More Crow Counting
Posted: August 29th, 2009 | Filed under: Pop Culture | 27 Comments »
Well, apparently there are a few Counting Crows fans on the ol’ Blog. I have to admit that while I like the music, I don’t know much about the band (did not even know, until a Brilliant Reader pointed it out that it’s not THE Counting Crows). And maybe in a multiple choice I could have figured that that Adam Duritz is the lead singer … but there’s no way I would have just been able to come up with his name.*
*I am terrible with names. Just terrible. I get this from my father who, I believe invented the phrase: “Oh you know, the one, oh, what’s his name, you know, the one from, oh, shoot, you know who I am talking about, that one guy from the thing, come on, you know who I mean.” I use this phrase often. I tend to KNOW a substantial number of Jeopardy answers but if I ever went on that show I would up with like minus-$12,000 because, as far as I know, “Come on Alex, you know who I mean,” would not qualify as being in the form of a question.
Anyway, Chris Farley from over at the Wall Street Journal forwarded me the below link — an cool interview he had with Duritz at the “Wall Street Journal Cafe.” And I have to say that I like Duritz and Counting Crows a touch more after the interview. How cool is it, by the way, that the Wall Street Journal has its own cafe? If you go there, you can hear some music from India Arie, Ani DiFranco, Tom Morello and REO Speedwagon.
No, not really REO. What if you really want to see REO? Well, I heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend who heard it from another that you just have to go to your nearest State Fair.
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Anybody who likes Joy Division is arlight with me.
I heard the song Raining in Baltimore once in an episode of Homicide. Have loved the band ever since (well August and Everything After anyway).
Adam Duritz, the legend.
An ugly mo-fo who somehow landed Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox at the height of their popularity.
I should have been in a band.
Forget all about that macho shit and learn how to play guitar…
Circle Me, Adam Duritz
I always enjoyed the MST3K episode where, in order to repel an alien trying to destroy the Satellite of Love, Mike dresses up and imitates “the most repulsive character in the universe,” Adam Duritz.
I remember seeing REO Speedwagon at a local county fair six or seven years ago.
I keep reading “Adam Duritz” as “Adam Dunn” which leads to some interesting sentences.
I have no problem with Counting Crows in the larger sense, but him in a Joy Division t-shirt is a borderline abomination…
I don’t know what’s more awesome: that Chris Farley is able to send you e-mail from beyond the grave, or that he rose from the dead and learned journalism.
Joe- love the blog. Did you see the new snuggie commercial? there’s leopard and “classic camel” snuggies now!
“Um, Adam, do you, like … do you, uh, remember, when, when you had that … that song, in like, 1993 where you sang all like, um, “Mr. Jones and Me?”
“Yeah.”
(pause)
“That was awesome.”
@12 Sox Machine: Nice.
I thought this entry was going to be about Aaron Crow.
Mr. Jones was in ‘93? That’s 16 years ago!
Sigh.
Two things which are begging for a new Poz word…
ONE. I absolutely hated “Mr. Jones” when it was one the radio. I mean HATED it. As a BR already pointed out, “Raining in Baltimore” was great, but other than that, Counting Crows were radio kryptonite. But now, if the song comes on the radio, I will not only listen, I will sing along. The worst offender is “Every Rose Has Its Thorns” by Poison. When did I start liking these songs purely for nostalgia?
TWO. “Raining in Baltimore” really is a great song from a band that is, at best, mediocre. It’s not a one-hit wonder because the song wasn’t a hit, but I do love when a mediocre ot even bad band creates this one great song that you can’t believe. that band actually did it. There’s a song by Korn that I absolutely love. KORN. I can’t think of a band that is so completely without merit except maybe Limp Bizkit. And they have this one song in which the singer seems to have an honest to God breakdown on it. I find it mesmerizing.
No mention of the wig? Seriously that’s not his hair.
I think the Counting Crows are pretty good. “Recovering the Satellites” is a GREAT song off their 2nd album.
The first two Counting Crows albums were really good, IMO. I listened to them pretty frequently when they were new, but everything since then has been kind of meh. I saw them this summer with Augustana, and it would have been fun if I had known more than 3 or 4 songs they played. Frown.
Also, Sox Machine (#12) won the internet with that one.
The first two CC discs are great, the second two not so much.
The album they are still supporting, SaturdayNights and SundayMornings, is a nice return to form. I highly recommend it, particularly if you were a fan of August and Everything After and Recovering the Satellites but strayed in recent years.
I have a hard time calling any bad that put out an album as good as August and Everything After is “mediocre.” You string 11 great songs together, you get to avoid “mediocre” for your whole career regardless of how mediocre your individual singles or albums afterward may be.
Also not an appropriate Jeopardy answer/question:
“Who are three people who have never been in my kitchen.”
Don’t even try…
PS – Adam, I wanna be Bob Dylan too…
I saw REO *and* Styx at the Champlain Valley (VT) Exposition in about 2002 or so… let’s hear it for “oldies” and fried bread dough in a convenient one-stop shop!
I can’t fathom anyone with a respectable level of music appreciation could call Counting Crows (at best) mediocre. I can understand not really liking them; his voice is unique, the goofy dreadlocks, etc. And I totally get that it’s subjective and we all have different tastes.
But anyone who has really given them a listen would have to recognize that Duritz is a very talented, and occassionally brilliant songwriter. Their first two records are filled with great songs. Even their last few records, which overall aren’t as good, still hit some of the high notes.
Mediocre should be reserved for generic, same sounding, forumula rock bands: Nickelback, Creed, DMB, etc. If for no other reason than Duritz’s song writing ability, Counting Crows is anything but mediocre.
I dare anyone to listen to the song “Hard Candy” or “Long December” or “Murder of One” or “Cowboys” or “Have you Seen me Lately” or “Miami” or several others and still think them mediocre.
@1 – I have that same shirt…..but i really dislike the Counting Crows. As my sisters boyfriend once told me “Just because you like good music doesn’t mean that you can make it”. I’ll have to watch this interview….maybe they’re real cool guys.
I think it was Simmons who once compared Counting Crows’ to Doc Gooden’s careers – they started off mindbogglingly good and got depressingly horrible way too quickly. But Raining in Baltimore is almost as good a song as Homicide (well, except for about the last season and a half) was a show.
This evening at Jamba Juice, I walked in and “Mr. Jones” comes on, as if to greet me. I sort of knew that Joe had mentioned Counting Crows this week and I was laughing into my bike gloves the entire song, especially when the juicemaker volunteered that she knew all the words. And yeah, like Stephen above, this was a song (and band) I paid no attention to in 1993 — they were too popular and I thought I was too cool. I am happy the song got to me in the past few years; it sure made it feel like perfect late-summer tonight.