Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Pick me up

It's been a little depressing around here lately.
The other day I finished an Otis Redding biography, which of course ended with the death of the 26-year-old genius soul sensation in a plane crash in Madison, Wisconsin, along with four members of his backing band, The Bar-Kays, who were all under 20 years old.
I knew it was going to happen, but I didn't know Redding's first and only number one hit didn't come until after his death, with the posthumous release of "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay."
Things got even sadder later that night when I decided to watch "Control," the 2007 biopic of Ian Curtis, lead singer of the influential British band Joy Division. As the band gained fame, he was diagnosed with epilepsy, developed severe depression and hanged himself in his kitchen. He was 23 with a wife and daughter.
The book and the movie were both great, but damn. I think I'm going to get a Meatlovers' Pizza and watch "Tommy Boy" or something.
Actually, this video of Otis live at the infamous Monterey Pop Festival ought to do the trick:



Here's Joy Division doing "Transmission"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Why you bringin' me down, man? But, really, it IS time for a pick-me-up. We've just slogged through two seasons of HBO's depressing historical drama Rome, and we're now ready to delve into Curb Your Enthusiasm for some Seinfeld-inspired laughs.

I didn't know you were into Joy Division. I have some good listening choices if you're interested.