Last week, I had the pleasure of going to a lunch featuring Harvard's president, Drew Gilpin Faust, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary and GSD alumnus Shaun Donovan. Amid their interesting comments about public service and housing policy (and remotely interesting comments about how great Harvard is), I was struck by how much Faust looks like Georgia Hubley, Yo La Tengo's drummer, with 20 extra years. It's really uncanny, perhaps extra uncanny considering the age difference between the two. What is it that's so funny about people looking alike?
Hubley is probably rock's most charming drummer. While her husband, Ira Kaplan, Yo La Tengo's leader, has spastic moments on stage, she sits behind her kit, effortlessly rolling off her toms, hitting her high hat and staying on tempo, with her well-composed ponytail and look of bemused exasperation on her face. "Oh, boys," I imagine she always thinks about Kaplan and bassist James McNew, "you can exert all the effort you want. I'll sit here and be rock's most charming drummer without breaking a sweat." There's always a rough road and an easy road, and she makes me wonder why I would ever choose the rough one. Funny how I'm the one who has spastic moments on stage.
Not surprisingly, my girlfriend and her friend, our drummer, model their rock lives on Hubley. Or at least I think they do. Anyway, to the good times, here's the video for "The Summer," a splendid, delicate song by Yo La Tengo, from 1992, where Hubley provides backup vocals and a wonderful change in rhythm mid-song:
No comments:
Post a Comment