On Repeat Mailbag

Lots of awesome Q's for our first mailbag issue

Cliff Claven. Photo: NBCUniversal

Late last week, I asked everyone to submit any questions they might have for me, and boy, did you all come through! I wasn’t sure how many responses to expect, but there were plenty to pick from!

Thank you to everyone that commented, DM’ed me on Twitter, or replied directly to the post.

Let’s get right into it:

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Robert: I noticed on social media that you are in the airline trade and wanted to know what some of your favourite aviation-themed songs are.

A. Correct! I work for a US "Big 4" carrier in my day job. Here are a couple of my favorite aviation-themed tracks (in no particular order):

• The Beatles- "Back in the USSR"

• Joe Pena- "Jet Airliner" - Huge shout to Judd Marcello for sharing this in a recent newsletter.

• Frank Sinatra- Come Fly With Me

• Hoodoo Gurus- 1000 Miles Away

• REM- "Airportman"

Amy: The Cure. Discuss!

A. One of my faves! Let's see: Disintegration is a masterpiece. The song "Push" is criminally underrated. "2 Late" is the B-side to "Love Song," but it should've been the other way around. I love that Robert Smith is fighting the good fight against ticket prices and/or facility fees for their upcoming tour.

Ellen: Hi, Gizmo! Ok, Kevin, I think you may be able to guess the artist/album(is that dating myself?) that I think you should feature… Michael Gurley, and his last project, Ultrasound.

A. I'll see what I can do!

Judd: First record you ever bought.

A. I'm 99% sure it was Huey Lewis & The News' Sports (on tape).

Norman: Is there an album that disappointed you on the first listen but you came to love and understand over time and more listens?

A. Teenage Fanclub's "Bandwagonesque." I bought it when it first came out, listened to it once or twice…and then promptly put it away for ~30 years. I used to use this album to make a case for things like iTunes & streaming ("no more buying a whole record for one song!").

Then one day, I dusted it off, put it on, and fell in love. The record's closer, "Is This Music?" was my most listened to on Spotify last year. I guess 16-year-old me just wasn't ready for it.

Andres: I would love to know your favourite album of all time and why. 

A. Oof. My pick for the top spot shifts often, and I'm constantly worried that as soon as I hit "send," I'll change my mind. That said, the one record that is always in the running is New Order's Substance. I've worn out more copies of it than anything else and have played it more than any other as well.

Paul: What song do you restart before it ends just to hear the intro again because you love it that much?

A. I'm not sure about intros, but I'm a sucker for a good outro and will rewind the last 30-60-90 seconds of any number of songs to listen to over and over. The first one that comes to mind as I type this is American Music Club's "Wish the World Away."

Steve: What favorite band/artist did you discover because they were the opening act to the band you bought tickets to see? You had not heard their music before seeing them live.

Derek: What artist have you been to see live, didn't expect much of, but instead were blown away? Or has this happened to you?

A. The same answer for both is Throwing Muses. I had no idea who they were before seeing them onstage. They opened for New Order on their Technique tour- still one of the oddest pairings I've ever seen- and promptly rearranged my mind.

I bought Hunkpapa a day or two later and never stopped listening.

Pete: If you had the power to reunite any band, who would it be and why?

Talking Heads. For a band that has had such an outsized influence on me, it’s a shame that I never go to see them play.

Jeremy: Did you ever, er, *borrow* an album from someone? And not give it back? Extra points for justification.

A. When we were kids, a guy from the neighborhood lent me several records and tapes for me to copy—everything from The Stooges to 7 Seconds. 

He came back for the records reasonably quickly, but not the tapes. So I just kept playing them & put off returning them. He was a couple of grades ahead of me & graduated/left for college, and I didn't see him after that.

Flash forward to about 15 years later, and I was packing for a cross-country move. A kid lived in our complex that seemed a little lost. I'd always see him walking around the parking lot or sitting alone. I knew he liked many of those same bands, so I gave 'em all to him on my way out the door.

Glenn: What made you want to start writing about music, and how do you manage to remain so focused and consistent?

A. I am a failed drummer. Mercifully for everyone, I figured that out quickly and moved from trying to play it to writing about it. Then real life got in the way, and I put it all on a shelf. When the pandemic set in, my job went from keeping several plates in the air at once to something like one of those distant early warning stations in Alaska. I spent a lot of time monitoring Air Traffic Control radios waiting for flight diversions that never came. I suddenly had a lot of free time to fill.

At the same time, my kids moved to online learning, and I decided to take a class too. Mine was "Writing For Social Media." I figured it'd be an easy A. It wasn't, but the fire was relit. 

As for consistency, I scribble notes all the time; on my phone, on teletype paper, whatever. I put them into skeletal (handwritten) frameworks so I'm never staring at a blank page, and I block time on my calendar to write the same way I might for any other event. 

I wish I had a more glamorous answer, but that’s what works for me.

Bill: Why is it that "nothin' But the Blues" disc jockey from 88.1 FM has never heard of Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson's "Cleanhead Blues?"

A. Sometimes, the universe keeps the answers to itself.

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Thank you for all the great questions! This was a lot of fun to put together. Have a question or something you want to share? Comment below or reply to this email!

I love hearing from everybody and answer every one of them.

Kevin—