so I’ll leave it at that.

Rihanna – “Lemme Get That”

Okay, obviously “Umbrella” was a cultural force in 2007, and I love it. But Timbaland’s beat on “Lemme Get That” deserves recognition, and Rihanna’s vocal hook is a minor marvel.

Kanye West – “Flashing Lights”

“The Glory” is so good. The singles – “Good Life,” “Stronger” and “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” – are all fantastic, but “Flashing Lights” is still my favorite. And apparently it's pegged to be the fourth single. (The link is to a mixtape remix of “Flashing Lights” that includes The Clipse.)

Maroon 5 – “Won't Go Home Without You”

Here is what I wrote about this song a couple weeks ago:

Poaching The Police was a smart move for Maroon 5, but instead
of just borrowing a bass line, Adam Levine should look into
following Sting‘s lead as a singer.

Sting, with his tantric-fueled titanic sexuality, manages to
still sound appealing even when singing about stalking or
underage girls. Whereas Levine’s comparatively straightforward
love songs and public persona make him appear like a lecherous,
fratty meatball who is one miscommunication away from being a
sexual predator.

Still, the man is good in small doses. Levine was pitch-perfect
in Kanye West’s “Heard ‘Em Say” and his appearance in the SNL
digital short “Iran So Far.” With “Won’t Go Home Without You,”
he finally sounds as if he learned how to be romantic in his
own songs.

The White Stripes – “You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)”

A great pop song, the kind the Stripes have ably delivered on every one of its albums.

Timbaland – “Give It To Me”

Timbaland's remix of “Apologize” became one of the biggest hits of 2007. I thought it was a complete turd when I listened to “Shock Value” all the way back in January, and I still do. Who the hell is One Republic anyway? (Lord, Timbaland must be raking in the bills. I like to imagine him tossing a few dozen hundred-dollar bills into a blender as part of his protein shake every morning. ) At any rate, this is still the best song on Timba’s “Shock Value.” I think everyone involved spent about three minutes on the lyrics, but -- to quote one of the best singles of 2005 -- that percussion is bananas.