1994 Top Ten

10) The Noose of the News: The year certainly had more than its share of wacky news events. Locally, the cracking of the arson case raised a proud smile. In the sports world alone, we had the sale and salvation of the fighting Woofies; we had yet another baseball strike and the first missed World Series since the turn of the century; and to top it all off, the incredible OJ circus. With the growing influence of tabloid journalism, we see personal lives being dissected under the guise, the perpetual battle cry of legitimate news gathering and the "right to know". The ultimate example of this of course, was the incredible saga of Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, perfectly scripted, purposely pursued by the "media" into one of the all time surrealistic journeys into the world of competition, corruption, greed, insecurity, insincerity and hype. All that was proven though, was that the escapism of the entertainment world is increasingly being mixed with politics and art into something perverse that is supposed to occupy us, concern us and matter to us. The unquestioned myth is that what is news is what is reported not that the corporate monopoly of the major news organizations and the sole basis of choosing what is reported is the film available, the gossip quotient, and if it makes compelling viewing.

9) Fabulous Babes of the Year: Sandra "SJL" Bullock and Liz Phair.

8) We Want Newt: Politics as usual? No way. Anything but that. OK, the government needs to "downsize" and the folks in Washington seem to have lost all grasp on what they are actually there for. Still I swear, I for one, will never vote again until someone, anyone comes out and admits they are a "liberal," a proud part of the counterculture, and deny the rewriting of history, that the mistake of Vietnam was nonsupport, and that JFK and MLK were deviants, and admit that government can help people, and that for some programs tax increases are necessary and that being tough on crime doesn't merely mean that you're against it and want more prisons and death sentences and so on and so on....

7) Bob's Events of the Year: In 1965 he plugged in and combined the dizzying, swirling effects of rock and roll with the pure joy of the written word. In 1994, he unplugged again and proved his contributions to his fans can take on so many different forms. One only hopes that the unreleased material from his MTV appearance will someday see the light of day (a version of Desolation Row was among that left out of the broadcast). His new song, Dignity is another timeless and priceless ranting from our best poet. Best lyric of the year? "Got no place to fade, got no coat. I'm on a rolling river on a jerkin' boat, trying to read a note, someone wrote, about Dignity." You want live performances? His was the only concert I attended all year and it was down in Rochester shared with a friend. Mr. Dylan proved even after the tenth time I've seen him, that he is still the most charismatic, most relevant singer/songwriter in our lifetime. Constantly challenging expectations, constantly questioning, and constantly coming up with ways to make one see something, feel something differently, Dylan continues to prove the power of music. If this is what growing old means, with grace and dignity and mercy, please sign me up.

6) The Song of the Year: A tie: Madonna's Secret, and Liz Phair's SuperNova. One song will years from now bring on memories of what this year was all about for me, the other continues the ascent of a shooting star.

5) The Album (CD) of the Year: For most of the year it wasn't even a question: Freedy Johnston's This Perfect World was like a breath of fresh air. I have played it over and over and there isn't a moment during the song cycle that doesn't ring true and add to what came before. The pictures painted beginning with Bad Reputation all the way through to the climactic Evie's Garden couldn't say any more. This is the one CD that I will still be playing years from now. But, the true gem of 1994 was Madonna's surprising "comeback" effort, Bedtime Stories. In danger of becoming a parody of herself with her recent output of music, books, movies and the embarrassing David Letterman appearance, who would have expected such a lush and moving collection of songs? The first two singles, Secret and Take a Bow are so well crafted that one is forced to reevaluate all of Madonna's recent excesses and once again consider what she might come to be in the future.

4) The Movie of the Year: The rollicking, rolling, always entertaining bus ride of a movie, Speed.

3) The Film of the Year: Hands down, Pulp Fiction. The mixture of dazzling dialogue, the threading together of multiple story lines, and the mastery of movie making and the love of the art itself was more than impressive. This movie stands as far above the rest as last year's best picture, Schindler's List did.

2) Television Event of the Year: During the unbearable, obnoxious, snobbish pledge "week" of our local PBS outlet, KTCA, came a gem of a rebroadcast, Frank Sinatra's 1974 concert, The Main Event. I owned the LP for years but to see it video wise, TV wise and other wise, was a treat. It's priceless just to see and hear Howard Cosell's introduction and the ultimate Sinatra banter, "I've never felt as much love in one room as I feel in this room tonight..."

1) Day of the Year: November 9. Reflection, deliberate introspection, evaluation and analysis. Survival and blessings for all that has passed and all that is still yet to come...