I was a little surprised to note last week that on average, visitors to TVD spend a whopping 1:20 here each day. That’s it—80 seconds.
I’m OK with that however as I’m no different. I’ve got bookmarks galore and I visit the family of bloggers on the regular. I’m in London one moment, New York another, down to Australia, then up to Canada in a flash—perhaps in all of 80 seconds. A pop over, if you will.
And many of the Mp3’s offered by my blogging kin have made it onto my ipod. That scratchy 7” ripped in Botswana is getting a fresh listen on my walk to work in the morning in Washington, DC. How remarkable is that? How cool that we’re able to embed ourselves into each other’s psyches in this way and often at such distances.
All of this to usher in a new feature here on the blog: TVD Pop Overs. With these we’ll head to all points on the globe to check in with the family of bloggers who are doing their best to see that your 80 seconds are the sweetest possible. We’ll get a take on their perspectives, what to anticipate upon your visit, and a handful of tracks that best exemplify their tastes and offerings. It’ll be tea and crumpets or beer and cigs depending upon where we land.
To kick the feature off, we head down to Cape Town, South Africa to check in with Any Major Dude who in his own right has done a fine job of spotlighting the blogs he thinks we should be checking into with frequency. So, with his blessing – we’re off…
“Any Major Dude With Half A Heart is a nostalgist who still has faith in new music (and, apparently writes in the third person). So the old and the new music tend to mingle merrily. Any Major Dude With Half A Heart is mostly a series-based blog. Some run intermittently (such as ‘Great Moustaches in Rock’ or ‘Pissing off the Taste Police with…’), others on a more or less regular basis, such as the series of lesser-known originals of famous songs. And some run their course and are laid to rest (such as ‘Perfect Pop’, or the current series of love songs for all emotions). And there are regular mix-CDRs (currently a four-volume series on the flute in rock/pop/soul). A day in this blogger’s life consists mainly of checking ever 15 minutes if anyone has commented on a post. At that obsessive rate, Any Major Dude is usually disappointed, but elated and grateful when somebody does comment. Just your average blogger then. In-between, MP3tags must be conscientiously updated, with artwork and correctly annotated year and genre fields.”
Wilco – Any Major Dude (Mp3)
(combines the blog’s name and my love for alt.country)
Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg – Je t’aime moi non plus (crackly vinyl rip) (Mp3)
(for the childhood nostalgia on which I thrive)
Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr – You Don’t Have To Be A Star (Mp3)
(for my love of ’70s soul and the flute)
Hello Saferide – San Francisco (Mp3)
(for my new series of US cities and love for Swedish Indie-pop)
Dolly Parton – I Will Always Love You (Mp3)
(for my love of pre-’80s country and original songs)
