Excellent bio! Reminds me of when, a few years back (in the high school days...), I wrote a full ~10 page essay on Mr. Polk solely because he was the president I knew most about. You'll never guess why.
As for the Istanbul EP version: I actually own an original CD pressing of it, and it definitely sounds more "right" coming out of a CD player than a crappy macbook. The singing saw in this version of the song sounds so amazing, though, I don't know that I can pick a favorite!
I appreciate that the Johns have at least one history lesson on each album. I vastly prefer "Meet James Ensor," "The Edison Museum," "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," and the other historical tunes from their catalog (including the entirety of No!) to this James K. Polk track. Actually, now that I look, I don't see a clear history lesson song on Apollo 18. Maybe the history lesson is the title of the album!
Yeah, I don’t think we get a history lesson as a song in the next couple of albums either (unless you count a recording on a wax cylinder. But not spoilers! Haha
LTW is such a blind spot for me. I didn’t have access to buying or reliably playing MP3 when it came out and by the time I could, I’d heard a chunk of songs on other releases.
I forgot that Edison Museum was on there! I was thinking about “I Can Hear You” on Mini Car which itself is sort of a look into the past while being recorded in a method that truly only exists in history books.
That original EP rendition delighted me with its quirky Schoolhouse Rockyness, and inaugurated Their side hustle as kid-friendly edumacators for grown-ups. The full band Showroom update significantly waters down the charm for me. (This is not a rule. The full-band "Why Does The Sun Shine?" Is fantastic while the original EP cover version is quite endearing.)
Personally, I really enjoy the acoustic guitar and singing saw in this updates version for Factory Showroom but the nostalgia of the original is too strong to overcome its standing in my heart.
In 1996, I was at the show at La Luna in Portland when we corrected Their pronunciation of Oregon when they sang the song. They fixed it later! :)
also, i sang this song at karaoke a couple weeks ago
They had JKP at karaoke?! That’s a dream get haha
As your neighbor to the north, hearing Oregon pronounced wrong always bugged me. Thank you for correcting them!
Excellent bio! Reminds me of when, a few years back (in the high school days...), I wrote a full ~10 page essay on Mr. Polk solely because he was the president I knew most about. You'll never guess why.
As for the Istanbul EP version: I actually own an original CD pressing of it, and it definitely sounds more "right" coming out of a CD player than a crappy macbook. The singing saw in this version of the song sounds so amazing, though, I don't know that I can pick a favorite!
I appreciate that the Johns have at least one history lesson on each album. I vastly prefer "Meet James Ensor," "The Edison Museum," "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," and the other historical tunes from their catalog (including the entirety of No!) to this James K. Polk track. Actually, now that I look, I don't see a clear history lesson song on Apollo 18. Maybe the history lesson is the title of the album!
No history on Apollo 18, but "Mammal" drops the science!
Yeah, I don’t think we get a history lesson as a song in the next couple of albums either (unless you count a recording on a wax cylinder. But not spoilers! Haha
I was counting the Edison Museum as history….which is on Long Tall Weekend
LTW is such a blind spot for me. I didn’t have access to buying or reliably playing MP3 when it came out and by the time I could, I’d heard a chunk of songs on other releases.
I forgot that Edison Museum was on there! I was thinking about “I Can Hear You” on Mini Car which itself is sort of a look into the past while being recorded in a method that truly only exists in history books.
That original EP rendition delighted me with its quirky Schoolhouse Rockyness, and inaugurated Their side hustle as kid-friendly edumacators for grown-ups. The full band Showroom update significantly waters down the charm for me. (This is not a rule. The full-band "Why Does The Sun Shine?" Is fantastic while the original EP cover version is quite endearing.)
Personally, I really enjoy the acoustic guitar and singing saw in this updates version for Factory Showroom but the nostalgia of the original is too strong to overcome its standing in my heart.