Hey Mr DJ: The Downside Edition

Ah, early November.  The beginning of the downside of the year for me.  I can’t stand most of the year between now and March.  It’s because I hate Winter, Christmas, snow, and gaining holiday weight.  New Year’s Eve will be the next bright spot. Until then, I’ll try to keep the gloom at bay the best I can.

That’s not to say I’ve had a bad week.  Just the opposite.  This Halloween was a triumph.  From pfluffy’s DJ post last week, the costume party I went to on Saturday, Halloween night, and even to November 1st it was awesome.  Not even the 34 degree weather on Halloween night could ruin it.

All Thrill Family traditions were followed with traditional pumpkin carving and trick or treating.  We didn’t drive around in the car while trick or treating either. We march.  According to my iPhone, we made it about 3 miles and the kids ended up with what I swear was 5 lbs of candy each.   When we got home, there was hot chocolate and popcorn.  As our tradition dictates, we continued handing out candy until the last candle in the last jack o’ lantern burned out.

After that, the kids were invited to watch scary movies with me.  The deal is that I watch three Halloween favorites.  Anybody who stays up for two of them doesn’t have to go to school the next day.  I also take off of work because I get hammered.  This year, we watched Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, Shaun of the Dead, and the original Nightmare on Elm Street (which I passed out during).   We had a good day on Wednesday and went out to lunch together on Hookyween.

But now?  Nothing to do but dread the holidays.

Adding to my annoyance is that the GOP tax plan was announced today and I’m in the awkward position of hating it.  As I’m reading it, I think our tax burden will go up and we’re sure as hell not rich.  I’m not saying we work at Taco Bell, but I don’t get free sushi for being a high-roller either.  I’m not completely certain how it shakes out, but I’m leery of it.

This apparently is my great reward for never once voting for a Democratic candidate on any national ticket and a straight Republican one in 2006, 2012, 2014, and 2016.  Feel free to mock me for being a GOP loyalist who is being punished by my own party’s pro-wealthy policies.  I clearly deserve it.  With my luck, this will be the ONE goddamn thing the Senate manages to pass this year.

So let’s step into the downside with this week’s categories.

  1. Downsides: The less-known songs by great bands.  B-Sides.  They get no radio play, but you like them.  Also included here are rarities and hidden tracks (inb4 NIN’s “Hurt”, the best known hidden track).
  2. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: This is about when a group you like does something shitty.  Share with me the songs you hate by bands you love.
  3. Erections Have Consequences: We’re coming up on the one year anniversary of Trump’s election.  Post the one song that best exemplifies how you felt the morning after.

Grendel: I like Marilyn Manson but I hate the Mechanical Animals album.  Dope Show.

Santino: A quality B-Side from one of my favorite Beastie Boys albums. Heart Attack Man.

pfluffy: My favorite B-Side from my favorite Alice in Chains album at the moment.  I Know Somethin’

Zurvan: Flipping the cassette of the Joshua Tree.  Trip Through Your Wires.

spootyjim: Velvet Revolver was great, but it’s weird how it’s basically 80% of Guns N’ Roses but not remotely the same band.  Axl Rose was somehow what both made it successful and destroyed it.  I still have my favorite VR songs though.  Superhuman.

WVR: Faith No More has some excellent B-Sides.  I like them more than the A-Sides, really.  This one is special.  Yes, I know it’s about a pedo.  Still a good song.  Call it the downside of Hollywood.  It’s the Edge of the World.

Wallow with me in Missouri.

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13 comments

  3. Season two of Stan Against Evil started this week, and I imagine more Ash vs. Evil Dead is coming soon too, so there’s that.

    I’m not a Marilyn Manson fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ve listened to Mechanical Animals hundreds of times over the years. I think that’s owing a lot to Billy Corgan doing the producing on it.

    Since you’re feeling Melancholy about the holidays, I was going to do a theme list of favorite B-sides from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Surprisingly there’s not much of anything for them on the interwebs, but now I’m nostalgic for the Smashing Pumpkins.

    Pug – The Smashing Pumpkins
    Transformer – The Smashing Pumpkins
    Ugly – The Smashing Pumpkins
    Bodies – The Smashing Pumpkins

    I remember when Green Day’s Dookie album came out and how everybody in my Junior High had their minds blown by All By Myself when it was discovered. Definitely my first experience with hidden tracks.

    On a completely unrelated note I finished “What the Hell Did I Just Read” yesterday. It was a much tighter effort than the previous two outings in the JDATE series, and while it was still laugh out loud funny it felt like it was missing something when it was all said and done.

    I’ll have to give it a little time and listen through it again and see if I can figure out why it didn’t resonate as strongly with me as the first two. Still a worthwhile read/listen for fans of the series.

  4. This was always one of my favorite Killers songs from Hot Fuss. It never got due attention and is a B-Side. Vaguely reminds me of U2’s “I Will Follow”

    Midnight Show – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrLacAR3JCI

    I’m nostalgic for the Smashing Pumpkins

    My favorite:

    Zero – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBkjcvNztKQ

    I remember when Green Day’s Dookie album came out and how everybody in my Junior High had their minds blown by All By Myself when it was discovered.

    This was the first hidden track I ever encountered. Still a mindfuck to this day:

    DIsgustipated by Tool – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOvwc8_QXiY

    On a completely unrelated note I finished “What the Hell Did I Just Read” yesterday.

    I’m finally going to publish a book thread to tomorrow. I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts on that and anything else you’ve checked out recently.

  5. At least there’s some good movies to look forward to between now and March. Thor is looking to be a fun ride (seeing it this afternoon), The Last Jedi is coming before Christmas…and I’ve got all of my fingers crossed that Justice League doesn’t suck. I haven’t been this excited for a string of movies since…The Phantom Menace crushed all of my hopes and dreams.

    Nice options this week.

    #1: Semisonic was/is kind of a B side band, with only one real hit in the US (Closing Time). I saw them open in the 90’s for Soul Asylum and Matchbox 20. One of my favorite discoveries at that concert was Singing In My Sleep.

    #2: So many choices. Chuck Berry – My Ding-A-Ling

    3. Erections Have Consequences: We’re coming up on the one year anniversary of Trump’s election. Post the one song that best exemplifies how you felt the morning after.

    Ding, Dong, The Witch Is Dead

  6. Ding, Dong, The Witch Is Dead

    LOL. I’m still looking for the one that captures my feelings.

    We’ve mentioned GNR a couple of times now. Funny thing is that Mrs Thrill liked a few of their songs growing up, but never listened to Appetite for Destruction all the way through. She only knew Paradise City, Welcome to the Jungle, and Mr Brownstone in addition to her favorite, November Rain from Use Your Illusion.

    She was shocked the first time she heard me playing all of the other songs on the album. My favorite on side B:

    My Michelle – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tTxHl52j9M

  7. Speaking of GnR and Axl, some of high school buddy Shannon Hoon and Blind Melon’s best stuff is shit no one’s ever heard of:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBmA705ULjc – Dear Old Dad

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS4isFXM6iY – Seed to a Tree

    This one hits all categories – a b-side no one’s ever heard of, it sucks, and encompasses how I feel about the election:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GkVjhWiG-w – Cocks and Asses

    edited to add – NOT SAFE FOR WORK!

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