What's All This Then?

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What's All This Then?

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Friday Edition

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About This Site

a quick contest from where
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Booking Bands

The walls in the washroom at our studio are all chalkboards. It was Susan's idea and after she spent a weekend painting them up, not much happened. An occasional drawing or joke was added, a visiting courier might leave a crude message or one of Jim's kids would draw a puppy or write something unintelligible. Lately, however, we've taken to using that forum for a series of wordplay games and the current one is pretty fun. The idea is to mash up the name of a book with the name of a band. Here's a few of our examples to get you started:

The Things They Might Be Giants Carried*
The Who Moved My Cheese*
The Old Man and The Sea and Cake*
Charlie Daniels and the Chocolate Factory*
Catch 182*
Horton Hears a Hoobastank*
Of Mice and Men at Work*
Bare Naked Lunch Ladies*
The Agony and the XTC*

* = one we'd already come up with

Note: Booking Bands was part of a talk Jim gave at SXSW called "A General Theory of Creative Relativity."

One last batch of good ones we've been saving

No Use For A Logo (John McLennan)
He's Just Not That Into Q and Not U (Pete Corcoran, our first entry!)
Ramones of the Day (Walt Taylor)
Four Agamemnon Blondes (Rick Alfaro)
SidVicioushartha (Michelle DeCol)
The Necronomiconway Twitty (Mike Everett-Lane)
Courtney Love in the Time of Cholera (Andy Martin)
Jane Eyre's Addiction (Michelle Caplan)
Abba Karenina (Sharif Ewees)
Bridge over the River Jamiroquai (Michelle DeCol)
Devil in the White Stripes* (Matthew La Fleur)
The Scarlet Pimpernelly Furtado (John Upchurch)
Wallflowers for Algernon (John Upchurch)
Into Thin Lizzy Air (Cheryl Fingerman)
Buffalo Tom's Cabin (Largehearted Dave)
You Shall Know Our Velocity Girl (Ian Leckie)
The Sun Also RZA (Anne Holub)
The Ramones Quimby, Age 8* (Eric Weeks)
Everything Is Illuminated Nugent (Alex Gordon)
Everything but the Girl Is Illuminated (Meredith Payne)
The Odyssey and Cake (Geoff Manaugh)
Even Cowboy Junkies Get the Blues (Mark Bauer)
Anne of Marvin Gaye-bles/Anne of Al Green Gables (Jackie Gavin-Smyth)

James Frey? Wasn't he in the Eagles?

A Million Little Pixies (Aaron Kelly)
A Million Little Feat Pieces (Jim Sheeran)
A Million Little Richards (Brian Braiker)
A Million Little Peaches and Herb (Robert Hofheimer)
My Friend Lynrd Skynrd (Daniel Pink)
My Friend Leonard Cohen (Jamie Stolarski)
(I am TOTALLY dismayed that no one got
"A Marillion Little Pieces*" or "My Friend Len")

Douglas Adams' Collected Works

(all from Andrew Huff)
The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy 500*
The Restaurant at the Living End of the Universe
Life, The Universe and Everything But the Girl
Mostly Harm-Les Paul
Gentle Giant's Holistic Detective Agency
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul Coughing
The Meaning of Mr. Lif
Jefferson Starship Titanic
Last James Chance to See
Leftover Salmon of a Doubt
(You forgot "Solange (Beyonce's Sister) and thanks for all the Fish.)

Charles Dickens' not-so-slim pickens

The Pickwick pAperchAse (Cy Culpin)
Nickolas Nickelback (Joshua Johnson)
Oliver Twisted Sister (Joshua Johnson)
Nicholas Nickelbee Gees (Jim Sheeran)
A Christmas Carole King (Tracie Bedell)
A Christmas Carole King Lear (John Upchurch)
A Christmas Carol Channing (Meredith Payne)
David Gray Copperfield (Troy Kukes)
Bleak Housemartins (Tom Ward)
A Tale of Two Bay City Rollers (Tim Carvell)
A Tale of U2 Cities (Jessica Sheeran)
Great White Expectations (John Boeckmann)

Dr. Seuss, meet Dr. Octagon and Dr.Dre

The Reverend Horton Heat Hears a Who (Aaron Kelly)
Horton Hears The Who (Jason Caldeira)
The King Crimson's Stilts (Jeremy J. Quinn)
Green Day and Ham (Mike Everett-Lane)
Al Green Eggs and Ham (Ryan Miller)
Green Eggs and M.C. Hammer (Taylor Stevens)
Mr James Brown Can Moo (Cy Culpin)
The Cat Power in the Hat (Cy Culpin)
The Sneetches and Wolfmother Stories (Cy Culpin)
Warlocks in Socks (Cy Culpin)
One Fish two Fish Blonde Redhead Blue Fish (Cy Culpin)
One Fish, Two Fish, Hootie and the Blowfish (Ryan Miller)
One Phish, Two Phish, Red Fish, Blue Phish (way too many)
One Phish, U2 Fish, Simply Red Fish, Vida Blue Fish (Joe Marino)
(disappointed to not see The Galaxie 500 Hats of Bartholemew Cubbins!)

Hair Metal

The Great White Gatsby (Rick Alfaro)
Great White Teeth* (Lars Schou)
Good to Great White (Drew Jacobs)
Rise and Fall of the Third Queensryche (Jim Sheeran)
The Faerie Queensryche (Miles Finley)
White Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (Jamie Stolarski)
All Quiet Riot on the Western Front (Matt Sgro)
Damn Yankees in King Arthur's Court (Matt Raettig)
Johnny Got His Guns 'n Roses (Bret Rooks)
Tesla of the d'Ubervilles (David Morrison)
The Faster Pussycatcher in the Rye (Eamon Daly)
Oliver Twisted Sister (Andy Martin)
Whitesnake Noise (Sara Bauer)
Cannery Skid Row (Michelle DeCol)
Pride and PredJudas Priest (Steven Moeckly)
The Devil in the Whitesnake City (Jason Caldiera)
Damn Yankees in King Arthur's Court (Bill Keaggy)
Bonfire of the Van Halen (Benjamin Shaykin)
Motley Cr�soe (Ryan Miller)

Booking Indie Rock

Neutral Milk Hotel New Hampshire (Mike Everett-Lane)
Paddy Clarke Hot Hot Heat (Tracie Bedell)
Where the Pavement Ends (Chadwick Wood)
At Play in the Magnetic Fields of the Lord (Mark Coatney)
The Cat Power in the Hat (David Morrison)
Days of Iron and Wine and Roses (Brian Braiker)
Iron and Winesburg, Ohio (Dave Kieley)
Winesburg, Songs:ohia (Robin Holland)
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxie 500 (Sandor Weisz)
The Hitchhiker's Guided by Voices to the Galaxy (Jim Sheeran)
Last Yo La Tengo In Paris (Dave Kieley)
Breakfast of F**king Champs (Kevo Sassouni)
Jonathan Richman Seagull/Sons and the Modern Lovers (Karen Kaminski)
Les Savy Fav Miserables (Brett Rooks)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Cake (John Upchurch)
Uncle Tupelo's Cabin (Austin Mayor)
Goodnight, SunKilMoon (Linda Montalbano)
Husker Du Moved My Cheese Scott Richardson)
Entries will not be accepted after midnight tonight.

Booking Eighties Bands

Doctor ZhivaGoGo's (David Bennett)
Oh, the Places You'll Go-Gos (Jessica Sheeran)
The Age of The Innocence Mission (Jeremiah Lewis)
The Big Country Sleep (Alan Houser)
Cry, my Big Country (Jamie Stolarski)
God Bless You Mr. Mister (Rick Alfaro)
Les Mister Misterables (Michelle DeCol)
The Joy Division Luck Club (Joshua Johnson)
The Joy Division of Sex (Matt Raettig)
Lords of the New Church of the Flies (Mark Taylor)
Pet Shop Boys Sematary* (Jessica Lysons)
Pet Shopgirl Boys* (Jesse B.)
Of Human League Bondage (Heidi Coudal)
The Chicago Manual of Style Council (Cheshire Dave)
The Elements of Style Council (Tracie Bedell)
Pop Will Eat Shoots and Leaves (Jeremy Quinn)
Huey Lewis and the Shipping News* (Cheshire Dave)
The Housemartins of Sand and Fog (Brian S)
Bleak Housemartins (Tom Ward)
A Kraftwerk Orange (Evan Ziolkowski)
Echo Park and the Bunnymen (Benjamin Shayklin)
All the King's Bunnymen (Jamie Stolarski)
Love and Rockets in the Time of Cholera (Miles Finley)
What We Talk About When We Talk About Talk Talk (John Morrow)
Midnight Oil in the Garden of Good and Evil (Jason Santa Maria)
Dexy's Midnight Runners in the Garden of Good and Evil (Benjamin Shaykin)
Dexy's Midnight Kite Runners (Ray Hatfield)
The Catherine Wheels on the Bus (Tracie Bedell)
The Three Musketeers for Fears (Scott Zeilenga)
Elvis Costello and the Rules of Attraction (Tim Carvell)
Adam Antigone (Rick Alfaro)
The Jesus & Mary Chain of Command (Jennie Brown)
Everything But the Girl, Interrupted (Jil Brassil)
The Maltese Falco (Eamon Daly)
Glamorbananarama (Andy Martin)
About a Boy George (Sara Bauer)
Requiem for a Dream Syndicate (Troy Kukes)
The Cure-ious George (Cy Culpin)
Mein Camper Van Beethoven (Steven Glickman)
Qur'an Duran (Luke Bacewicz)
The Smiths Family Robinson (Ryan Moeckly)
Again, this is just a fraction of what we got. I've stopped crediting multiple people, the first person to post it is listed. Still many more to come, but entries will not be accepted after midnight (Oil!) tonight.

British Literary Invasion

The Entomologists Field Guide to Arthropoda Insecta Coleoptera Beatles (Troy Kukes, is that the best we can do for the Beatles?)
The Dave Clark Five Easy Pieces (Troy Kukes)
Dave Clark's Slaughterhouse Five (Jeff Rutzky)
The Dave Clarke Five, Ha Ha Ha (Dave Kieley)
Horton Hears The Who* (Michelle DeCol, Jason Caldeira)
Winnie The Who(Troy Alfaro)
The Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Joshua Johnson)
The Rolling Stones of Summer (Megan Roberts)
The Invisible Manfred Mann (Alex Gordon, Troy Kukes, Matt Raettig)
The Descent of Manfred Mann and His Earth Band (John Upchurch)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Manfred Mann* (John Morrow, Tim Carvell)
The Manfred Mann with the Golden Arm (vrba22)
The Old Manfred Mann and the Great Big Sea(Laura Blanton)
The Animals Farm (Sam Means, Doug March, Joshua Johnson, Tim Carvell)
The Status Quo Vadis (Miles Finley)
The Hero with a Thousand Small Faces (Scott Frazer)
All Creatures Great and Small Faces (Troy Kukes)
The Thorn Yardbirds (Don Fluckinger)
The Outcasts of Procol Harum Flat (Don Fluckinger)
That's a lot, but NO KINKS? I expect at least six from Guilfoile within the hour.

Bands named after books in the first place
don't count!

The Soft Machine
Steppenwolf
Aero/Arrowsmith
Belle and Sebastian/Sebastien
The Velvet Underground
The Fall
The Grifters

Float On, George and Lenny

Of Modest Mice and Men* (Several, that one was obvious!)
The Modest Mouse and the Motorcycle (Andy Laub, Drew Jacobs)
The Modest Mouse That Roared (Bob O'Keefe)
A Modest Mouse & Other Satires (Bill Keaggy)
A Modest Mouse Proposal (Ryan Miller, slight variation)
To Kill a Modest Mouse (David Bennett)
Modest Mouse Tales (Laurie Smithwick)
Modest Mouse Soup (Laurie Smithwick)

Mitch Albom-fest, continued:

'Til Tuesdays with Morrie (Jenna Persico, Tracie Bedell, Dave Kieley)
Tuesdays With Morris Day & the Time (Miles Finley)
Thursday with Morrie (Evan Ziolkowski, Aaron Kelly )
Tuesdays with Morrissey (Bret Rooks, Sara Bauer, Matt Raettig)
Tuesdays With Moby (Jason Santa Maria)
Tuesdays With Peter, Paul, and Mary (Sam Means)
Thank you for not stretching it to Taking Back Sundays with Morrie.
Or Tuesdays with Rigor Mortis.

Seven People you won't meet in heaven

The Five People You Meet in Heaven 17 (Miles Finley, John Parker, Mike Everett-Lane)
The Five People You Meet in Heavens to Betsy (Sara Bauer)
The Five Village People You Meet in Heaven (Lars Schou)
The Click Five People You Meet in Heaven (Matt Sgro)
The Ben Folds Five People You Meet in Heaven (Kelly Marks)
The fact that seven people used that book is a clue to the volume of names I've been charged with wading through. Lots more tomorrow!

Cast of Shadows paperback release party!

Cast of DJ Shadows (Cheshire Dave)
Cast of Shadows of Knight* (Jim Sheeran)
Cast of Shadow Huntaz (Robert Vigh)
Cast of Eleven Shadows (Robert Vigh)
Cast of the Black Shadows (Robert Vigh)
The Appleseed Cast of Shadows (Pete Anderson)
Cast of Chad & Jeremy (Kevin Guilfoile himself)
Nikka Costa Shadows (Robert Hofheimer)
You guys know how to suck up, but how could you all miss "OutKast of Shadows*?"

Soup's on

Chicken Soup For The Soul Coughing (Matt Geiger, Matthew LaFleur)
Chicken Soup for the De La Soul (Jeff Kenny, Brian Braiker)
Chicken Soup for the Soul Asylum (Patrick Mullins, Steven Glickman)
Chicken Soup for the Teenage Fanclub (Robert Lee)
Chicken Soup for the Soulive (Jordan Piqu�)
Chicken Soup For The Collective Soul (John Brassil)
Chicken Soup Dragons for the Soul (Troy Kukes)
Bowling For Chicken Soup For The Soul (Ray Hatfield)

The Collected Works of Shakespeare

The Natalie Merchant of Venice (Luke Stevens and several others)
Romeo Void and Juliet (Jeff Rutzky, John Brassil)
Chromeo and Juliet (Jon Parker)
Lil' Romeo and Juliet (Michelle DeCol)
Fleetwood Macbeth (Michelle DeCol)
Oth-Yello (Michelle DeCol)
A Midsummer's Night Dream Theater
King Missle Lear (Don Fluckinger)
(Don't forget Godsmacbeth, Macbeth Orton, Little Richard III, and Henry Rollins VIII. or The Tempestations, Sorry.)

Ann and Nancy Wilson on the Congo River

Heart of the Darkness (Luke Stevens and several others)
Captain Beefheart of Darkness (Brian Stoner)
The Black Heart of Darkness Procession (Evan Cotgageorge)
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Heart of Darkness (Robert Sinton)
Corey Hart of Darkness (Miles Finley)
Devandra Banhart of Darkness (Miles Finley)

The Harry Lottery

Harry Potter & My Half-Bloody Valentine Prince (Brian Stoner)
Harry Potter & Sly & The Sorcerer's Family Stone (Brian Stoner, Jim Sheeran)
Harry Potter and the New Order of the Phoenix (Jim Sheeran)
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Artist Formerly Known as Prince (Jim Sheeran, Ned Zimmerman)
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and the New Power Generation (Kara Ashley)
Deborah Harry Potter (David Morrison)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Roses (Sara Bauer)
(What, no Harry Potter and the Order of Fenix, TX or Harry Potter and the Goblet of Arcade Fire* or Harry Connick puns?)

Please stop sending these
because five people already have

Any DaVinci Code puns
Slaughterhouse Jackson/Jurassic/MC Five
Good Charlotte's Web
In Coldplay Blood
Gone With/Inherit the the Earth Wind and Fire
The Cheese Monkees
Brave New Anything

The Winners!

Hundreds of readers sent in thousands of entries, and the names on this page are maybe not even the best, just some of our favorites. As promised, we chose three winners at random, and we'll send them a book and record they mashed together:

Matt Raettig: (The Invisible Manfred Mann) While our three winners were chosen randomly, and are in no particular order, Matt sorta gets the best prizes. Manfred Mann's underrated career spanned three major lineup and label changes, so "best of"s generally focus on the EMI/Paul Jones (Do Wah Diddy) years, the Fontana/Mike D'Abo (Quinn the Eskimo) years, or the later Manfred Mann's Earth Band (Blinded by the Light) years. While "Blinded by the Light" is a favorite around the office since Reidy and I mastered whistling the keyboard harmony, the first two Mann lineups feature the band's best work, and only the 2-disc Australian import (and pricey) All Manner of Menn: 1963-1969 captures both Doo Wah Diddy and Quinn, along with their other great material of the time. We'll also splurge on Random House's 1992 unabridged hardcover reissue of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man: A Novel, with the fancy retro cover.

Michelle DeCol: (Fleetwood Macbeth) I was happy to see Michelle's name come up, she was among the most fervent submitters. For her troubles, she gets the Arden Shakespeare edition of Macbeth, and while I personally prefer the Peter-Green-era "Green Manalishi" Fleetwood Mac, I'll spare Michelle and send her the Enhanced CD of their classic Rumours. You gotta love Rumours. By the way, if you dig Lindsay Buckingham tunes like "Holiday Road," the otherwise-crappy live reunion album "The Dance" has a great song on it called "My Little Demon" that's a favorite on the jukebox at the Kat Klub, the only bar within walking distance of my house.

Brian Stoner: (Captain Beefheart of Darkness) So many of you mashed up bands and books in the fever of creativity, ignoring the fact that if you won, you might end up stuck with a Bon Jovi CD and "A Million Little Pieces" (no, I don't know how those go together). Brian Stoner might dig Beefheart and Conrad, or he might not. That leaves me with the conundrum, does he get the obvious classic Trout Mask Replica, or a compilation, or does he already have a Beefheart collection underway, and would prefer one of the Captain's more obscure works? The odds are Brian, like most, knows the name "Captain Beefheart" from seeing his name on every "best 100 albums of all time" list ever published, yet hasn't heard a note of his music, so we'll stick with Trout Mask Replica. If he already has it, he can give it to a friend, if not, he can listen to it a couple dozen times and decide for himself how overrated or underrated it is. As far as Conrad, we'll go with the Penguin Modern Classics edition of Heart of Darkness, becuase they usually do a nice job.

-bb