Speaking of Seattle, the city once hosted the Seattle Pilots, a time chronicled in Ball Four by Jim Bouton. Aaron from Glass Rock wrote an award-winning essay (that might get mentioned in the State of the Union address, hint to tune in tonight) on this B.C. slice of American literature.
Why I love ‘Ball Four’ by Jim Bouton
by Aaron Mullan
Some people think of this as a book about baseball, or about heros being cut down to human size, and those things are incidental to the book but I would suggest any Roger Angell collection for the former and maybe John Barth’s Chimera for the latter if that’s your bag. This book is a real-life story about an earnest, intelligent guy caught in a world where his alleged peers turn out to be likeable, clever, or interesting, but rarely all three. A masterpiece of observational humor set in 1969 and written from the viewpoint of a malcontent within the crew-cut mainstream who sympathizes with the Hippies but seemingly has no desire to enter their Universe. If you liked the animated version of Doc Ellis’s LSD no-hitter you will love this book.
In related news, Matt from Glass Rock discovered this morning that Detroit, MI gave us Killer by Alice Cooper and Funkadelic by Funkadelic in the same year 1971. Matt had already been working on an essay on the Alice Cooper Group’s “Dead Babies.”
Why “Dead Babies” by Alice Cooper Group Fascinates Me
by Matthew Kantor
Extremely extreme for the time and even now; this song delivers on its title, indeed about dead babies, and features the resignations “We didn’t love you anyway” and “We didn’t want you anyway.” The original Alice Cooper Group played tightly in real freak-out fashion, psychedelic mixed with garage and cabaret and the band as a band remain underrated. As the song unfolds, Alice at first seems like the bad guy but then the narrative turns evil-er as it appears the parents have killed their child. A song needed to be written about this? This is recommended for anyone who likes songs that make you feel terrible for breakfast as well as those fascinated with the motivation behind Ghostface Killah’s “Maxine” and those who can hear Jesse Helms saying “It’s outrageous filth.”
Also, Glass Rock begins our Valentines Day fire sale on pull out quotes; soon to follow and you can pay us when you see us.
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