Run-DMSteve

  • Ballroom blitz

    New Year’s Eve 2010 Baby Boomers Social Club Dinner & Dance Red Lion Convention Center Portland, Oregon I remember in the late ’80s when the Gen Xers first figured out that the Baby Boomers were sucking up all the oxygen on the planet. Back then I had several discussions with…

  • When the Messiah comes, this blog will start making money

    Messiah George Frideric Handel 1741 Since today is Christmas I’d like to have a few words with you about Christmas music. And of course when you’re rummaging around in the Christmas music cornucopia you’ll straightaway find that only one character can go the distance for you, and that would be…

  • New feature: Bands I saw 30 years apart!

    The B-52s Boston, Mass. 1979 Portland, Ore. 2007 In the summer of 1979, when The B-52s sang “Everybody had matching towels,” I was one of the people in that little club waving matching towels. Mine were white with a red checked pattern and I bought them that morning at Goodwill.…

  • Bring the noise

    Get Bach! The Baronics 1996 Nothing says “respectable,” “significant,” and “serious” like classical music. And nothing says “pretentious,” “turgid,” and “snorefest” like rock musicians taking classical out for a spin. Need convincing? Let’s examine the evidence: J’accuse! Exhibit A: The radioactive remains of Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”…

  • Roll over, Kurt Cobain

    Grunge Lite Sara DeBell 1993 I was living in Seattle when our fair city unleashed a pair of unstoppable cultural forces: coffee and grunge. Everyone knows what coffee is: overpriced. What is grunge? Figure 1. Let’s go grunge-spotting! Here are some general characteristics to help you seek and spot grunge…