If not for Mark Evanier, my blog Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do) would not exist. I've never met Mark, we don't interact much (if at all), and our only extended conversation was when I interviewed him via telephone for a history of bubblegum music I wrote in 1997.
But Mark's own blog News From ME is the model for everything I want to do on my blog. His dedication to keeping his blog updated and refreshed is the direct inspiration for my knuckleheaded decision to commit to doing at least one Boppin' post a day, every day. It's not Mark's fault if Boppin' ain't your cuppa, but if you like what I do here, credit Mark for demonstrating to me how it should be done.
Every Christmas season, I like to direct readers to Mark's annual re-posting of his most popular blog piece, a wonderful story of how he once saw Mel Tormé and..well, you should read it for yourself through the big-lettered link below. I know I'm prone to hyperbole, but this is the most effective, heartwarming, bittersweet piece I have ever read. Upon re-reading it every year, it still brings a sting to my eyes.
For more background info on my debt to Mark Evanier, you can go back and re-read a (very) little something I wrote in 2016 about Mark's Mel Tormé story, Evanier & Torme. And if you've never read Mark's piece, I urge you to do so now. Mark said, "I love people who do something so well that you can't conceive of it being done better." In that spirit, you really oughtta go immerse yourself in the perfect blog piece:
MARK EVANIER'S XMAS STORY
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Fans of pop music will want to check out Waterloo Sunset--Benefit For This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, a new pop compilation benefiting SPARK! Syracuse, the home of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl. TIR'N'RR Allstars--Steve Stoeckel, Bruce Gordon, Joel Tinnel, Stacy Carson, Eytan Mirsky, Teresa Cowles, Dan Pavelich, Irene Peña, Keith Klingensmith, and Rich Firestone--offer a fantastic new version of The Kinks' classic "Waterloo Sunset." That's supplemented by eleven more tracks (plus a hidden bonus track), including previously-unreleased gems from The Click Beetles, Eytan Mirsky, Pop Co-Op, Irene Peña, Michael Slawter (covering The Posies), and The Anderson Council (covering XTC), a new remix of "Infinite Soul" by The Grip Weeds, and familiar TIRnRR Fave Raves by Vegas With Randolph, Gretchen's Wheel, The Armoires, and Pacific Soul Ltd. Oh, and that mystery bonus track? It's exquisite. You need this. You're buying it from Futureman.
(And you can still get our 2017 compilation This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4, on CD from Kool Kat Musik and as a download from Futureman Records.)
Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 100 essays (and then some) about 100 tracks, plus two bonus instrumentals, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).
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