Monday, February 21, 2005

Michael Fucking McDonald

I have no idea why Michael McDonald has made such a big comeback. What the fuck is the interest in this guy? I don't really care I guess, or at least I didn't until I turned the TV to Austin City Limits last night and he was on there. Yes, that's right Austin City Limits had the cheeseball singer from the fucking Doobie Brothers on. That's how far that show has fallen. Michael Fucking McDonald. I didn't keep it on long enough to see if we would be so fucking privileged to hear China Grove.

Could ACL fall any farther? I think I've said before on this blog that I'm saddened a bit that it's chosen to play a lot of rock acts at the expense of the Texas musicians that they did so much to promote from the 70s through the 90s. But at least The Shins and The Flaming Lips are acts with integrity. I don't mind seeing them on the show. But Michael fucking McDonald? Why the fuck would you schedule this guy for Austin City Limits? It's an insult to Townes Van Zandt, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Taylor, Guy Clark, Fats Domino, Tom Waits, Alejandro Escovedo, Richard Thompson, Del McCoury, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Joe Ely, Roger Miller, Marty Robbins, Larry Sparks, Flaco Jimenez, Willie Nelson, Leonard Cohen, Steve Forbert, Emmylou Harris, Kevin Welch, Danny Gatton, Texas Tornadoes, Kelly Willis, Carl Perkins, Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens, Rodney Crowell, Loudon Wainwright III, The Whites, Steve Earle, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Stephen Fromholz, Neil Young, Tammy Wynette, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eliza Gilkyson, Roy Orbison, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, David Olney, Bill Monroe, Charley Pride, Gatemouth Brown, Jerry Jeff Walker, Elizabeth Cotten, Lightning Hopkins, Doc Watson, John Hartford, Earl Scruggs, Willis Alan Ramsey, Dave Alvin, Gillian Welch, Ralph Stanley, Ernest Tubb, Lyle Lovett, Hank Thompson, Los Lobos, Butch Hancock, and the hundreds of other artists who have graced that stage.

If there's any justice in this world, Austin City Limits will personally apologize to these artists for placing Michael fucking McDonald where they once stood. And if the artists have passed on, they'll apologize to their next of kin.