THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE." THE VIRTUES OF CYNICISM AS DEMONSTRATED BY MARSHALL CRENSHAW AND THE ORLONS. DOUBLE DOWN!!

DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS

Today we live in a cynical world. It’s pervasive, this debilitating disbelief in our institutions, our once assured tenets of groundedness. Now we doubt, not only what we see, but what we hear, and even our own thoughts. Are they indeed our own? Or, have they been shaped by the unrelenting marketers and influencers? Back in the 80’s - even earlier back in the 60’s the attitudes of boredom and mistrust seemed exclusively the province of old school Europe, in particular the French, who invented the perfect word for it: Ennui. The great bon vivant, George Sanders, in his suicide note explained that he was leaving his life because he was bored.

In the following offerings we celebrate a time when cynics could be appreciated as unique and exotic. CYNICAL GIRL by Marshall Crenshaw proclaims the lure of nihilism in a poppy, irresistible interpretation. And, THEM TERRIBLE BOOTS by the Orlons makes fun of a wannabe fashionista at the crossroads of burgeoning Mod style.

MARSHALL CRENSHAW

In Marshall Crenshaw’s 1982 eponymous debut album, CYNICAL GIRL chimed out so brightly it was a paused that refreshed. The singer wants a cynical girl who has no use for the real world, and this notion, wrapped in candy colored chords, invited us to embrace the “Debbie Downers” in our lives, and to realize there’s something comforting in the dark side. Maybe we could save each other.

Crenshaw, the latter-day, second coming of Buddy Holly even portrayed the Proto-Rock God in “La Bamba” and charmed the world with his unapologetic cheeriness. But the euphoria couldn’t last. His debut outing achieved his highest chart position, but it was a bracing example of positivity while it lasted.

THE ORLONS

This quartet of street-wise, Philly teens made the trsition from middlin’ Doo-Wop practitioners to dance craze mega stars with their triple crown of chart toppers: Wah Watusi, Don’t Hang Up, and South Street, evolving into one of Cameo-Parkway’s hottest acts. THEM TERRIBLE BOOTS from 1962 was the B-side to South Street, and rode that comet’s tail into recording history. It’s an evocative glimpse into that time when the cultural landscape was in transition from the staid 50s to the super-charged 60s.

The aforementioned cynicism is reflected in the mockery to which the dude who is wearing the mod clothes is subjected. But, he was just probably a bit ahead of his time. When the only male member, (and survivor) of the group, Stephen Caldwell, repeats the title phrase in his basso profundo, the whole salty world view clicks into place.