Rip It Up

By now, you have probably seen the Holiday rip cards from Gavin over at Baseball Card Breakdown. 

It's the first time since I got back into collecting a few years ago that I was legitimately happy to see a 1989 Fleer card show up. Of course, like nearly everyone, I did the right thing when I got this card. I had to Rip It Up.

While Little Richard didn't write the song, his version was released first. So, I'm giving him credit for that -- meaning everyone after that was a cover. A quick YouTube search shows, well, it's absolutely crazy how many covers there are of this song. It's so crazy that I'm going to treat you to a few of them. 

But I'm going to make you wait on what is inside until the end.

1.  Bill Haley & His Comets

Bill Haley released his version shortly after Little Richard did, so it's a close question as to whether this counts as a cover. 

To start this off, I am going to highlight the protection that Gavin sent for these cards. He always sends interesting things, and this one was no different:

It's been over two years now since I had a dog around. With the two cats we have getting along famously and fabulously, we just don't want to introduce a third party into the situation to throw all that off. But I miss my Cinnie girl.

We subscribed to the BarkBox for a few years for her. She loved some of the treats, turned up her nose at other treats, and generally was a good sport about the whole deal. Even if that meant having a Christmas bow on her head.

Okay, let's get back to happier things -- baseball cards, of course.

2. Paul McCartney

The Beatles covered this song as part of a medley with "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "Blue Suede Shoes," a track that was released on their Anthology 3 album. This version is Sir Paul covering the song live in concert.

Yeah, this card is pretty interesting. Is there a "Groveling Gavin" version of it somewhere? Perhaps this one is it:

I tried chewing tobacco when I was about 7 or 8 years old -- maybe younger. I think that is the perfect age to try it because you have no idea what to do and you think it's like gum or something and swallow it and become violently ill. And it takes like crap at that age too.

Or maybe that's just me.

3.  Buddy Holly

Perhaps this song was one of those songs that artists in the 1950s just had to play. You know -- like how every cover band has to play "Twist and Shout"? Because Buddy Holly isn't the only singer from this era to cover it. There will be more. 

Hey, I have a great analogy now! Every band and artist in the 1950s had to play "Rip It Up" just like Topps/Bowman must have at least 10 different parallels for every one of its sets! That's it! 

Don't get me wrong here -- as a player collector, I do enjoy getting these parallels for those collections. But as the numbers of parallels stack up in each set, I start thinking, "Maybe I shouldn't try to put together full sets for my Brewers collection of these."

Then I laugh, have a drink, and forget I ever said that to myself. I'm easily amused, especially when I'm in a pure Faulknerian stream-of-consciousness mode.

4.  Elvis Presley

See, I told you there were more from that era who played it. I mean, Elvis never met a song he didn't try to take and make his own. Or, rather, Elvis never wrote any of his own songs -- even the fawning "Elvis History Blog" says that he was not a singer-songwriter. So, it should come as no surprise that he or Colonel Tom Parker would hear a song with a good beat and say, "Elvis, you gotta sing this song." And he would.

Apropos of a southerner of whom a lot was asked, here's Ben Sheets. A serial numbered to 899 Ben Sheets from 2006 SP Authentic at that. That's pretty good in my book.

5.  Stray Cats

Considering the band's sensibilities -- and Brian Setzer's later dabbling in Big Band/Swing music when it got popular again in the 1990s -- it should hardly be surprising that the Stray Cats would cover this song. I don't know when or where this cover came from -- I'd guess the early 1980s somewhere. But the Cats do shred on it.

Astin was the Brewers third round pick in 2013 out of the University of Arkansas (Woo Pig Sooie and all that). The Brewers sent Astin along with Kevin Shackelford to the Cincinnati Reds in late 2014 in exchange for the large human being that is Jonathan Broxton. Broxton chipped in 47 innings at a 5.55 ERA clip (though with a FIP of 3.47) before the Brewers sent him to St. Louis in exchange for Malik Collymore (an Ontario native who "hit" .167/.227/.208 in 208 plate appearances in the Florida State League in 2016 at the age of 21). 

Astin and especially Shackelford have a chance to make the Reds this year, what with the Reds still being in flux and all. Astin will start in Triple-A this season, and Shackelford pitched creditably in Louisville in 2016 out of the bullpen.

6. The Chipmunks

If the Chipmunks did a song, you know it was probably overplayed. Funny thing, though -- at this point in my life and despite growing up with The Chipmunks being on TV regularly, I think the only song I really remember by them is The Christmas Song.

Gavin was responsible for putting the first Donruss Optic card in my hands this year. At least I think he was. I have probably about 2500 cards stacked up on my desk now waiting to get sorted out and cataloged thanks to the crazy generosity from the blogosphere this year, so I may have gotten other Optic cards from other places first but just haven't featured them yet.

I look at this card and think, "Damn it MLB, give Panini rights to use your logos just on the Donruss sets. Limit their parallels. Limit their inserts. Give them a trial run, and see if they do a decent job and not screw it up -- just please give us a little bit of competition for Topps."

Then I remember that MLB really doesn't care about collectors except for getting their licensing fee blood out of Topps. Oh yeah. Forgot that.

7. David Thibault

Wait. This guy is just a French-Canadian Elvis impersonator. No, really. The guy nails Elvis's voice on some French-Canadian morning show at this link. I'm waiting for the brunette with the really straight hair and bangs to start screaming like it's the Ed Sullivan Show.

But really, I can't end with this guy. Him covering this song is like a double cover, since his whole life is covering Elvis. 

8. Los Lobos

This cover was done as a part of Los Lobos providing the soundtrack for the movie La Bamba in 1987. Lou Diamond Phillips "sings" the song in the movie, but the Los Lobos version did not come out until their career retrospective El Cancionero Mas y Mas in 2000 was released.

Here's the carnage after the ripping of the rip card took place. Sorry if anyone wanted that special collector's 15/25 version of the double Gwynn for their collection -- maybe you can talk someone else into being nicer to their card than I was to this one.

9.  Hanson

No shit. The little girls shrieking in the crowd probably thought that Hanson were the first to sing this song even though they say they are covering Little Richard at the very beginning of the song. 

See, once something like this happens to a song, it's a sign that the song really should be discarded. If the phrase "jump the shark" hadn't become so trite, it would describe what happened to this song to a T. Except that even then, it wouldn't really capture it. 

Not to be too harsh, but listening to this version would make Little Richard roll over in James Brown's grave. Little Richard is still alive, by the way.

Thankfully, the contents of the rip card were far better than this crapola:

I tried to fix my poor scanning job on this. Here's the straighter version:

 

I love the unique Robin Yount collectibles that Gavin has added to my collection in the past, and this artistic magnet is just awesome.

Thank you so much, Gavin, for letting me Rip It Up.

Johnny's Trading Spot is No Hideaway

If you have ever lived in Atlanta, chances are you have heard of Johnny's Hideaway. When I was a younger man, I heard stories about Johnny's. In particular, Johnny's was always known as a Cougar den. Indeed, if you Google "Johnny's Hideaway" using Google's suggestions, the second item on the list after "Johnny's Hideaway Atlanta GA" is "Johnny's Hideaway Cougar."

Now that I'm a bit older -- as in, 15 years older -- I have now been to Johnny's and can say that the stories were true. The place is full of 40-somethings and 50-somethings and 60-somethings and even 70-somethings, all dancing and having fun. Here's a photo I found in a Google search to show you:

I think ol' Wallet Card should make a run there.

Anyway, Johnny's Hideaway should not be confused with Johnny's Trading Spot. No matter how appropriate some of the activity at Johnny's Hideaway might be if it were characterized as being a trading spot -- even if Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich are not involved -- Johnny's Trading Spot is about the cards.

John sent me a ton of Brewers cards in a package just before Christmas. Using the music of the Hideaway as inspiration, here are some of the highlights.

"It's Now or Never"
One of the features at Johnny's Hideaway is The King's Corner, which is all about Elvis Presley. I always liked Elvis's take on "O Sole mio," so "It's Now or Never" gets to represent two guys who always seemed to be close to taking that next step but always got in their own ways -- whether through injury (Eldred) or the distinct inability to make contact (Deer).

"Down Under"

Okay, I admit it. I've been to Johnny's Hideaway a couple of times. As the people who like the Elvis Presley stuff fade off into the sunset, they have adapted. Now that the children of the 80s -- like myself -- are now in their 40s, the DJ at Johnny's had added more and more music from the 1980s. 

There's only one song appropriate for David Nilsson cards -- Men At Work's classic from 1981. This was one of my favorite songs at age 9. In fact, I know that it was the very first 45 RPM single that I ever bought myself. And I have heard them play the song at Johnny's Hideaway.

I may even have been the one to request it.

"Little Old Lady from Pasadena"
It's a little mean to associate this song with Jeff Cirillo since he's not a little old lady. But, he is from Pasadena, and the Beach Boys are right in the Hideaway wheelhouse.

"You Make Me Feel So Young"
While Elvis Presley gets a corner in his honor at Johnny's Hideaway, Frank Sinatra has an entire room dedicated to him. One of Ol' Blue Eyes' songs really applies to these cards, because guys like Moose Haas, Don Money, Mike Caldwell, and Jerry Augustine make me feel like a pre-teen kid chasing autographs again.

"Vogue"

Poor Bill Wegman. Apparently, no one wanted to get close enough to him to take any photos other than of him on the mound still holding the ball. These pictures are similar enough in their look that they brought Madonna's "Vogue" to mind -- it looks almost intentional that they are so similar.

That, or Wegman was super consistent in his pitching motion. 

I like my conspiracy theory better. It's more interesting.

"Hip Hop Hooray"
Let me be honest. The last time I went to Johnny's Hideaway, the one thing I noticed was that it was not a very diverse crowd. I mean, even in that photo above, I see only two African-American faces. That said, the DJ does play some white-person-friendly rap stuff from the early 1990s. At least the last time I was there, you did not hear any Lil Jon, but you might hear Naughty by Nature.  And Rickie Weeks deserves a little hooray anyway.

"Rags to Riches"
An old school Tony Bennett song for an old-school player, Jim Gantner, and his pal Ted Simmons. Yeah, Simmons is probably more Rachmaninov than Tony Bennett, but I have never heard classical music at a nightclub. Not even Johnny's Hideaway.

Intermission
Sorry Chuck, I've got nothing for you.

"Living La Vida Loca"
Just as you don't see many black folks in Johnny's Hideaway, you also do not run into too many Hispanic people there.  So, there also isn't much Latino-influenced music that gets played there.  So, Jose Valentin, you get stuck with a Ricky Martin earworm.  

If I had my choice, I'd give you some Juanes "La Camisa Negra"...I mean, that's pretty old school too being ten years old and all, but it's probably too recent for Johnny's Hideaway.

Then again, after reading that the fascists in Italy adopted the song because the fascists like wearing and being called the Black Shirts, I think I'll stick with the ex-Menudo guy's song.

"Dazed and Confused"
The problem with finding any kind of dance club song for Gorman Thomas is that, well, there isn't one that is at all appropriate. I have heard Led Zeppelin in Johnny's Hideaway before, though I've never heard "Dazed and Confused" there. But with Gorman's drug and alcohol issues after his career (and during it), it makes sense to be his song.

"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"
It's random, but it fits. 1985 was the year that Wham! took over the pop music airwaves with the infectious energy of this song about going out to dance. 1985 was the year that B.J. Surhoff was the number one overall draft pick. 

I'd have picked the number one overall song from 1985 -- another Wham! song called "Careless Whisper" -- but it's a boring ballad.  Johnny's Hideaway plays those about as regularly as any other 8th grade dance, and watching the action on and off the floor is about as painful and awkward. So, it's the uptempo song that finished the year #3 on the Billboard chart.

"You Dropped A Bomb On Me"
For some reason, this last gasp for disco in 1982 from The Gap Band seemed like the right song for Greg Vaughn. Vaughn loved to hit the bombs.  Thankfully, I never saw Greg Vaughn dressed in any way close to the way that the lead singer of The Gap Band is dressed in that video though...rhinestones on a vest with a camouflage t-shirt and cargo pants along with a green fedora...I don't think Vaughn could have pulled that one off.

Then again, with that hightop fade on that Studio card, maybe I should have dropped a Kid 'N Play video in here.

"You Shook Me All Night Long"
The one AC/DC song that got played at literally every middle school and high school dance I ever attended -- and every time I've ever been at Johnny's Hideaway -- just seems to fit for Jeromy Burnitz. Part of me always will associate this song with our high school weight room too, and that's probably why it fits for Burnitz.  

He kind of reminds me of meathead Rob Lowe from the DirecTV commercial.

"You're the One that I Want"

Ben Sheets was born in 1978. This song that panders to every woman in the bar who pictured themselves as playing the Olivia Newton-John character in Grease hit number one midway through 1978. And trust me, those women in Johnny's Hideaway eat this song up.

"Yeah!"
Okay, sometimes Johnny's Hideaway realizes that it has to update its playlist. Often, that's based entirely on some person -- usually a woman -- requesting a song.  When they do, they often look to some of the local boys. I've heard Outkast's "Hey Ya" there, and I've heard another local artist there too -- Usher's "Yeah!" in particular.

Funny thing: back in 2004, Geoff Jenkins's at-bat music was....yup, you guessed it. "Yeah!" by Usher.

Personally, I gained more respect for Lyle Overbay when I saw that "Why Go" by Pearl Jam was his at-bat music. 

That's a whole lot of cards -- and those guys were only the player collection additions. Johnny's Trading Spot hit me with a ton more cards from non-PCs as well. To include all of those here, though, would force me into more creative musical gymnastics!

John, thank you VERY much for the huge Priority Mail box you sent. I'm sorry to see that your Atlanta Braves are trying to trade away anything that isn't nailed down to the floor at this point -- it would be nice to have a decent team here in town, but it appears that John Hart is trying to build on young pitching. 

Or something like that.