The Pencilstorm offices will be closed for Memorial Day weekend but I wanted to leave you with a few songs to consider for your playlist while grilling out and boozing in the sun. I'm on deadline trying the mop up the coffee shop, so work with me on my typos and stuff.
Rooty Toot Toot - John Mellencamp I know Hotdogs and Hamburgers from the same record seems to be the obvious pick, but this gem from the highly underappreciated Lil' Bastard are some of my favorite lyrics of all time. Spare me the serious Decemberists' type drivel. Writing that kind of stuff is easy.
OK, Decemberists fans, I hear your challenge for a joust and the joust is accepted. Just so the deck isn't stacked, I picked the Decemberists #2 song on Spotify. Rooty Toot Toot isn't even in the top 100. Should be an easy dub. And.....begin.....
John Mellencamp - Rooty Toot Toot
Got my hands on a little bit of dough. so I went to the grocery store
And got some steaks to go, went by, and picked up my gal, Teddi Jo
We had ourselves a picnic beside a dirty road
Rooty toot toot Rooty toot toot
We had it made in the shade
Like a bell through the hoop
Spinning and tumbling inside this
Hoola hoop
Living and learning rooty toot toot
Decemberists - Down By the Water
See this ancient riverbed
See where all the follies are led
Down by the water and down by the old main drag
I was just some tow-head teen
Feeling 'round for fingers to get in between
Down by the water and down by the old main drag
The season rubs me wrong
The summer swells anon
So knock me down, tear me up
But I would bear it all broken just to fill my cup
Down by the water and down by the old main drag"
John Mellencamp - Rooty Toot Toot
We laid out a blanket and started a fire.
Had the radio playing from inside the car
I took off my shirt and kicked off my shoes
She read the paper and told me the news
She said, "There's a lot of people out there"
"Who are at the end of their rope"
"Sometimes, baby you've got to lay low"
Rooty toot toot
Decemberists - Down By the Water
Sweet descend this rabble round
The pretty little patter of a seaport town
Rolling in the water and rolling down the old main drag
All dolled up in gabardine
The lash-flashing Leda of Pier nineteen
Queen of the water and queen of the old main drag
The season rubs me wrong
The summer swells anon
And the knock out blow from Johnny Cougar
We stayed there all day , we both get us some real good suntans
I thought, that was OK, sometimes life can be so grand
We were getting' ready to shake out that place
When the Illinois state trooper got in my face
He said, "You're on private property"
But once he cooled down, he was OK
Sometimes you're golden, man
That's all I got to say
Rooty toot toot
Rooty toot toot
We had it made in the shade
Like a bell through the hoop
In conclusion, my point should be obvious: There are good reasons the Renaissance Festival isn't held on the same weekend as the Indy 500. Or maybe it is, that thing goes on forever, but my point is, crank up Rooty Toot Toot.
Bonus Material!!! This floor and beer aren't going to drink and mop itself! Wait..I meant...not drinking the mop water... but the other thing.....anyway.....
Cheap Trick have released three new full-length records in the past two years. Despite this unprecedented run by a band of their era, they just put out a new single last week. Check it out. I've been blasting it picking up Owen from middle school this week, embarrassing him terribly in front of his peers.
If that doesn't float your boat, dig Cheap Trick playing a MTV show right on the beach complete with an intro from a really, really stoned Ken Ober. These were the glory days of MTV and it looked like it. RIP Ken. Also, does the live version of Ghost Town make you tear up a little or it just me? Yeah, it's probably just me.
I've always found CCR to work well with suds & sunlight. I'll throw out this groovy little jam to make peace with my hippie friends.
Finally, though I'm not a jam band kinda fella by any stretch, I sure do love me some Neil Young and Crazy Horse. If you caught the debut show by Colin and the Bowlers a couple weeks back, you might have noticed we mixed in the following tune, sung by our new bass player Andy Hindman. Back in the early Watershed days, when Andy was still in our van before getting a promotion to the Goo Goo Dolls tour bus, we used to wear out the record Ragged Glory by Neil and the Horse. Especially when we found ourselves camping. Crank it up, climb a tree and have a great holiday weekend. See you on the other side and thanks for supporting Pencilstorm. - Colin G.