The Mallard's Infinite Playlist

I've always admired Scampwalker's scribbles on music, even though I'm not nearly as deep into the outlaw-alt country scene as he is. The dude needs to be writing for publication.

Myy musical tastes, on the other hand, tend to run broad, shallow, disjointed and, quite frankly, bizarre. But that won't stop me from ripping him off. Well, not ripping him off, because I can't write about music to save my life, but I am starting yet-another regular blog feature I'll promptly forget about and neglect, one I like to call "The Mallard's Infinite Playlist."

And yes, I ripped off the movie title. Everything is derivative...

Anyway, it's just music I like for no particular reason. It's also - if I'm being honest here -  a cop-out for those days when I can't think of anything to write. Which is most of the time.

So without further ado, here's my first installment...



I was in fourth grade when I first saw The Clash on MTV. I was spending the night with a friend, and his big sister - with whom I was in extreme ten-year-old love - was glued to the TV watching videos. I had no idea who The Clash were. My father was and is a strict country traditionalist. My parents were still married at that point, so it went without saying that I lived in a Clash-free household.

I could tell you who Hank Snow, Hank Williams, Jim Reeves or Merle Haggard was, but for me "punk" was what my father muttered at the college students in Norman as we drove by. It sure as hell wasn't a musical genre in my little world.

But sitting there on my friend's living-room floor (his family was from Ohio and were considered "liberal Yankees" so my parents didn't let me spend the night often) sneaking peeks at the woman I loved (remember, I was ten...) as she made moon-eyes at Joe Strummer I finally realized that yes, there really WAS music out there that didn't include steel guitar. I mean, these guys seemed to yell and scream a lot, but if she liked it then damn it, I liked it, too.

A few months later my parents were split, my mom moved us from our house in the country to Norman and we finally got cable, and with it MTV. And while I eventually lost touch with that fourth-grade friend as well as the love of my life, fourth-grade-edition, I credit her with unintentionally turning me onto The Clash and a larger musical world beyond twang (even though I hasten to add I still dig twang...). I've been a huge Clash fan ever since. This may be the first Clash song on the playlist, but it won't be the last.

So this one's for you, girl of my pre-adolescent dreams. Sorry, I've forgotten your name. And it was actually Rock the Casbah you were listening to that night. But I like Rudie Can't Fail better. And it's my blog...