Guys, baseball season is half over. Technically, it’s more than half over. The Mets have played…92 games I think? Yeah, they still suck so I don’t want to look at the exact number, but I’m pretty sure I was looking up Curtis Granderson’s stats the other day and I saw he’s played in something like 90 or 92 games this season. Nevertheless, the All-Star Break has arrived and for all intents and purposes that signals the midway point in the 2014 season. For fans of our nation’s pastime, now is when we take stock of our team’s place in the standings and either look forward to the push for the pennant or start thinking about next year. For me, I’m thinking about this week’s theme for my An Album A Day project, and how I can incorporate baseball into it. I think I’ve figured it out, and I’m going to make this as plain and simple as possible: this week I’m revisiting albums in my record collection that have other overt or passing references to the sport. Up first is the 1985 album by Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers called Rockin’ Romance.
By my count there are two songs on this record that reference baseball. There’s “The Fenway,” where Jonathan sings about the place he daydreamt, saw Ted Williams, and longs for an “era that’s already past and gone.” Before that is “Walter Johnson,” which sadly doesn’t include a single mention of his famous nickname “The Big Train”. Richie Unterberger over at AllMusic says:
While it is generally true that many of Richman’s post-1980 albums are all but interchangeable, with their earnest naive cheerfulness, this stands as one of the best, if you like his schtick and need to make a choice. The production is sparse, accentuating the acoustic guitar and the doo wop harmonies (both male and female), with light but purposeful drums. Jonathan covers his usual terrain here: juvenilia (“My Jeans,” “The U.F.O. Man,” “Chewing Gum Wrapper”), cultural heroes (“Vincent Van Gogh,” “Walter Johnson”), and optimistic paeans to the simple pleasures of life (“The Beach”). Heart-warming and melodic stuff that might well sound insipid in the hands of others.
So there ya have it. Tomorrow, another obscure baseball reference!
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
Rockin’ And Romance
(Twin/Tone – TTR 8558, 1985)
A1. The Beach
A2. My Jeans
A3. Down In Bermuda
A4. The UFO Man
A5. I Must Be King
A6. Vincent Van Gogh
A7. Walter Johnson
B1. I’m Just Beginning To Live
B2. The Fenway [MP3]
B3. Chewing Gum Wrapper
B4. The Baltimores
B5. Up In The Sky Sometime
B6. Now Is Better Than Before
