music clip of the day

so much depends

upon

a  jacket’s

unbuttoning

—William Carlos Williams (after seeing Jackie Wilson)

Jackie Wilson, “No Pity (In The Naked City),” live (TV broadcast), 1965

Want more? Here. Here. Here.

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lagniappe

At the 1984 Grammy Awards, Michael Jackson dedicated his Album of the Year award (for Thriller) to Jackie Wilson, telling the audience:

In the entertainment business, there are leaders and there are followers. And I just want to say that I think Jackie Wilson was a wonderful entertainer . . . I love you and thank you so much.

*****

Michael Jackson studied Jackie Wilson, mimicked him, emulated him, subjected himself to his discipline. He covered ‘Lonely Teardrops’ when he was a teenager, and to some extent sang it the rest of his life.—Tom Junod

Last night, drifting off to sleep, I heard (or dreamed) a commercial for a new  cable TV channel:

The Jackie Wilson Channel

All Jackie, All the Time

Jackie Wilson, “Baby, Work Out” (AKA “Baby Workout”), live (TV broadcast), 1963

Want more? Here. Here.

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lagniappe

reading table

I threw a party, wore a very sharp suit. My wife had out all sorts of hors d’oeuvres, some ordered from long off—little briny peppery seafoods you wouldn’t have thought of as something to eat. We waited for the guests. Some of the food went bad. Hardly anybody came. It was the night of the lunar eclipse, I think. Underwood, the pianist, showed up and maybe twelve other people. Three I never invited were there. We’d planned on sixty-five.

I guess this was the signal we weren’t liked anymore in town.

—Barry Hannah (April 23, 1942-March 1, 2010), “Our Secret Home,” in Airships (1978)

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mail

Thanks for linking—very much appreciated!

—Tim

(Tim Lawrence, author of Hold On To Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene, 1973-92 [2009], in response to Tuesday’s post )