Our Next Album Release

 

A captivating fall sky at Brunswick as we waited

You might be aware that an artist released an album the other night at midnight.

Many in the pop music world were simply agog (and, perhaps, gaga).

Blog friend Snakey Lucy had her mother's credit card ready to fire away at midnight for "Midnights." 

Then another edition dropped at 3 a.m. with seven extra songs. I weep for those who try to collect all of it.

Taylor Swift is remarkable in myriad ways and, while I have my criticisms, one can't deny her talent or her ability to keep her fans satisfied.

It's a little Beatle-esque, I suppose. And, oh yeah, those guys dropped two new tracks from the expanded "Revolver," their 1966 masterpiece (I know, most of the Beatles' works are masterpieces). But "Revolver" is next-level brilliant.

Anyway, they released an early edition of "Yellow Submarine" that is 1) sung by John Lennon, 2) is acoustic and dark and melodic, and 3) is nothing like Ringo's eventual child-like classic. They also released a version of "Got to Get You Into My Life" with no horns and a fuzzed-out guitar part. Pretty great stuff.

But, yes, Taylor. So her album cover, like the songs themselves, is being evaluated and analyzed. Some have created their own version of the cover.

That was all I needed.

I got to Brunswick three hours before kickoff today. OK, technically four hours, but three hours ahead of the scheduled start time. Their opposition got stuck in traffic.

The larger point is that I had some time on my hands. So I looked up an album generator and found one.

I decided, as Chris Erway and I were planning to call the Brunswick game, that we'd promote it using a mockup album cover based on Taylor Swift's "Midnights."

I found a picture of the two of us -- a selfie we took at Ridgefield a little over a month ago. Then I went about making up song titles. The result is this.

Now, you might wonder about the song titles. I made them all up but they each have something related to Chris and me. When Ms. Swift ("Tay Tay") was getting close to the album release, she did this daily (and charming) video where she would choose a track number, then pick up a telephone and tell us the name of each track. I don't have such dramatic showmanship. Nor do you care that much.

So, without Taylor's nightly "Midnights Mayhem with Me" or the telephone, let's dive in.

Track 1) "1-2-3 Dominate" This is something Chris always wanted us to say before every broadcast as if we were pounding each other on our shoulder pads to go run through a wall on our way to radio immortality. We still say it. Sometimes. But with less vigor than was probably desired.

Track 2) "Villains" We have a running joke in which we're the villains (aka, "Anti-Hero" for you Tay Tay fans) among the media. I don't think we are but we do keep it pretty real and aren't phony.

Track 3) "Filthy" In truth, there's a second word that goes with filthy but I kept it a family-friendly album. Chris has called me this and I've called him that and there's a chance we've called many others the same. It's generally pejorative but mostly humorous. I won't reveal the word because I don't want to give all of the secrets away.

Track 4) "Keep It" This is something that I recall Ryan Demaria saying a lot and we picked up on it. The term is a shorthand for an expression of disinterest. It's always another way of saying "stick it."

Track 5) "Ego" It's a nickname. Chris and I give each other a hard time about a lot of things. I sometimes call him "The Ego." He's the one who truly embraced "The A-Team" monicker, for instance. This is among the things I chide him about, including his moat and the creation of his own country and security.

Track 6) "Captain Greenwich" This, on the other hand, is a name Chris gave me, especially when he was still new to the broadcasts. He even sent me off to a Halloween party years ago, with a "Captain Greenwich" cape. It was a sign of respect at the time.

Track 7) "Tako Mumpsimus" I discovered the word "mumpsimus" in a word-of-the-day email I received several years back and immediately applied it to our friend Chris Kaelin. Kato -- I think the world of him -- but he's obstinate. It's part of his charm. "Tako" is an anagram of "Kato" and, as for "mumpsimus?" It's "a person who obstinately adheres to unreasonable customs or notions."

Track 8) "Playmakers" Ryan, Kato, Chris, and I did "The Press Box" for roughly four years on WGCH. We started calling ourselves "The Press Box Playmakers" and the term has stuck.

Track 9) "The Sports Insider" A former WGCH colleague had a show called "The Sports Insider." In honor of Ricky Fritsch, we've kept it alive. Ricky was also responsible for one day asking me if I remembered an intern named Chris Erway. So, yeah, blame Ricky.

Track 10) "First Stanza" I like that term since it's poetic and reminds me of Susan ("Skipping Rocks" is available on Amazon). Chris likes my tradition of using it in nearly every football broadcast and will actually chide me if I don't say it.

Track 11) "Get Off My Lawn" Occasionally Chris will say I'm an old man. OK, every time I see him he tells me I'm an old man. 

Track 12) "What Is It?" This is something that the great Steve Somers of WFAN would say and it always cracked us up. When Steve agreed to come on "The Press Box," the four of us sat in the production studio to do a special promo for that show. The outtakes, including Ryan riffing by saying "What is it?" in every way possible, had us crying and laughing.

Track 13) "The Whole Thing" Also a Steve Somers term, it was something we took as our own just because. 

I'm a big fan of such parody and this was a fun thing to do. It was quick and simple and Chris got a good laugh out of it. Superfan Snakey Lucy also seemed to give it her seal of approval.

Chris and I touched on it during the broadcast of Brunswick/Phillips Andover Academy.

Well played, Taylor.

And go buy your copy of Susan's "Skipping Rocks!"

(UPDATE! Here's our special edition 11 a.m. release!)