I’m Sticking With The Big Yellow Taxi

by with One Comment playlists

The definition of a Luddite is a person opposed to increased industrialization or new technology. At times I am that person.

If I need a ride somewhere and don’t have my own car at my disposal, I’ll take a taxi. I have a mistrust of Uber and Lyft. My feelings about the former were bolstered by all the news stories of Uber drivers sexually assaulting or kidnapping their passengers. I read most, maybe all, of these headlines on Gawker. Granted, when Gawker decides it doesn’t like someone or something, it posts a bunch of meaningless disparaging articles about that someone or something. Just ask Macklemore, James Franco or Woody Allen. Nonetheless, when one is starting with a negative impression of a service where any Joe Q. Public can act as a chauffeur without any skills or knowledge or abilities besides having a driver’s license, the association of that service with the words rape or threat or assault reinforce that impression.

I hadn’t read any stories about felonious Lyft drivers. My cousin who lives in San Francisco uses Lyft. She was in Los Angeles a couple of months back, while my car was in the shop. We had dinner and then she ordered a Lyft car to take her back to her hotel. The app said the driver would be at my home in two minutes. We went outside to wait. Wait we did. Two minutes. Four minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. My cousin checked the app, which has a map to show you how far away your driver is. Per the app, her driver was now fifteen minutes away. On the map it showed the driver at a motel located directly behind the building in which I live. We share a driveway with that motel. It was fifteen seconds away, if there was traffic. My cousin wished to cancel the ride, but Lyft charges you the fare if you cancel.

The incident supported my previously based on nothing in particular feelings about Lyft. Still, as my cousin used them in San Fran frequently with no issues, I gave them another shot.

My own car was ready to be picked up from the body shop. The shop is two and a half miles from my home. I would have walked there if it wasn’t 102 degrees outside. I downloaded the Lyft app and was greeted with the message that I’ll get a $5 credit for each of my first ten rides. I also got the message that being it was Monday, all rides are 50% off. By my math, traveling two and half miles would be free.

My driver showed up promptly. We went to the body shop. I asked her the fee. She said she had no idea – all charges are done via the app. I got the message while in the body shop that the ride would cost me around $8. Using a button on the app, I sent a message to Lyft’s customer service, asking if they applied the 50% off and $5 credit. Per the app, I should expect a reply within twenty-four hours.

I did not receive a reply within twenty-four hours. I did not receive a reply within forty-eight hours. The charge for the full fare went through. Because I paid using Google Wallet (I’m not 100% Luddite), I called Google to dispute the charge. I sent them copies of the messages in which Lyft offered me the $5 credit and the 50% off. I told Google how I already tried to work this out with Lyft but they ignored my message.

Google contacted Lyft, which got me a response from Lyft. They told me I was supposed to do something or another within the app in order to get these discounts and credits. I replied that nowhere in their text messages to me did it say I had to do anything special to take advantage of their offers. I also told them that as they disregarded my email to their customer service, I couldn’t have the matter resolved within their required time frame.

Ultimately, I got my credit for the trip. It wasn’t worth all the hassle. Next time, I’m going old school. A taxicab it will be. Sometimes I prefer being a Luddite. You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.

Today is the 72nd birthday of the great Joni Mitchell. Kicking off our Joni playlist is her 1970 single “Big Yellow Taxi.”


Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour

Throwback Thursday – The Hits Of 1973

by with No Comment playlists

Singer/Songwriter/Record producer Ed Townsend had, in his own words, “a monstrous addiction to alcohol.” While in rehab he wrote a song which he described as a message to himself “about the business of getting on with life.”

On March 13, 1973, Townsend recorded a demo of Marvin Gaye singing this composition.

Nine days later, the men were again in the studio. Visiting the two men there was Barbara Hunter, a friend of Townsend. She came with her 16-year-old daughter, Janis.

Gaye was immediately smitten with Janis. As he often did, Gaye made up new lyrics in the studio. Inspired by the presence of this beautiful teenage girl, Townsend’s song about understanding and brotherhood became a paean to enjoying sex for its own sake, particularly when it is with someone you love.

Marvin and Janis got married in 1977, four years after the song Gaye recorded the day they met, “Let’s Get It On,” hit #1.

This week’s Throwback Thursday playlist consists of twenty big hits from 1973, kicking off with the classic “Let’s Get It On.”


Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour

A Hint Of Mint – Volume 27: Punks and Alterna-Queers

by with No Comment playlists

In the nascent days of the punk rock movement, punks congregated in gay, lesbian and trans bars, where they could be who they are and dress how they dressed without fear of being hassled, outcasts united against the mainstream of society.

This week’s installment of A Hint of Mint consists of songs from or influenced and/or inspired by seventies punk.

[8tracks width=”300″ height=”250″ playops=”” url=”http://8tracks.com/mixes/7191894″] Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour!

Ringo + Beasties

The Beastie Boys Parody That Changed Rock And Roll

by with 3 Comments playlists

Ringo + Beasties
In 1986, a group that started out as a punk rock quartet released a single that mocked party anthems, and in doing so made music history.

The group is the Beastie Boys and the song is “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!).” Per the group’s late founder, Adam “MCA” Yauch, “the song began as a goof on dumb rock songs” and a satire of drunken frat boys and the like. The trio recorded vocals and their friend, Rick Rubin, who produced Run-D.M.C.’s rock/rap breakthrough album Raising Hell, added loud drums and guitars. An iconic video was shot and received a lot of airtime on MTV.

“Fight for Your Right” took off. In early 1987 it reached #7 on Billboard’s Hot 100, the group’s only top ten single. It was hugely popular with the audience at whom it poked fun. Lamented the group’s Michael “Mike D” Diamond, “The only thing that upsets me is that we might have reinforced certain values of some people in our audience when our own values were actually totally different. There were tons of guys singing along to ‘Fight for Your Right’ who were oblivious to the fact it was a total goof on them.”

“Fight for Your Right” brought hip hop to the suburbs, with bored kids finding the same rebellion in rap that they did in punk. It is on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Among other accolades, it was named one of its release year’s top singles by the Village Voice, New Music Express and Record Mirror, and was later named one of the 100 Greatest Singles Of The Post-Punk Era by Uncut, one of the 100 Greatest Songs Of All Time by Q, and one of 1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear by The Guardian.

The album from which “Fight for Your Right” was taken, Licensed to Ill, became the first rap album to hit #1 in the United States. It remained at the top of the album chart for seven weeks, becoming the best-selling hip-hop album of the 1980s.

As today is the 49th birthday of Beastie Boy Adam “King Ad-Rock” Horovitz, Tunes du Jour celebrates with a playlist of twenty of the trio’s best.


Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour

It’s Friday And I Need To Dance!

by with No Comment playlists

I knew I was in trouble when the doctor walked into the examination room, looked at me, and said “Mrs. Garcia?”

Unfortunately, I was forced to change health care plans this year. By doing so, I could not longer see the doctor I’ve been going to for the past eleven years. Of those affiliated with my new insurance provider, I selected the doctor who was closest to my home.

I went to his office today because of my eyes. My eyelids are itchy and flaky, and beneath my eyes is swollen and red. I asked him how I should treat them, and he answered “I don’t know. I’m not a dermatologist.” Per the rules of the plan, I had to see him before I could go to a specialist, which seems to me to be a silly waste of time. He took a photograph of my eyes, instructing me to close my eyes for an effective photo. I didn’t go to medical school, but I could have figured out on my own that the best way to photograph my eyelids is for me to have my eyes shut. He’ll send the photos into headquarters, who will then contact me with the name of a dermatologist I can see. Until then, all I can do is scratch my eyelids until they bleed.

On the plus side, the doctor said I’m not pregnant. That calls for a dance.

Tunes du Jour’s weekly dance party kicks off with Neneh Cherry’s “Kisses on the Wind.”


Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour

A Hint Of Mint – Volume 26: Halloween

by with No Comment playlists

If you came here looking for the same old Halloween classics – you know the ones – you came to the wrong place. On Halloween, people can be anyone or anything they desire, and be applauded for doing so. No wonder it’s like Gay Pride Part II! Celebrate your otherness with a Halloween playlist with an LGBT bent, or as I like to call it, a playlist with a hint of mint.

[8tracks width=”300″ height=”250″ playops=”” url=”http://8tracks.com/mixes/7126317″] Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour

It’s Friday And I Need To Dance!

by with No Comment playlists

“You’re gettin’ busy like a bee and that’s the troof
I got a feeling there’s a fire on the roof.”
– “Wiggle It” by 2 in a Room

The phrase “busy like a bee,” or at least a variation thereof, dates back to the 14th century, when Geoffrey Chaucer used it in his The Canterbury Tales:
Ey! Goddes mercy!” sayd our Hoste tho,
Now such a wyf I pray God keep me fro.
Lo, suche sleightes and subtilitees
In wommen be; for ay as busy as bees
Be thay us seely men for to desceyve,
And from a soth ever a lie thay weyve.
And by this Marchaundes tale it proveth wel.

What on earth is he banging on about? Next time, Chaucer, use Spellcheck.

Per Wiktionary, the phrase “busy as a bee” means very active, working constantly.

The phrase is a bit of a misnomer, though. Not all bees work constantly. Take the drone. Unlike other bees, the drone does not collect nectar or pollen. The drone does not participate in the construction of the hive. Drones don’t have stingers so they are unable to cause pain to the frightened blogger who runs shrieking at the site of a bee. Per Slate.com, drones “don’t leave the hive until early afternoon, at which time they carouse around in packs, and when they get home just a few hours later, they rely on the worker bees to feed them.” Drones are assholes.

The drone exists to fertilize a queen bee. The mating takes place while the bees are in flight. Literally, they give a flying fuck. From penetration to ejaculation takes about two seconds, which to me is forty seconds shorter than sex should last. The drone dies soon after, as his penis and other much-loved body parts are ripped off during sexual intercourse. Any drones reading this, take it from me – no woman is worth that aggravation, and that’s the troof.

Friday is dance day at Tunes du Jour. This week’s party kicks off with 2 in a Room’s “Wiggle It.”


Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour