Okay, this is obscure

But there's a new ad for one of those bullshit body sprays that are aggressively marketed towards "guys". The kind of "guys" who read Maxim and think that Anchorman is the best film that Will Ferrell was ever involved with. The kind of guys who think that Family Guy is the funniest show on television and think that Cee-Lo Green's name is Gnarls Barkley. The kind of guys who see the ads and assume that spaying this shit all over their bodies will instantly result in more anonymous threeways. This line of advertising is inherently offensive, I suppose, but I've lost a lot of my ability to be offended by implied misogyny. No, what's irritating me is the song being used in the commercial. "Can't Seem to Make You Mine" by the seminal sixties garage band, The Seeds. The Seeds are one of those bands who were almost big in the sixties, but are now only remembered by music history nerds and compilers of overpriced nostalgia cd box sets that buy infomercial time at two in the morning, but dammit- that doesn't mean that they deserve this treatment. (I suppose that it's possible that the band approved the use of the song in exchange for their first payday in about thirty-five years, but I like to believe that they were screwed out of the publishing rights for their music by an corrupt record label or sleazy agent. Call me a romantic, if you must.) I'm beginning to resign myself to the day when I hear the Replacements or Husker Du in a Diet Dr. Pepper commercial.

While we're on the subject of the desecration of rock history, does anyone here care about the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame?

No? Oh. Well, that won't stop me. New inductions in a few days, and here are my thoughts:


Madonna- Not actually rock and roll. But she did put out some good stuff early in her career (Borderline and Live To Tell come to mind) and is second only to Dylan and maybe Kiss in her ability to manipulate the media and control her own image. And since only about two-thirds of the inductees are really rock and roll (I like Billy Joel fine enough, but only a couple of his songs could honestly be said to rock) it's hard to complain too much.
John Cougar Mellencamp- Really? I mean, Springsteen is already in the hall, so do we need the inferior version of him? Shouldn't be in.
Leonard Cohen- Yes, yes, a million times yes.
The Ventures- Sure. We need someone in to represent surf rock (although Dick Dale isn't in, which is kind of weird.)
The Dave Clark Five- Really? I'll go tell the Zombies and the Troggs to expect their invitations next year. Seriously, Dave Clark Five shouldn't be in before the Stooges. Last year, they apparently got more votes than Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, but the rules were jiggered with to put Flash in and keep Dave out. I guess this is a sort of make-up call.
Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff- Key to Philly Soul, so that's fine.
Little Walter- Played harmonica for Muddy Waters and a bunch of other Chess artists. So that's good enough for me.