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My Top Albums Of 2024

First off, my apologies this is SOOOOO late. December was once my slowest work month, but over the past few years it seems like more and more personal events are filling what used to be the empty December space in my calendar.

This year in particular, I had a lot of “health issues”. I put that in quotes because I’m fine. I had a minor outpatient surgery in mid-December and am 100% back from that. But ever since my insurance switched me to a new network last May, these new doctors been VERY proactive in checking me out. For example, since I’m a former smoker, they wanted a chest CT scan… which I did last week, and which came back fine. Point is, I’ve been doing A LOT of this kind of stuff the past couple months.

Aaaaaanyway, musically 2024 was much like 2023 for me… I loved tons of individual tracks, but as far as whole albums go… not so much. I do think I like this year’s Top 10 albums more than last years, though: according to Last.fm I listened to many of this year’s albums more than their corresponding album last year!

So let’s get to it: below are my ten favorite albums of 2024. The list comes from my Last.fm stats generally; I almost always tinker with the specific order of the albums. After that are the honorable mentions, followed by the “Band of the Year”, “Song of the Year”, “Live Song of the Year” and the raw data from Last.fm.

My Top Albums of 2024

10) Emilíana Torrini – Miss Flower – I love Emilíana Torrini SO MUCH you guys! Her 1999 album Love in the Time of Science is easily in my all-time, take ’em to the grave Top 10 list! But her output has always been sporadic. This is her first solo album since 2013’s Tookah! There’s a lot to like here! It’s much more in the “electronica” vein than the “acoustic singer\songwriter” genre she always seems to flirt with. Odd thing is, I like the non-single tracks here way more than the singles. There’s nothing wrong with “Black Lion Lane”, but I think the opener, the dark “Black Water” is so much better! I’m just SO GLAD to have this lady back! Now: COME TO ATLANTA! (Charlotte’s a wish too far, huh?)

9) Fabienne Debarre – Welcome to the Age of Broken Minds – Most years I have at least one “mystery guest”, an artist so unknown that Spotify, Last.fm and Wikipedia have no information about them at all. To many, Fabienne Debarre might be just that person this year… except she’s got deets. She’s a long-time collaborator of Baxter Dury (son of Ian Dury, of “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” fame). She’s also a longtime member of the well-regarded French band Evergreen. So yeah… maybe you’ve never heard of her, but this is an all-around solid album of European indie synth(-ish)pop. There’s really not a bad track on this one, and I found myself surprised at how often I’d put on the opening track, “Burning” (see below) and would listen to the rest of the album all the way though.

8) The George Kaplan Conspiracy- Polychromatic – So… French Nu-Disco is a thing. This album slaps. It’s the kind of thing you can throw on at a party and forget about, ‘cos there are no ballads or acoustic bits. This is the kind of music you’d hear in a really hip European coffeehouse or lounge. Or on the soundtrack to some hip TV show like You or Killing Eve. Or in Topshop, or whatever place hipster 20 year-old European girls shop at these days. The point is, they’re fun! Give ’em a try!

7) Oxford Drama – The World Is Louder – Oxford Drama are a duo from Wrocław, Poland. They make some really good indie pop tunes! And this is one of those albums that kind of inexplicably sticks around. Like, I’d see it in my library in Spotify and think “sure, let’s hear this song!” but I’d stick around for the whole album! It’s kind of Corrs\Sixpence None The Richer-like at times, so if you dig those bands, check these guys out! I really like them… but then again I’m a guy who “stops liking bands once you need a comma to count their fans”.

6) Cults – To The Ghosts – Founded by San Franciscans in New York City all the way back in 2010, Cults are a mixture of 60s girl bands and gauzy dream pop. But they’re kind of silly, too. They have the same kind of tongue-in-cheek “Oooooo! We’re SCARY!!” thing that The Cramps had so long ago. And it especially comes through in this album (check out that video!). They’re just a lot of fun, and this album just has this incredible “what if Betty Draper was a serial killer?” vibe that I just adore! I don’t understand why this band generally, and this album specifically, aren’t more popular with the GenX crowd. If you watched 120 Minutes, this band is SO for you! Also, these guys covered The Motels’ first LP, and it’s worth tracking that down!

5) Julia Holter – Something in the Room She Moves – I don’t know how to say this without sounding like a pretentious twat, so here goes: Julia Holter’s music isn’t for everyone. This music exists at the junction of art pop, ambient, avant-garde, experimental and modern classical that’s… difficult to approach in a lot of ways. This isn’t the kind of music you throw on at a party… unless maybe it’s an acid party? But there’s something deep in it, something fundamental, that I really like about it. Holter just resonates with me on a deep level, and this album continues her string of home runs!

Continue reading “My Top Albums Of 2024”

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Moe Berg, Enigma

This is Morris “Moe” Berg, and he was probably the most interesting baseball player of all time.

Moe Berg

Moe was born in New York City in 1902. He was fluent in English and, being Jewish, knew Hebrew and Yiddish, too. He went to NYU and then Princeton, where he learned Latin & Greek, and became a fluent speaker of French, Spanish, Italian, German and Sanskrit. He got a degree from Columbia Law School and attended the Sorbonne in Paris. After college he learned Japanese and Portuguese “for fun”. He read 10 newspapers a day and was an occasional guest panelist on Information Please, a popular NBC Radio quiz show.

But Moe is mostly remembered as a baseball player, with stints with the White Sox then the Red Sox with stops in Cleveland and Washington along the way. He was a pretty good catcher, but was a horrible batter. In 15 years of major-league baseball, Moe only hit six home runs and six triples, and ended up with a lifetime .243 batting average. Teammates joked that Moe “can speak 10 languages, but he can’t hit in any of them”.

Although Moe loved baseball, he wouldn’t let it dictate his life. He’d take off after a season ended just to go to Italy for a few months. He skipped spring training one year to go to Paris… where he decided to just stay and start classes at the Sorbonne.

In 1934, a man named Herb Hunter put together a bunch of baseball all-stars – Babe Ruth, Jimmie Fox, Lou Gehrig and, for some reason, Moe Berg – to go on a goodwill tour of Japan. Berg flattered his hosts at a welcome dinner by delivering a speech in perfect Japanese. He floored fans by signing autographs in Japanese.

To the Japanese government Moe Berg was “just a baseball player”. So they didn’t bother to put him under surveillance. Berg visited Saint Luke’s Hospital in Tokyo, officially to visit the American ambassador’s sick daughter. Which he did. But he also used his new movie camera to film the city and its ports from the roof of the hospital, “in case war broke out later”. For years there were rumors that this footage was used to plan the famous Doolittle Raid, although it later came out that Doolittle was being planned months before Berg turned his footage over to the government.

If “filming Imperial Japanese Navy ports” sounds like something a spy would do… well, that’s because Moe Berg was a spy, too. In fact, Berg is one of the very few spies the American government has ever acknowledged.

After Pearl Harbor, Berg got in touch with a friend, who arranged a meeting between Berg and William “Wild Bill” Donovan, head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the WWII predecessor of the CIA. Donovan liked Berg, and eventually put him on Project Larson, in which Berg was parachuted into Italy, and where he and fellow spies would follow the retreating Germans as closely as possible and kidnap Italian physicists before the Nazis could kill them or take them back to Germany.

But that was only half of it: Berg was also part of Project AZUSA, in which he was to interview as many scientists as he could to determine if Werner Heisenberg – of “uncertainty principle” and Breaking Bad fame – was actually working on a nuclear bomb or was just stalling for time until the war was over. Berg was to get as close to Heisenberg as possible, and if Berg believed he was developing a bomb, he had orders to kill him. Berg was apparently willing to do this, but in the end he didn’t have to: he determined that Heisenberg was mostly trying to protect as many German scientists as possible, and that even if he was, the Germans almost certainly didn’t have the resources to actually build one.

But Berg was, first and foremost, a baseball player. When US Army officials were given the names of the OSS agents in Project Larson, an aide – clearly not a baseball fan – asked his boss: “Do you know what they gave us? A ballplayer named Moe Berg. You ever hear of him?”, to which the general replied, “Yes, the slowest baserunner in the American League.”

One last mystery: President Truman awarded Berg the Medal of Freedom for his actions during WWII… but Berg turned it down. And we’ll probably never know why: he went to his grave never telling anyone why he turned it down. After he died in 1972, his sister requested the award, which she then donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

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Gone With The Wind

Hollywood superstar Rudolph Valentino (center) talks to Atlanta Georgian reporter Bert Collier (left) and Atlanta Journal reporter Peggy Mitchell (right) on the roof of the Georgian Terrace Hotel, 1923.

Accessing the roof meant ducking through a low window with a four foot drop on the other side. When Mitchell had problems getting back inside, Valentino gently picked her up and carried her back into the hotel, which Mitchell called “the thrill of a lifetime”. She would later write a hugely popular novel under her given name, Margaret Mitchell.

Valentino-Mitchell

Speaking of Gone with the Wind… contrary to popular belief, the world premiere of the film wasn’t at the Fox Theatre. It was at the nearby Loew’s Grand, where 300,000 people showed up hoping to catch a glimpse of Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh. A special, temporary “Tara” façade was even built on the front of the cinema:

Loew's Grand

Loew’s was built as “DeGive’s Grand Opera House” in 1893, and burned down in a “mysterious” fire in 1978 (wink-wink). The Georgia-Pacific Tower now stands on the site.

Georgia-Pacific Tower

Some of the bricks from the Loew’s were salvaged to build the Houston’s restaurant at 2166 Peachtree Rd.;

Houston's Restaurant

The lobby chandelier from the Loew’s now hangs in The Tabernacle, a music venue inside a former Baptist church:

The Tabernacle Atlanta

The Fox Theater was the site of the world premiere of Disney’s Song of the South. Walt Disney himself attended the event. But poor Walt just couldn’t bear the thought of criticism, so he quietly left just before the movie started, walking across Peachtree Street to his room at the Georgian Terrace… where he chain-smoked and paced for the next two hours.

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Check vs. Cheque

There are many words in American English which were once commonplace in British English before the American Revolution. Folks on both sides of the Atlantic regularly used words like “fall”, “diaper” and “faucet”. The British moved on to “autumn”, “nappy” and “tap” decades later, while American English stubbornly kept the older words.

One word in particular – check, as in “a financial instrument” – seems to really set off Brits. Many Brits assume American English switched from “cheque” to “check” because of Noah Webster. But that’s not how this story works: for around 125 years, “check” was the dominant form. Although “cheque” was used in Britain, it was used almost exclusively by goldsmiths. “Check” was by far the most popular spelling in Britain and the only spelling used in America.

In 1827, an English banker named James William Gilbart (below) published a book called Practical Treatise on Banking. Universities widely adopted it as a textbook and banks used it as an instruction manual. While writing the book, Gilbart decided to standardize on “cheque” to eliminate any confusion with other uses of “check”… and within 20 years “check” was completely gone from the British banking system, and British English generally.

James William Gilbart

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The Death of Ken McElroy

On July 10, 1981, a man named Ken McElroy was shot and killed in broad daylight, by two different people, on his town’s main street, in front of somewhere between 30 and 46 witnesses. Despite investigations by local police and the FBI, no one has ever squealed on the shooters.

That’s because Ken McElroy was Skidmore, Missouri’s town bully. Ken was suspected of dozens of felonies, and was indicted 21 times for burglary, arson, assault, rape, child molestation, animal cruelty and hog & cattle rustling. But he’d always get away with it, because he’d use severe intimidation of cops, judges and witnesses to beat the rap… until the last time.

Ken McElroy

When McElroy was 35, he fell in love with a 12-year-old local girl named Trena McCloud. He had sex with her multiple times, over her family’s vocal objection. They finally allowed her to marry McElroy… after he burned down their house and shot the family dog. No joke: Ken McElroy was a garbage human being.

Several years later, McElroy and McCloud were at a shop owned by a man named Ernest “Bo” Bowenkamp. When one of their kids tried to steal some candy, Bo objected. McElroy went out to his truck and came back with a shotgun, shooting Bo in the neck. Bo survived. McElroy was eventually charged with attempted murder. He was even convicted of it but was released pending an appeal.

One day, shortly after his release, several townspeople – including Sheriff Don Estes – met at the local American Legion to come up with a plan for dealing with McElroy once and for all. Word reached the group that Ken & Trena were drinking at the D&G Tavern nearby. Estes told the group that, in his official capacity as sheriff, they should simply form a “neighborhood watch” group. He then loudly announced that he had to leave the county “for an appointment”. He got in his patrol car and left the area.

Several townsfolk armed themselves and marched down to the tavern. McElroy sensed trouble, so he and Trena got in his pick-up truck to leave. Townsfolk surrounded the truck. Soon, shots rang out from all angles, possibly on purpose, to mask the identity of the killers.

No one called an ambulance. No one called the cops. No one even called a preacher. Trena identified one of the killers, but with no physical evidence there was little the police could do. The DA refused to charge anyone. And now, 43 years later, none of the witnesses has said a word about the killers.

Not one word.

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The Story of the World Athletes Monument

This is the World Athletes Monument, given to the people of Atlanta by the Prince of Wales in 1995, in honor of the then-upcoming 1996 Olympic Games.

World Athletes Monument

The city placed it at Pershing Point, a small park where West Peachtree dead-ends into Peachtree Street just before you cross the Downtown Connector into Buckhead. The park was already a memorial, named for General John J. Pershing, commander of US forces in Europe in WWI, and dedicated to Atlantans who lost their lives in the Great War. It’s one of three WWI memorials in the city.

FUN FACT: The memorial isn’t in the “park” itself. It’s actually across the street on a small scrap of land originally owned by Georgia DOT, who donated it to the city for the memorial. So that land just kind of became an addition to the park.

Although the Prince of Wales didn’t attend the dedication ceremony – that was led by Lord Morris as personal representative of Queen Elizabeth II, which is actually a status upgrade – the statue is more commonly known as the “Prince Charles Monument” or “Prince of Wales Monument” in the city.

Because of that association, when Princess Diana died over 20,000 people came to the monument to grieve. Anyone living in Atlanta at the time surely remembers local newscasts showing the huge crowds of people and a pile of flowers 6 feet high and 20 feet deep surrounding the monument.

In the immediate aftermath of her death, the city allegedly renamed the area “Princess Diana Square”. I can’t find any official confirmation of that, and no maps show that. What I’m thinking is, the city just passed an honorary resolution about it, like one of those where your state’s governor declares today to be “Fried Chicken Day in North Carolina” things.

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The Diablo Sandwich

In Smokey and the Bandit, Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason) stops at a restaurant and orders a “diablo sandwich”.

Everyone in metro Atlanta knew the restaurant in the film was an Old Hickory House, a locally-famous barbecue chain. Problem was, Gleason improvised the “diablo sandwich” name. Old Hickory House never sold such a thing, but once the movie became a huge hit TONS of people started asking for it. So they retroactively invented one: their standard pulled pork sandwich with two pickle chips, liberally doused in Texas Pete hot sauce. Not Tabasco or Crystal or Frank’s. Texas Pete.

Old Hickory House used to have over 20 locations.

Atlanta folks may remember that the (now closed) LGBTQ-friendly Cowtippers steakhouse at 1600 Piedmont Road was once an Old Hickory House. And the Atlanta Fish Market – somehow STILL open at 265 Pharr Road – was also once an Old Hickory House. There was the 2655 South Cobb Parkway location, which has been Swapna Indian Cuisine for some time now. Or the 6420 Roswell Road location, which was a strip club called “Flashers” for some time but has been empty for years. My family ate at the Scott Blvd. and N. Decatur Road location often; the building still stands as the Wheelhouse Pub. When I lived in Dunwoody I tried to eat at the Dunwoody Village location at least once a week. It closed in 2014, long after I moved to Charlotte.

Speaking of, there were Old Hickory Houses outside Atlanta, too. There were allegedly locations in Athens, Tallahassee and Chattanooga, although documentation is hard to find.

And also: Charlotte! Originally opening where else – Freedom Drive! – in 1957, the restaurant moved to 6538 N. Tryon in 1972:

It was unusual in that T. Jack Black and his wife Ann, owners of the chain – didn’t own any of the Charlotte location (not even a fraction), and perhaps never even visited it. It’s said that Black’s father, William, came up here to help his cousins, Bobby and Gene Carter, get the restaurant up and running. I ate there once, the day after its upcoming closure was announced. The food was just OK. It was probably coasting on its reputation for years. It’s fair to say the Charlotte location had little contact with the other locations.

The Old Hickory House in Forest Park.

Sadly, the Old Hickory House featured in film – at roughly 151 Main Street, Forest Park, Georgia – no longer exists… at all. It was knocked down decades ago and is still a vacant lot, although a newish Wendy’s now occupies part of the property. The Wickes billboard seen in the movie is still there, although according to Google Maps as of November 2022 it was advertising a local Chinese buffet.

There’s only one Old Hickory House left, at 2202 Northlake Parkway in Tucker (near near Northlake Mall, obviously) . And the “diablo sandwich” is still on the menu if you want one!

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“Smart Alec”

The term “Smart Alec” is thought to have come from the misadventures of 1840s New York City criminal Alec Hoag.

Alec was a pimp and thief. Originally his scam worked like this: his wife, Melinda, would take a “customer” down a dark alley in which Alec was hidden. She’d pick the john’s pockets and hold the loot in her hand; Alec would silently take the goods and disappear into the night while the client was… “distracted”.

Most men would be too embarrassed to report the theft to the cops. But some would, so Alec started paying off local cops by giving them a cut of his ill-gotten gains. For Alec it was win-win.

I’m not quite sure what happened next. Some sources say Alec fell into financial difficulties and couldn’t pay off the police. Others say he simply decided he didn’t want to pay off the cops any more.

Whatever the case, Alec moved his scam into a rented room. Melinda would bring johns back to the room and draw a curtain around the four-poster bed. When the moment was right, she’d cough, and Alec would slip into the room through a false panel and steal the john’s wallet (and anything else of value), then quietly disappear the way he came.

It worked for a while, but when the NYPD found out that Alec had cut them out of his business they arrested him. Some cops took to sarcastically calling him “Smart Alec”, as he was just a bit too clever for his own good.

They say it took a good 20 years, but eventually the phase entered common usage near the end of the Civil War. Although the story hasn’t been proven beyond a doubt, it has consistently been the only story attached to the saying, so it may just be true!