Friday Nigt Videos

I am so happy to share this with you. In high school I went through a Greg Kihn phase. I literally wore out the cassette I had of Citizen Kihn because I thought it so great. Lots of cool, trippy, moody songs on that one. Alas, the first single off that album, "Lucky," struck me as one of the weaker tracks. It was a minor hit, barely cracking the Billboard top 20. Then the second single, "Boys Won't" came out. I saw this video on either Night Tracks of Friday Night Videos when it came out and thought it amazing! I told my friends about it in school. I was certain it would be a huge smash. Folks, I NEVER saw that video again until about eight years ago, and that was a grainy, Nth generation copy on YouTube with terrible audio. Kihn's career cratered after that, and I'm still baffled to this day how that album--which I thought the best of his career--just went nowhere. Regardless, this video is a hoot, from Kihnnedy High School to Nurse Canker, there's a playfull joy here with fun visuals and a catchy song. Enjoy!

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Jim Stafford.

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Chicken Ranch anniversary: Happy birthday Sheriff Flournoy!

On this date in 1902, Thomas James Flournoy was born to Tom and Etta Flournoy on a ranch near Rock Island. He would grow up to work as a ranch hand on the famous King Ranch, a Texas Ranger patrolling the Big Bend region during World War II and--most famously--as the long-serving sheriff of Fayette County. Sheriff Jim famously defied political and media pressure to close down the infamous Chicken Ranch brothel outside of La Grange in 1973 before acquiescing to a direct order from Governor Dolph Briscoe. A year later, Sheriff Flournoy confronted Marvin Zindler on the town square, ripping off the reporter's hairpiece and throwing it in the street. The resulting lawsuits and counter suits were eventually settled out of court with a large donation to the Shriner's Children's Hospital.

Sheriff Flournoy died on October 27, 1982, from heart problems. He would've been 121 years old today.

Autographed copies of Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse 50th anniversary edition are now available from my Big Cartel site.

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Dirty, Sexy History and Brenham

I've got a quick information drop to share with you good folks. First up, I've gone and committed another one of those podcast things. This time out I speak with Dr. Jessica Cale on the Dirty, Sexy History podcast. It's quite an interesting discussion, as Jessica asks me more about the origins of the Chicken Ranch and the general history and conditions under which prostitution operated under during 19th century Texas than I ever have been before. There some interesting stuff about malaria in there as well, perhaps timely as malaria has experienced a comeback in Texas of late. You can't tell from the amazing editing of this episode, but we had several odd interruptions that threatened to derail our entire effort for a time, but fortunately, Jessica pulled me through and we managed to stick the landing. On the other hand, there's really no excuse for the weird, long pauses I take in the middle of sentences. I know this has been a verbal tick of mine for a while, and I suppose it happens as I collect my thoughts to finish my statement, but still. It's quite prominent this time out and comes off as an over=the-top William Shatner impersonation. Yikes!

The other news is that on Saturday, September 16, I will be at The Book Nook in Brenham, Texas, for a signing and discussion of all things Chicken Ranch. I've been trying to get to Brenham for a signing for several years now--the manager informs me that Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch has become a perpetual bestseller for them. Whether this is because of Brenham's proximity to La Grange and the eponymous brothel of the title, or the fact that Brenham gets a mention in the book for its own brothel, the barely-remembered Dutch Lane that burned down under mysterious circumstances, I cannot say. Perhaps the answer will present itself on Saturday. I hope to see you there!

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Friday Night Videos

Let's change things up a bit this week. Jim Stafford is a singer-songwriter who had his greatest success in the 1970s with songs that had an often humorous bent. In 1980 he wrote and recorded "Cow Patti" for the Clint Eastwood movie "Any Which Way You Can." I can't find information online if it was a hit or not, but I can attest that it received significant airplay on the country radio stations of the day. I was 10 or 11 at the time, so naturally I thought this song was one of the top 2-3 pieces of music ever recorded (I'm older and wiser now, and will allow that it may be only in the top 10). Eight years after it first came out, Tom and Dick Smothers had a revival of their old television show and invited Stafford to perform. Stafford, the classy guy that he is, chose to sing "Cow Patti." The rest is history.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Jimmy Buffett.

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Friday Night Videos

Jimmy Buffett died last week from a rare form of skin cancer. This news has hit me surprisingly hard. I'm not one who normally obsesses over the lives (or deaths) of celebrities. I liked Buffett's music--or a significant portion of it--although I wouldn't consider myself a Parrothead. My affinity for Buffett certainly preceeded my love of tiki by a couple of decades (although Buffett isn't tiki, strictly speaking). I'd always wanted to see him play live, and for Christmas in 2019 Lisa gifted me with tickets to his show in San Antonio--for March 2020. We all know what happened next. First, the show was rescheduled. Then it was cancelled outright. When his tour ran through Austin last year at the new Moody Center, tickets were twice the price and I was in no position to go. Opportunity lost forever. Still, many of his songs speak to me in a way that's hard to articulate, but one stands out: "We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us About." With this one, there's no difficulty in articulating. As I grow older I increasingly identify with this song, and the recognition of the ever-widening gap between who I am and who my parents wanted me to be will never be reconciled. Were I able to travel back in time 45 years, I really don't think my parents would like me much at all, regardless of whether they knew my identity. We are just very, very different people, and I wasted many, many years in a futile quest to try and please them. Knowing what I know now, I would live my life much differently and make different decisions. And I'm fine with that, mainly because this silly song helped me recognize blind spots in my own life.

Plus, Jimmy gets bonus points for the Gardner McKay reference.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Howard Jones.

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Seguin signing!

I've had a whirlwind of Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch book signings and appearances of late, but I'm not finished yet! Tomorrow, September 2, I'll be at Pecantown Books & Brews in Seguin from 1-3 p.m. These are great folks and they've got a good thing going in Seguin (which has a lot of good things going there, come to think of it. Maybe I'll show up early for some barbecue...). Believe it or not, Seguin is the closest bookstore to me. That's true--the Book Haus in New Braunfels closed last year, as did the Half Price Books in San Marcos. Of course, we all know the sad demise of Hasting's in both New Braunfels and San Marcos back in 2016. The moral of this story? Support your local bookseller! Especially if they're cool and have a wine bar in their store!

In related news, I will also have a signing on September 16 in Brenham, at the Book Nook. I've been talking with them about scheduling an event since March, so it's great to finally make our calendars jibe. I hope to see you at one or both of these appearances!

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Friday Night Videos

Wow, it's been a while since I put together an installement of Friday Night Videos. Did you miss me? Ha, loaded question. But you know someone I'm missing? Howard Jones. Surprisingly, out of the decade-plus I've been doing Friday Night Videos, ol' HoJo himself does not show up even once. Let's rectify that now with "No One Is To Blame," which was a striking departure from his earlier work when it first came out in 1986. The arrangement really captivated me and prompted me to buy the album based on the strength of this song alone. Spoiler alert: The album did not quite live up to the promise of this one song.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Bob Seger.

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