Wichita Lineman is playing in the elevator to cool. Of course, the cable has broken, and the car is rocketing down the shaft on the way to Beelzebub’s Lounge, but my points stands. Don’t forget to jump just before the car reaches the bottom.
Is Sergio Mendes the least cool hip person ever, or is he the least hip cool person extant, or what? Of course persons of a certain vintage never complain about Sergio’s records, because without them their parents would never have gotten jiggy in the first place and brought them into this benighted world.
Oh the chin strap beard; the corduroy coats; the polyester tunics on the willowy sorta-singers; a blast of pink Qiana shirt cuff as Sergio himself tinkles all over the piano; the grim, low-bidder hairdos.
Is that… it can’t be… It is! It’s a stairway to heaven in the background!
Which lets you know exactly where you’ve ended up.
Also Sprach Sippican: Another In The Long List Of Songs I Don’t Like That I Like
6 Responses
Do they even know what happens when it snows on the line? Doubtful. Otherwise, I have nothing to say, because my personal version of this is waaaaayyy worse!
I played in enough soul bands, the Nehru jackets and stovepipe pants, Puerto Rican fence climbers polished hi-gloss. Never ever was in a lounge act. Rather rub shite on my head than play "It's Not Unusual" which is why I never made the big time, I reckon.
Casey, know whatcha mean about the Midwest winters. There were times if we didn't have the power poles along the road we'd be off in a field. Fence line was not visible, snow horizontal at 40mph, hypnotizing at night, felt like Star Trek, breaking into warp drive. Wipers turned into three pound hunks of ice and the ass end of the car wanting to get up in front. Oh … boy, wanderin' there for a minute …
Went to see Sergio and Brasil '66 in 1968 at the Amarillo Civic Center. Front row seats. It was actually too close, and you could see up the women's very short dresses, which my friend and I had not expected. I don't remember them singing "The Wichita Lineman," but I do remember this:
Chove Chuva
Constant is the Rain
Chove Chuva
Endless is the Pain.
It was a fabulous concert. And I can tell you that I was wearing that night: an orange wool dress (that was waaaay too short), big gold hoops in my ears, and false eyelashes.
Do men ever remember what they were wearing?
So far, I'm liking the Fonkee version the bestest.
No, Deborah, but we do remember what the women were wearing.
I saw this one a year or two ago, love the sound of the longhorn bass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDPuK_tqG-Y