Willie Simpson

Tag: Los Angeles

  • Raymond Taylor, Best Wheel of Fortune Contestant Ever

    So the story goes that while on the road in Chicago, the Wheel of Fortune game show had a contestant drop out at the last minute.  The producers found some guy named Raymond Taylor on the street, gave him a suit, and propped him on the stage.  I have no idea if this is true…

  • The Black Keys, She Said She Said

    The Black Keys are guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney.  Together they have forged a highly successful blues rock revivalist band that are the darlings of the upper tiers of the indie rock world.  I’ve always like them, but have not extensively combed through their catalog.  Perhaps I’ve finally found a reason to.  The…

  • The Doors, Kids in the Hall, Waiting for the Sun

    The Kids in the Hall were a sketch comedy team formed in the 1980s by a group of talented and semi-demented Canadian geniuses.   SNL guru, and fellow Canadian Lorne Michaels gave them a show that pushed the limits of comedy to frightening new edges of hilarity.  Playing out like an uncensored SNL, the Kids…

  • John Lennon, #9 Dream

    I was sneaking under a bus parked over a snowy muddy pit.  I jostled a hinge holding the front of the truck to the freight, and it began to collapse on me.  As it caved in on me, I genuinely thought I was going to die.  This was the phrase that went through my mind,…

  • Ricky Gervais Meets Larry David

    If you’ve been following the site lately, you’ve noticed that I’ve been alternating its content between rock and roll and Larry David.  Larry is just one of my biggest comedy heroes, and his newest 8th season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is off to a roaring start.  The trailers for season 8 point to an appearance…

  • Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season 8!

    Larry David is coming back, this Sunday, to HBO.  Seinfeld, Larry’s first masterpiece of television an amazing 9 seasons, so it’s equally incredible that Curb Your Enthusiasm is about to enter its 8th glorious season, and by the looks of it, Larry hasn’t lost his touch one bit.  The write up today in the nytimes…

  • The Doors, Break On Through (To The Other Side)

    Part 92 of my youtube countdown tears you into another dimension with the Doors, “Break On Through (To the Other Side).”  This is one of the greatest psychedelic pop singles you’ll ever hear.  It’s got an iconic pulsing keyboard bass intro played by the genius Ray Manzarek, propulsive drumming by John Densmore, stunning pickless riffs…

  • Jeff Bridges, The Man in Me

    For part 77 of my countdown, I got Jeff Bridges performing “The Man in Me” at a Lebowski Fest in Los Angeles.  The song of course was featured beautifully in the Coen Brothers ultra cult classic, “The Big Lebowski,” when the Dude is riding that magic rug.  Dylan wrote this song for his 1970 LP…