Saw this poor critter while waiting for the bus last week:
Looks like his prayers went unanswered, unless his request was to die on the streets of downtown Cincinnati.
Naturally I immediately thought of Don Dixon’s song “Praying Mantis.” You’ve likely never heard the song, and perhaps you’ve never even heard of Don Dixon. All he did was co-produce Murmur and Reckoning by R.E.M., as well as albums by The Smithereens, Marshall Crenshaw and Guadalcanal Diary. Jangle pop wouldn’t exist without him.
Please look beyond the bad hairstyle and appreciate the tune.
Since 1988, Don has been married to the equally talented and equally underappreciated Marti Jones. They live in Canton, Ohio and still tour occasionally. Here’s a nice interview with them.
OF COURSE I had to comment on this because of the tune – it’s awesome. We were still playing the vinyl version at 97X all the way up to the end in 2004.
Whatever happened to 97X? Radio is not the same without it. The BIG reason I listened was Damian. Keep up the tunes……..I read the blog since there is always something interested.
Not to steal Damian’s thunder, but 97X (the FM signal) was sold in 2004 by the original owners who retired, and the online stream (woxy.com) carried on for another 7 years or so, closing down because of a lack of revenue.
Thanks for chiming in, Sledge. Your memory is better than mine on that stuff anyway… been too many years. I’m glad 97X was still playing Praying Mantis right up until the end.