The Counterforce No. 31
Dave Hill, Daniel Kitson, Andre Braugher, The Birthday Party doc, Wil Malone, Xmas songs, and more...
Last week I caught up with the most recent works from two of my favourite comedians - Dave Hill and Daniel Kitson. I highly recommend both.
Dave’s books are always a treat, especially the audio versions which Dave reads himself, so you don’t miss out on his comedic rhythms and emphases. I even made the trek down to Powerhouse Arena in Brooklyn for the Awesome Game launch back in November, where we were all pleasantly surprised to see Dave Foley in the audience. During the Q&A, the Kid In The Hall put his hand up to ask about whether it’s right for cities that don’t get snow to have hockey teams, and spouted some hilariously strong feelings on the subject. Author Dave does address this in the book, and it’s important to note, lest you get the idea that this is a ‘sports book’, that Dave outright states how almost all other athletic competition bores him senseless, but there’s something about hockey that really turns things up to 11. And so this quest to discover why hockey isn’t the most popular sport in America. Ostensibly that is, for there’s many a time it seems Dave’s travels are undertaken simply because he’s seen a freaking rad jersey somewhere. And so he jets off to Poland, Canada, Kenya, and Finland, and admittedly the jerseys he describes sound worth the airfare. There’s an entire chapter (plus additional sprinklings throughout) dedicated to discussing NHL logos and how they could be improved upon, and you’ve got to admit, these are some damn fine proposals. At the launch, Dave made a solid case for the Quebec Nordiques (RIP) logo as the all-time best, being as it is an igloo with a hockey stick. And perhaps it is Connecticut pride, but my money has always been on the Hartford Whalers (also RIP) symbol. It freaking blew my mind when someone pointed out to me the H for Hartford inside the space made by the whale tail and W. And it was cool to hear CT’s own Zambonis getting a mention in The Awesome Game. For those who don’t know The Zambonis are a Connecticut band who have been around since 1991, playing songs exclusively about hockey. Hundreds of them. Dave relates in the book that The Zambonis’ Dave Schneider even has a Whalers guitar.
Besides the jerseys though, there’s reports on the regional hockey scene in all those locales, yes even in Kenya, where the fantastically named Kenya Ice Lions play, at the country’s only ice rink, inside the Panari Hotel in Nairobi. And as if flying all that way wasn’t ridiculous enough, when Dave gets there, due to some snafu, he has to join them for roller hockey instead.
If you’re unfamiliar with Dave’s History Fluffer podcast, I can’t recommend it enough. I was at some of the tapings back in 2019, and laughed for days afterwards. Phenomenal stuff where Dave relates being an integral part of some major 20th Century happenings - Woodstock, Mötley Crüe, The Brat Pack, ABBA… - while Jim Biederman and Jodi Lennon continually probe these implausible stories.
And Dave’s The Pride Of Cleveland special is up on YouTube
And then Daniel Kitson’s A Story For Christmas. I bought this when it was announced some months ago and waited with great anticipation. When I finally put it on, I realized I had heard the story before, but that did not dull my enjoyment in the slightest. Kitson remains one of the finest storytellers, and although when not doing strictly stand-up, some of his story shows can be light on jokes - though no less captivating for it - I was pleased, especially with needing laughs with what a tough year this had been, that this one is both a wonderful tale and very funny.
Polly is trying to get back up North for Christmas and accidentally hits an old man named Nicholas with her vehicle (a motor home, procured last minute after her car dies). He refuses an ambulance but is heading her way so joins Polly in the passenger seat. Despite being both foul-mouthed and foul-tempered, having Nicholas along makes for a magical Xmas adventure. Kitson combines cynicism and hope and joy into a tale most poetic, complete with laugh out loud moments, that you’ll want to listen to again and again. And if you don’t know his After The Beginning, Before The End, it remains my favourite comedy album of all-time.
We lost a comedy great last week in Andre Braugher. His Captain Raymond Holt from Brooklyn 99 is one of the best comedic characters I’ve ever seen. What he brought to that role was incredible - the deadpan delivery, that deep voice… perfection. His “I don’t want to sound dramatic, but today has been… suboptimal” has me in stitches whenever I remember it. And all the tributes to him are lovely, sounds like a great guy.
Finally got to see Mutiny In Heaven, the Birthday Party documentary. Great stuff. I knew most of the story, of course, but it was rad to see all the old footage. And what really struck me about the film was drummer Phil Calvert’s contribution. They were a freaking powerhouse when he was in the band. Not that the stuff when Mick Harvey moved to drums isn’t very good too, and they talk about how they wanted a change of direction then, more moody less frenetic, but yeah the clips as a 5 piece are outstanding.
Johnnie Johnstone is always tweeting interesting-looking records that I wanna hear. And recently posted Wil Malone’s 1970 s/t album. I’m usually way too busy to sit down and immediately listen to a whole record when I first hear about it, but that’s exactly what I did with this, and so glad I did. Malone would go on to work with Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, The Verve, and Depeche Mode, to name a few, but this sounds nothing like any of those. Lovely dreampop/psychfolk. Really deserves a reissue.
Thrilled that The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass has made two year-end lists. One of Vulture’s Best Comedy Books of 2023 and just got this lovely blurb from Art Edwards at Book and Film Globe.
“The Ballad of Buttery Cake Ass by Aug Stone. Stone surprises everyone with the best novel about rock music fandom since High Fidelity. He sends his vinyl collector protagonist along with his best friend on a quest to find Buttery Cake Ass’s Live in Hungaria album, which—whether it exists or not—holds all of the magic of rock music itself. As the bread crumbs fall, it’s clear the duo is just looking for an excuse to indulge their musical obsession. Stone sentence-by-sentence wordplay becomes a new kind of literary comedy.”
SEVEN SONGS
Last year I finally got around to making the ultimate holiday mix that I’ve been talking about for years. Combining odd novelty singles - though there aren’t as many as I expected there would be - with some of my perennial favourites. Pulling it out again now, I’m very happy with it. So in that spirit…
The Zambonis - ‘Gritty Xmas (And a Hockey New Year)’. Very pleased to find The Zambonis have multiple holiday songs.
The Qualities - ‘It’s Christmas Time’. It never fails to blow my mind that this is Sun Ra.
Brenda Lee - ‘I’m Gonna Lasso Santa Claus’.
France Gall - ‘Il Neige’. I first heard this song on the PA when Saint Etienne played their warm up Xmas show at The Zodiac Club in Oxford in December 2003, I believe right after the band exited the stage. Shazam did not exist then but I always remembered the tune and how much I wanted to hear it again. It wasn’t until after I joined Twitter some seven or so years later that I would finally found out what it was, tweeting to Bob Stanley himself about it. Wonderful wintry yé-yé
Carla Thomas - ‘Gee Whiz, It’s Christmas’. Oh yeah
The Flirtations - ‘Christmas Time Is Here Again’. Oh yeah again
The Jive Turkeys - ‘Get Down Santa’. Oh yeah for the hat trick
I wanted to include Keith Jarrett’s version of ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’ but it’s only for YouTube Premium, so do yourself a favor and look that one up on your own.
Oh, and did you know Billy Idol has an Xmas album?
As always, these Seven Songs lists are collected here on a monster Apple playlist