Legends in a Jugular Vein

This month marks the 20th anniversary of the passing of MAD magazine founder and editor-in-chief William Gaines.  The milestone was not acknowledged by any media outlets, but his role in mid-to-late 20th century American satire is invaluable.  After my Playboy essay several months ago, I felt the need to write about a magazine that had a far greater impact on my formative years.

I was an undisputed comedy nerd growing up, and my three most reliable sources for laughs couldn't have been more disparate: newspaper comics, "The Simpsons," and MAD.  Reading strips like "Peanuts" and "Calvin & Hobbes" were age-appropriate, but I got away with MAD and the Springfield clan because they were, at least in my parents' aloof minds, "a comic book" and "a cartoon" respectively.  Even though MAD came into existence as a satirical comic book --I'll go more into the "classic 23" later on-- it was, and still is, a satrical magazine illustrated by commercial and comic book artists.

Even though Bill Gaines had the vision, it was the creative talent --the famed "Usual Gang of Idiots"-- that were the bloodline of the magazine. Some names became legend for their consistency, zaniness, and longevity: Al Jaffee, Jack Davis, George Woodbridge, Don Martin, Bob Clarke, Paul Coker, Antonio Phohias, Desmond Devlin. Some were masters of the caricature: Mort Drucker, Angelo Torres, Frank Kelly Freas, Jack Rickard.  Some fulfilled a niche: Irving Schild was the in-house photographer whenever realism was necessary; Frank Jacobs could be counted upon for poetry and song parodies; Dave Berg was given five pages of real estate per issue to espouse on middle-of-the-road, middle American foibles. Norman Mingo, the only World War One veteran to ever contribute to the magazine, gave birth to the magazine's most lasting symbol: mascot Alfred E. Neuman.

What made MAD even more idyosyncratic was that it allowed its readers to explore its past while offering its present. From the mid-60s until 2005 or so, MAD published a "Super Special" collectors' series alongside its regular publication that featured memorable articles from yesteryear. In any alternating month, I could laugh my butt off or get a skewed history lesson. More often than not, the oldies ran laps around the new stuff.

So what was the downfall of MAD, if there ever was one?  Even though the legendary roster mentioned above held tight for more than two decades, Gaines was reluctant to explore new talent.  The Usual Gang of Idiots were more than just hired hands and starving artists; they were Gaines' social circle.  Rather than ease in new talent sporadically a la SNL, the mid-to-late 1980s marked an awkward transitional period that some argue still affects the magazine to this day.  Rickard's sudden death, Phohias' retirement, and Martin's exodus more or less forced Gaines' hand. It's not to say that young guns like John Caldwell, Sam Viviano, Tom Bunk, Tom Richmond, and Drew Friedman haven't kept the tradition alive, but criticism of these new keepers of the torch has been much more harsh than they deserve.

For me, the turning point was issue #353, January 1997. I was on a day trip to Chicago with my dad, and bought the issue at a Union Station newstand. The majority of the issue was a combined parody to the movie "Mars Attacks" and a homage to the classic trading card series. My three dollar investment was an unexpected dud. Most of the articles in #353 relied heavily on gross-out humor, which would be fine if it were funny and not pandering.  Even at 12 years of age, I could tell that the magazine's editoral staff had betrayed Gaines' vision. The new guys didn't get it. Looking back, this 48-page pool of pus was a fluke of sorts, but my love was clearly on the wane.

By late 2002, my senior year in high school, I stopped reading MAD on a regular basis. On one hand, my taste in comedy was getting more sophisticated; on the other hand, the new editors' decision to a) publish in full color and b) include outside advertising had repelled to me to my breaking point. However, I still found the magazine's history to be utterly compelling. In the late '90s, EC Comics and Time Warner reprinted the "classic 23," the first three years of MAD's existence.  I bought two of these reprints when they first came out, I bought on the other volumes on eBay several years later.

As a comic book, MAD  was incredibly subversive for its time; the contributors were veteran artists, mocking their work and others, biting the hand of the square '50s culture that fed them. After 23 issues, the newly established Comics Code heavily censored and defanged the entire American comic scene, and Gaines and head writer Harvey Kurtzman were forced to reinvent MAD into a semi-monthly magazine.  Gaines and Kurtzman had a falling out shortly after, and Gaines guided the magazine into its aforementioned "classic" era.  Kurtzman spent the next 10 years trying to launch several MAD imitators and failed miserably.

Now that I'm nearly a decade removed from my one-sided relationship with MAD magazine, I can skim through old issues with critical thought and an adult sensibility. Its comedic influence on me plateaued years ago, but whenever I take my own stabs at satire, its aftertaste still lingers in my mouth.  Comedy is far more mondaine than it was six decades ago yet MAD still stands, weathered yet still driven, sitting at your local newstand, waiting for a new generation of smart-alecks to mold and shape.

Follow the Bouncing Ballot

I'm going to keep this week's blog short.  I spent most of last week in Kansas City with my dad, my first trip back "home" in over a decade, and I'm still catching up on things back in Illinois.  Rest assured, I'll be much more chatty next week.

"This will be Florida 2000 all over again!" cry the left-leaning activists. There is growing speculation --some legit, some unfounded-- that voter fraud and dirty tricks may play a part in the presidential election. The election is already fairly contested, with neither candidate running away from the other, but do we have to resort to fearmongering? Is paranoia getting in the way of the democratic process? Are we heading to the most staunchly partisan election in American history? The answer to all three questions is... maybe.

Florida's recent decision to outlaw early voting and add impediments to registering to vote has become a testy issue in a notorious swing state. On one hand, these new laws are meant to prevent non-US citizens and other undocumented residents to vote in November. On the other hand, a substantial percentage of the African-American population doesn't have IDs or registration.  Barring that some alterations are made, these new laws not only violate the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, but they evoke the old Jim Crow laws as well. Clearly, whoever wrote this law doesn't know their own state.

Speaking of elections, the movement to recall and usurp sitting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was an abject failure. I'm disappointed, but I will also admit that a lot had to happen to turn Walker into the midwestern Grey Davis. Ultimately, my neighbors to the north prefer fiscal responsibility and the illusion of a free market over basic civil liberties. Walker was elected to office less than two years ago by vanquishing a weak opponent, and here we stand today with Walker beating... that same also-ran. I don't think I need to reiterate how much I resent Walker's activist, against-the-people agenda, and with any luck the Wisconsin GOP will come to their senses sometime before 2014.

That Wonderful Year in Music... 1982

If 1981 found pop music in a cocoon, than in 1982 it slowly emerged. (The colorful butterfly was 1983, of course.) MTV was in its first full year, not yet at the cultural forefront but certainly gaining momentum and relevance. After three years under the radar, new wave was suddenly indistingushible from pop; the synthesizers and drum machines that dominated radio for much of the decade planted both feet in '82.  Thanks to Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa, you also had two of the most important rap singles of all time.  The singer-songwriter subgenre experienced a short renaissance, courtesy of Bruce Springsteen's first solo album, John Mellancamp's breakout record, and two quarraling Britons (see album #3). Punk gave way to hardcore, and the ashes of disco seeped into soul and R&B.  The only question is, what holds up three decades on?

NOTE: I put the Violent Femmes' first album on my 1983 list two years ago. As such, it is omitted from this list.  My mistake.


BEST ALBUMS
1. Thriller, Michael Jackson. You're probably thinking the same thing I am: this album is 30 years old? Indeed it is, and as a pop album this still holds up. Using his 1979 smash Off The Wall as a blueprint, the soon-to-be King of Pop takes the genre-bending and pushes it: harder funk, harder rock, delicate ballads, silky-smooth soul. The centerpiece is the spooky title track, which later became a legendary music video and cultural phenomenon in its own right.
2. 1999, Prince. Speaking of funk, '82 was a breakout year for the little dude from Minnesota that always wore purple. A critics' darling in search of an audience, 1999 put Prince on the map, thanks to hit singles like the title track, "Little Red Corvette," and "D.M.S.R." Side A offers the hits, side B is experimental and challenging; never mind the computers, this is raw talent at full power.
3. Shoot Out The Lights, Richard and Linda Thompson. If Fleetwood Mac's Rumours is the greatest divorce rock album of all time, than this is the British folk tantamount. The irony is that most of the album wasn't written during Dick and Linda's breakup, but two years earlier. Alas, their penchant for songs about domestic squabbles and failing relationships took on a level of immediacy and gravitas the couple had never reached before.
4. Bad Brains, Bad Brains
5. Imperial Bedroom, Elvis Costello
6. Rio, Duran Duran
7. Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen
8. Night and Day, Joe Jackson
9. American Fool, John Cougar Mellancamp
10. Combat Rock, The Clash. In a just world, this would've been their last album; 1985's Cut the Crap did anything but. Sounding more like a jagged arena-rock act than their long-gone punk contemporaries, Combat depicts a band splitting in two: where Mick Jones is aspiring to be the next Pete Townshend, Joe Strummer keeps the band's DIY/funk/reggae influences in check. Another left-field hit in a year overflowing with them.

Honorable Mentions: The Lexicon of Love, ABC; The Message, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five; Pornography, The Cure; Love Over Gold, Dire Straits; Avalon, Roxy Music; English Settlement, XTC.

BEST SINGLES
"Rosanna," Toto
"867-5309/Jenny," Tommy Tutone
"'65 Love Affair," Paul Davis
"Private Eyes," Hall & Oates
"Gloria," Laura Branigan
"Vacation," The Go-Gos
"I Want Candy," Bow Wow Wow
"Situation," Yaz
"Goodnight Saigon," Billy Joel
"Don't Change," INXS

"Run to the Hills," Iron Maiden
"You've Got Another Thing Comin'," Judas Priest
"We're Only Gonna Die," Bad Religion
"Alpha Romeo," Dangerous Birds
"I Always Call Her Back," The Del Fuegos
"Planet Rock," Afrika Bambaataa
"Sexual Healing," Marvin Gaye
"You Dropped a Bomb on Me," The Gap Band
"Forget-Me-Nots," Patrice Rushen
"Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" Culture Club

BEST VIDEOS
1. "Hungry Like The Wolf," Duran Duran. The first "big budget" video was also a game-changer, one of several clips to explore the boundaries of music promotion in MTV's early years. Shot in Sri Lanka, "Hungry" evokes Raiders of the Lost Ark and set the template for future globe-hopping videos by Simon LeBon and the boys.
2. "Never Say Never," Romeo Void. One might assume this video was directed by Jim Jarmusch, yet it wasn't. Regardless, this artsy clip is the yin the song's post-punk/funk yang.
3. "I Know what Boys Like," The Waitresses. One of the decades' great two-hit wonders (the other being the seasonal favorite "Christmas Wrapping"), this flirty and playful clip is both dated-looking yet incredibly hip.
4. "The Metro," Berlin. Nonchalantly grabbing eyes and ears in late '82, Berlin's first hit utilizes neo-noir and
homages to 1940s cinema to bolster a song about love and longing.
5. "Mickey Mouse," Sparks. Not a traditional music video by any means, nor was this song released as a single, this is probably one of the most bizarre (and underrated) performances in Saturday Night Live history.

Honorable Mentions: "I Ran (So Far Away)," A Flock of Seagulls; "The Message," Grandmaster Flash.

Your thoughts?

Through Another Freshman's Eyes

Last year, I wrote a blog post about "The Mindset List," the famed article published every year by the sociology department at Beloit College.  This year's college freshmen --or next year's sophomores, if you will-- were born mostly in 1992 or 1993, and I attempted to estimate their worldview. This year, most soon-to-be high school grads were born in late 1993 or early-to-mid 1994, right smack in the middle of Bill Clinton's first term in office.  Even though Prof. Ron Nief and his staff won't publish their annual list until early August, I thought I'd give it another stab. Some items didn't necessitate repeating, so here's a link to last year's list if you think you see anything omitted.

With that said, if you are an incoming college freshman...

...Martin Brodeur has always been the starting goalie for the New Jersey Devils.
...the World Series has never been cancelled, and relations between Major League Baseball and the Player's Union have been relatively peaceful.
...you only remember one Chicago Bulls three-peat.
...when you hear the name O.J. Simpson, you're much more likely to associate it with a triple homicide than with football.
...when you hear the term Alzheimer's Disease, you associate it with Ronald Reagan.
...the Summer and Winter Olympics have always been held in seperate, two-year alternating spans.
...Jason Kidd, Grant Hill, and Juwan Howard have always played in the NBA.
...Richard Nixon, Kurt Cobain, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Cesar Romero, Tip O'Neill, Bill Hicks, Dinah Shore, Telly Savalas, John Candy, John Wayne Gacy, Henry Mancini, Burt Lancaster, Raul Julia, and Jeffrey Dahmer have always been dead.
...Johnny Carson never appeared on TV in your lifetime.
...you have never attended a Nirvana or Uncle Tupelo concert.
...you never saw Phil Hartman on "Saturday Night Live."
...first-run episodes of "The Simpsons" have always aired on Sunday nights.
...People Weekly --er, I mean People-- has always been published in full color.
...the phrase "Don't touch that dial!" makes no sense whatsoever.
...kids raised in Chicago have never watched Bozo the Clown before heading to school.
...you have never ordered anything from the Sears "Big Book."
...you have never had a sip of Crystal Pepsi.
...Newt Gingrich has always been a major player in American politics.
...the Federal Assault Weapons Ban and the Brady Bill have always been in effect.
...there has always been a member of the Kardashian family in the news.
...Aldrich Ames has always been in prison.
...there have always been prisoners and refugees at Guantanamo Bay.
...Rwanda has always been synonymous with genocide.
...there have always been alter girls.

That's a lot to think about. If you have anything else to add, let me know. Next week I look at the year in music, 1982 so keep your nostalgia hats on.

Rainbow Bridge

So President Obama has no problem with same-sex marriage? I had assumed as much for a while now; he alluded to being pro-LGBT during the '08 election, but he didn't specify his stance until last week. As a political manuever, it's just as risky as it is brilliant. The American LGBT population, a steady growing bloc of voters, are already wary of the GOP options. President Obama's endorsement wrangled the cattle back to the ranch. As such, Mitt Romney declared his preference for traditional marriage --which he awkwardly phrased as "a preference for women"-- in a rare reachout to social conservatives. As such, neither candidate will make a crossover appeal to new or undecided voters.

What frustrates me, however is that the gay marriage debate only further distracts voters and candidates alike from a much greater issue, the economy. Social issues keep getting pushed to the forefront, and with Biden's remark being the exception to the rule, it's been mostly social conservatives dropping the bombs.  If this election focused strictly on job growth and fiscal responsibility, Mitt Romney would win in November in a walk. The mere mention of abortion and gay marriage, however is only adding muscle to the Obama campaign. Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum used social issues to undermine and distract Romney during the primaries and now it'll linger until the election. This has become an election of "values," even though I'm not sure that's the topic that needs debating, it is inadvertantly swinging the election in Obama's favor.

One other note:

+ Modern rock is back on Chicago radio... sort of. Earlier this month, Merlin Media --the same multimedia behemoth that killed Q101-- bought out a tiny "smooth jazz" station's signal and flipped it to alternative rock. Only problem is, that new signal is on 87.7 FM; older radios can't pick up that station, and the actual antenna is so far away from the city that it's difficult to listen to "Q87" on a car radio. This feels more like an unwieldy public relations ploy than an actual radio station (for now, anyway).

Next week: the 2012 memory list.

My Seventh Annual Fantasy Emmy Ballot

Is it May sweeps already? The 2011-12 TV season just flew by. There doesn't seem to be any speculation yet for the 64th Annual Emmy Awards, and even though the nominations won't be announced for another two months, I'd love to get the ball rolling. (By my best estimate, tvguide.com will post theirs around Memorial day.) With only a few familar faces gone ("Friday Night Lights," Steve Carell) and a weak crop of new shows, I'm predicting very little turnover from last year.

With that said, here is my 2012 Fantasy Emmy Ballot:


Writing in a Variety/Comedy/Music Series: (name listed is head writer) Barry Julien, The Colbert Report; Mike Sweeney, Conan; Steve Bodow, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; A.D. Miles, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon; Bill Maher, Real Time with Bill Maher; Seth Meyers, Saturday Night Live.
Outstanding Variety/Comedy/Music Series: "The Colbert Report," Comedy Central; "Conan," TBS; "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," Comedy Central; "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," NBC; "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," CBS; "Saturday Night Live," NBC.

Supporting Actress in a Drama: Christine Baranski, The Good Wife; Christina Hendricks, Mad Men; Jessica Lange, American Horror Story; Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men; Archie Punjabi, The Good Wife; Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones.
Supporting Actor in a Drama: Alan Cumming, The Good Wife; Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones; Giancarlo Esposito, Breaking Bad; Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad; Michael Shannon, Boardwalk Empire; John Slattery, Mad Men.
Supporting Actress in a Comedy: Julie Bowen, Modern Family; Alison Brie, Community; Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock; Jane Lynch, Glee; Sofia Vergara, Modern Family; Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live.
Supporting Actor in a Comedy: Ty Burrell, Modern Family; Chris Coifer, Glee; Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men; Nick Offerman, Parks & Recreation; Danny Pudi, Community; Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family.

Lead Actress in a Drama: Kathy Bates, Harry's Law; Mirielle Enos, The Killing; Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU; Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife; Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire; Jessica Pare, Mad Men.
Lead Actor in a Drama: Jim Caviezel, Person of Interest; Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad; Michael C. Hall, Dexter; Jon Hamm, Mad Men; Hugh Laurie, House; Timothy Olyphant, Justified.
Lead Actress in a Comedy: Zooey Deschanel, New Girl; Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie; Tina Fey, 30 Rock; Laura Linney, The Big C; Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly; Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation.
Lead Actor in a Comedy: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock; Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm; Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory; Joel McHale, Community;  Ed O'Neill, Modern Family; Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory.

Outstanding Drama Series: "American Horror Story," FX; "Breaking Bad," AMC; "Dexter," Showtime; "Game of Thrones," HBO; "The Good Wife," CBS; "Mad Men," AMC.
Outstanding Comedy Series: "30 Rock," NBC; "The Big Bang Theory," CBS; "Community," NBC; "Louie," FX;  "Modern Family," ABC; "Parks & Recreation," NBC.

Let the debate begin!