My local PBS station has it’s quarterly (but actually seems like weekly) pledge drive happening. I was flipping around like a stereotypical guy seems to do, and came across American Soundtrack: Doo Wop s Greatest Hits. Doo Wop pop artists from the 1950s and early 60s performing their hits.
I suppose their goal was nastalgia, enjoyment, even a communal sing-a-long.
My problem? All I could think about was “A Mighty Wind”, that fantastic mockumentary from the immensely talented Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy that captures the reunion concert of 1960s folk groups Mitch and Mickey, The Folksmen, and The New Main Street Singers.
And my mind then jumped to “This Is Spınal Tap”, the mock rockumentary directed by Rob Reiner that satirizes the wild personal behavior and musical pretensions of hard-rock and heavy-metal bands, as well as the hagiographic tendencies of rockumentaries of the time.
After one chorus of “Blue Moon”, I fixed myself a Prairie Vodka martini (with a twist of lemon) and switched the channel to the “House” first season marithon.
