Yup, we all know that Carson Daly is a shamelessly average and wholly dispensable prop-up whose overweening ego and little else has landed him on a platform of idiot television celebrity. Here’s a wall-eyed narcissist who commands the respectful attention of television viewers the nation over for once hosting MTV’s Total Request Live. Bah. How this blatant careerist — a guy whose ambition clearly overshadows his talent — landed his own network show is beyond us. Oh, how we long to drag him out back by the compost heap and plug him with a bullet.
Having said all that, we here at Hit Singles are regrettably forced to eat shit and give up some Daly kudos. See, Daly secured the Paybacks for two nights on his late-night television show, Last Call with Carson Daly. Look for Wendy Case and company on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 4 and 5. The show airs at 1:35 a.m. So tune in, the Paybacks will be the show’s house band; no doubt a quick-fix tonic to Daly’s perennial blandness.
Stop your sobbing
If anyone, Chrissie Hynde has taught us that rock ’n’ roll marriages rarely last longer than the next world tour (see sad sacks Ray Davies and Jim Kerr) and any attempt at them is just a tear-jerking lullaby or a beer can full of regrets waiting to happen. Well, here’s hoping true love and leaps of faith prove the Pretender wrong. Last weekend at the Detroit Yacht Club, fetching Fonda frontchick Julie Benjamin and Italy/Young Soul Rebels records lynchpin Dave Buick hitched it up. That’s right, hottie Benjamin is now all Buick. The matrimony and ensuing reception lasted until the Yacht Club’s 2 a.m. closing time and soldiered on at the Bronx Bar, whose proprietors kindly opened up after hours for the occasion. The wedding’s libation-swimming guest list revealed a who’s who of Detroit racket makers, including Creem publisher Robert Matheu, Adult., assorted Waxwings, and ex-Slumber Party members, guys from the Go, Blanche’s Dan and Tracee Miller, Niagara, ,Warn Defever, Dion Fischer, Jack and Meg, Wendy Case, Mike Trombley (DJing) and so on and so forth. Scene of note: As the handsome couple strode the aisle, Hentchmen/Payback John Szymanski ably performed on organ “Here Comes the Bride.” And he did it without a hitch.
Poking Bush
One of the better protest songs to float into Hit Singles’ periphery lately comes from the Brakemen, a slightly anachronistic yet unyielding Detroit rock ’n’ band. The single “Taking Down King George” is a good old-fashioned protest song festooned with fat riffs and trade-off vocals by song authors John Milan and Rick Pinkerton. Close your eyes and imagine Warren Zevon roaring in the voting booth.
The ditty tackles Dubya using King George III as a metaphorical template. King George, you’ll note, is fondly remembered for going completely fuckin’ bonkers, in part because he lost the American colonies. It’s a song that asks us to politely recall our history and watch it hastily repeat. Bravo.
The tune is available for free download at thebrakemen.net.
The Brakemen perform Oct. 29 at Ye Olde Tap Room (14915 Charlevoix, Detroit. Call 313-824-1030) with the Orbitsuns.
Celebrating Suffrage
Detroit Summer, a Cass Corridor nonprofit bent on a grassroots rebuilding of Detroit, is throwing a De-troit party. But not a fancy soiree with Grey Goose and ersatz fashionistas. Nah, this is a Cass Corridor hip-hop shindig. the Detroit League of Pissed Off Voters is teaming up with Detroit Summer and using their youth space (3611 Cass Ave., Detroit) on election night to host the exclusive N2 party. Local emcees Majestic Legend — whose long-awaited solo album is plopping forth soon — will serve up some prickly rhymes alongside fellow wordsmiths Finale and Invincible. DJ Munk and DJ Slopoke will spin. Word is that a few members of the Gorilla Funk Mob will slide thru at some point like the musical Dutch Shultz and Meyer Lansky to lay down the thickness. And though this event is all-ages, drinkers might want to tote a traveler. Showtime is 10 p.m., the show is free. Call 313-333-3112
