Author: Ira

My old friend Bruce emailed me yesterday to ask if we were going to pay tribute to Ralph Kiner.  In 1969, we would meet every morning at our lockers at PVC middle school and one would ask the other, “How about those Mets?” after the formerly hapless team we both loved had somehow or other won another game.  We were glued to Channel 9 on tv and AM radio’s WJRZ, which meant we were glued to the broadcast team of Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner. The Mets have played 52 seasons, and for every one of them, Ralph Kiner’s been in the broadcast booth.  Season 53 just got a lot sadder.  A few years ago, our pal Steve Thornton put together this film in which we acknowledge Ralph’s iconic postgame show, Kiner’s Korner.

Kaplan’s Korner | Yo La Tengo

In 1985, Maxwell’s only had shows on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, except on special occasions.  I was the house soundman, and the less said about that, the better.  Yo La Tengo, three shows under the collective belt, asked Steve Fallon if we and Antietam could play all four Wednesdays in February, two sets per band each night.  I’d do sound and other band members would work the door, not a particularly taxing position as we weren’t expecting big business.  February 6 was night one.  We won’t be releasing the live album anytime soon, but it was great practice.

Switching centuries, Andrew writes from a land down under:  6 March 2007: YLT played the Corner Hotel in Melbourne, Australia (our hometown). This was nine years to the day since Jaclyn and I met. I was trying to find the right way to propose to Jaclyn. Thought your show might be it. It wasn’t — too nervous. But great show all the same.

6 February 2008: We got married in Melbourne, in the garden of Heide Museum of Modern Art.  Some friends played songs for us: double bass, acoustic guitar and female vocal. We ended the ceremony with a cover of Sugarcube.  (We walked in together to Islands in the Stream and followed Sugarcube with Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You.  Great day!)

Finally, we’d like to wish a happy birthday to one-time YLT cover girl, Zsa Zsa Gabor!

 

Sitcom Theater.  Are there any two sweeter words in the English language?  As you may recall, when we went on tour in 2011 with a spinning wheel, we promised/threatened to perform a sitcom in its entirety if and when the wheel landed on Sitcom Theater.  It took two weeks, but finally, at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago, three years ago today, it happened.   I began Jerry Seinfeld’s monologue that opens The Chinese Restaurant and we were off.  At first most of the audience was with us, give or take a naysayer up front (audible at 1:32 on this video).  But the honeymoon didn’t last.  Despite stellar supporting performances by William Tyler and our crew, at some point the chant MU-SIC MU-SIC MU-SIC was all but drowning out our expert comic timing, and we knew first-hand what Jackie Rogers Jr. went through during Gimme Jackie.

Less aggressive audience participation from Brighid and Michael, who write to us from North Carolina: Sometime in about the summer of 2001, my boyfriend made me a mix tape, which contained Our Way to Fall and henceforth it became our song.  Fast forward to May 5, 2006 – our wedding day.  We danced our first dance to Our Way To Fall.  The best part was how sentimental it made our friends and family feel – even if they had never heard Yo La Tengo before. 

And then on February 5, 2007, we saw Yo La Tengo in our hometown of Carrboro, NC at the Cat’s Cradle.  They played Our Way To Fall during the encore.  My husband and I sang along at the top of our lungs and loved every minute of it.  Since our friend’s band played the opening set for the show, I went backstage with his wife to grab her coat.  Somehow I went through a doorway and was standing in front of Georgia, Ira, and James, just minutes after they had come off the stage.  I felt bad for suddenly being in their private space, so quickly went for the door.  But then I couldn’t help myself, I turned to Ira and told him it was our song, and our wedding song and I thought they were totally amazing.  I’m pretty sure I stumbled over my words like a 12 year girl, but it was worth it!

 

One score and four years ago, on Nicholas Hill’s Music Faucet show on WFMU, we collaborated with phone-caller Daniel Johnston on what remains the most requested number in our repertoire.  So let’s take a moment to thank then-roommates, current FMU dj’s Gaylord Fields and Toddophonic Todd, who provided us with a rehearsal of sorts, calling in advance of Daniel to sing “Farmer John” backed by Georgia, Dave Schramm and me.  Speaking of ex-roommates, a year ago, we were in Minneapolis when we heard about Reg Presley‘s passing, so we invited Mark Freeman and Cindy Blum for an impromptu version of “Wild Thing.”  But by then Dawn from Minneapolis was long gone: “My girls (Olivia – Junior Scout and Madeline – Daisy Scout) make a stop at the First Avenue office every cookie season. This year we were all treated to Yo La Tengo’s soundcheck, and the band even bought some cookies.  When Olivia’s cookie mom asked the troop how sales were going, she excitedly raised her hand and yelled, ‘I got to sell some cookies to indie rock band Yo La Tengo!'”

Twenty-four years ago today, in pre-redevelopment Williamsburg, the quartet that recorded Fakebook–Dave Schramm, Al Greller, Georgia and I–performed for the first of only three times.  But the show on my mind right now happened two years earlier.  Traveling by minivan, topped with a carrier that kept out most (but by no means all) of the rain, we were on our way to the west coast for the first time, Stephan on bass, Phil Morrison helping out.  Tonight’s stop: the Varsity in Tuscaloosa AL where as I recall pool tables outnumbered Yo La Tengo fans by a comfortable margin.  We opened as strong as we knew how, the third song being “Somebody’s Baby.”  Soon after, someone approached the stage with a note, requesting a Jackson Browne cover.  Perplexed, I said we had already done one.  The note bearer was aware of that, and was requesting another.  After the set came everyone’s least favorite ritual: Asking the first hapless person to offer a compliment if they could put us up.  We ended up on campus, in a group house with multiple VHS copies of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  Georgia and I spent the night end to end on couches, and I don’t believe I slept a wink.  Oh well, dinner was great and the compliment we had received was one we would repeat for the rest of the tour and beyond: “I really get off on ‘Clunk.'”

 

We’ve had some particularly fun shows in Atlanta and Milwaukee and Jacksonville on this date over the years, but right now we’re just thinking about the late Ricky Luanda, on and off stage.  RIP, though it’s really hard to think of him at rest.