In Praise of the "Eight is Enough" Theme

Truly, after all these years, I can contain myself no more. I love the "Eight is Enough" theme, the most wonderously bad TV theme song ever.

First, the vocal. Grant Goodeve warbles this with a distressing vibarato while simultaneously sounding like he's being suffocated with a pillow. (As an aside, Wikipedia says that Grant Goodeve had a brief singing career. Very brief, I'm guessing.)

Second, the nonsensical lyrics: "Oh, we spend our days like bright and shiny new dimes." Because we're, er...okay, how exactly do we spend our lives like dimes, new or otherwise? "There's a plate of homemade wishes on the kitchen windowsill." Because wishes, like pies, need to...cool before you serve them?

Third, and best, is the gloriously incongruous disco rhythm track going "thumpa thumpa" in the background. It was 1978, after all, but if this was an attempt to tap into disco fever, I have to say it fails miserably.

And yet, despite all of this, or because of it, the "Eight is Enough" theme works somehow. It's delicious. It's like a White Castle burger; at first, it's repulsive, but soon, you find yourself craving it.

So c'mon everyone, all together now, "There's a magic in the early morning we've found..."

The Replacements in Champaign, 1985

Found some stuff from a show a Replacements show I went to in Champaign (home of the fabulous University of Illinois) in 1985. Tickets were a lot cheaper then.


They played at a place called Trito's, which was a bar on the second floor of a Green Street building.


They gave us a program! Isn't that cute?! The inside of the program helpfully gave us their bio, in case we (at their concert) didn't know who they were:

I remember the show pretty well, and while they certainly were "loose," the show wasn't the messy drunken affair that the Replacements had a reputation for. (Saw that one a few years later in Chicago.) It was a really great show, in a very small venue. Tommy looked like he was about 17. Bob was alternating between wailing on his guitar and a bottle of beer. Oddly, I don't remember much about Paul Westerberg. I also don't remember anything about the opening band, the Outnumbered. Sorry, local Champaign guys!

Interplanetary Unicorn

Hello, all, and Happy New Year! And what could portend happiness better than a trans-planetary winged unicorn, in oil on black velvet? Saw this painting on eBay and HAD TO HAVE IT. Question for discussion:Is the unicorn flying or just weightless?

Take a Trip with Nancy

The blonde and miniskirted Nancy Sinatra takes you Up, Up, and Away, accompanied by some extremely perky friends!

Sinatra Nancy - Up up and away
by Salut-les-copains

Turkish Superman

Over at PCL Linkdump there's a post about Turkish remakes/interpretations of American movies, including Rambo, Tarzan, Spiderman, and my favorite, Superman. Below for your enjoyment is a three-minute montage of Turkish Superman action scenes. I particularly enjoy the editing in the train crash segment!

Star-eyed goth? man? woman?

Another piece that I've had for a while. My sense is that it's supposed to be Marilyn Manson, but that's far from clear. It looks a little like Todd Rundgren, but it may be some Bowie-esque figure, or it could just be some random goth guy or gal. Some nice touches here, especially the four purple starbursts surrounding the head. The briar wrapped around the neck. The mist/halo around the hair. The painting is not signed, not dated, and not titled, so that means your guess is as good as mine!

It's Halloween!

No better time than Halloween to salute that the awesome Shaggs! Although they are charitably described as "outsider" music, and were supposedly one of Frank Zappa's favorite groups, what they really are is three well-meaning young women who could not sing, play instruments, or write songs, and yet somehow succeeded brilliantly at all three. From the lisping vocals, to the randomly strumming guitar, to the drums that usually sounded like they were playing a different song, the Shaggs on one hand were a true disaster. They modestly entitled their album "Philosophy of the World." And yet...and yet, their charm and awfulness is somehow transmogrified into something incredible. Yes, I know they sound terrible, but most bands couldn't sound this terrible if they tried.

Anyway, one of my fave Shaggs songs is "It's Halloween." Someone has graciously posted a YouTube video with the song accompanying some sort of Halloween parade or something. Wasn't really paying attention...was just listening to the Shaggs roll over me. Hope you enjoy them too. Happy Halloween!