At a certain point, the music alternately known as “adult contemporary” or “easy listening” got rebranded, for some inexplicable reason, as “yacht rock.” I discovered this by accident as I was watching PBS one evening and saw a concert by Yacht Rock Revue, a band that mainly covers songs from the late ’70s and early ’80s. I was impressed by their ability to replicate the musical and vocal arrangements of some of my favorite songs and there was a certain kitschy charm to their Huk-a-Poo shirts, hip-hugger bell bottoms and aviator sunglasses. When I saw them perform tonight at Pier 17, Nicholas ..read more

I just had a very detailed discussion about tariffs, global trade, the economy and America vs. China with a salesperson at the Gap! It all started when I wanted to buy a belt. When I walked into the Gap store on Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District, the salesperson explained that they didn’t have very many belts and they wouldn’t be getting any more in until November. He said I could go to the Gap flagship store in Times Square and, furthermore, they were converting the Flatiron location into a “Gap Factory” store. (It sounds like an outlet store but it basically just means they’d be selling ..read more

Last night I saw Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1982 film adaptation of Jean Genet’s novel Querelle at Anthology Film Archives in the East Village. I saw it when it came out, but I had hardly any recollection of it, aside from Jeanne Moreau singing “Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves.” Not only does it still hold up, but it’s quite shocking even by (or especially by) today’s standards. It’s basically a Tom of Finland drawing come to life. I think it might be the most erotic film I’ve ever seen, even though there’s no explicit sex or nudity. The night before, while I was channel surfing, I happened ..read more

I remember the first time I saw the first Stray Cats (UK) album at Bleecker Bob’s. (It was an import; they were still relatively unknown in the United States.) It was one of the only times I bought an album just because of its cover. (Remember albums? Remember cover art?) In the middle of the new wave ’80s, with its synthesizer “hair bands,” these guys carved their own musical path, doing rockabilly, a style that harked back to the ’50s. With his pouty good looks and pompadour to-die-for, lead vocalist/guitarist Brian Setzer was a natural for the then-nascent MTV. No one was more surprised tha ..read more

I felt very un-A List Gay when I entered the Soho Playhouse, but I was eventually won over by Nora Burns’s new show, The Village! A Disco Daydream (and that’s saying something for a curmudgeon like myself). While I may be a little biased (she once lived in my building), Burns has been paying her dues for years in comedy troupes like Unitard, The Nellie Olesons and Planet Q and is finally getting the recognition she deserves (including a review in The New Yorker!). And while I didn’t quite catch the end of the disco era in New York City (although I did own a copy of the album A Night at Studio ..read more

It’s been a difficult week for me. In the week since the presidential debate and Biden’s subsequent pushback, I’ve gone back and forth on whether or not Biden should drop out of the race. The New York Times editorial board and several of their columnists (Thomas L. Friedman, Paul Krugman, Michelle Goldberg) have come out in favor of Biden dropping out. So have several senators and congressmen (including New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler). The Times isn’t a radical, left-wing newspaper and these senators and congressmen aren’t radical, left-wing politicians. All are in agreement that Biden ..read more

I just went to Target to buy a new fitted sheet, walking through TriBeCa to their Greenwich Street store. Everyone who can afford to has left town. Even the few “affordable” options have jacked up their prices for the holiday so that only the most wealthy can be spared. The only people I see are tourists and the poor people (like me) who couldn’t afford to get the hell out of Dodge. There are hustlers selling counterfeit goods on Canal Street. Walking down West Broadway, all the restaurants and high-end clothing and furniture stores are closed. Even they don’t want to deal with the tourists ..read more

Madonna and her daughter, Mercy I had high expectations for Madonna’s concert last night at Barclays Center after reading Mary Gabriel’s exhaustive new biography, Madonna: A Rebel Life, which confirms Madonna’s place as a cultural icon. I had lost touch with her music after Confessions on a Dance Floor and thought this might be my last chance to see her. (Is she going to keep touring when she’s 80, like Mick Jagger?) I had heard from a fellow audience member that the 8:30pm show wouldn’t start until 10pm. It actually started at 9pm (only a half hour late), but first we were subjected ..read more

Last night, my friend Lisa had an extra ticket to see Chris Spedding at Bowery Electric. I’m not particularly a fan, but I feel like when something like this falls into your lap, you have to say yes unless you have a good reason not to. (And the fact that I’d normally be watching TV on a Wednesday night was not a good reason not to.) Chris Spedding isn’t exactly famous, but he’s a well-respected “side man,” a musician’s musician who played with Roxy Music at their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Previously, I’d only seen Spedding play with Robert Gordon (another show that Lisa ..read more

I had high hopes for Jon Stewart, really I did. I even added Comedy Central to my Spectrum channel lineup specifically so I could watch The Daily Show. I didn’t appreciate the way Stewart was unceremoniously dropped from Comedy Central along with his compatriot, Stephen Colbert. Colbert was kicked upstairs to Comedy Central’s older sibling, CBS, where he continued to thrive, while Stewart was left to wander the streaming wilderness. But Stewart and Colbert were built for a time when politics were, for lack of a better word, normal. The stakes in this election are about nothing less than democ ..read more