Today is the birthday of a comrade who is no longer with us...

By "us," I'm not talking in the colloquial "everyone" sense, I'm just talking about the people I work with at the office. My friend Giovanni is still living (I hope!), but he moved on to better things, and the Land of Lincoln, and opened the minds of all of us left behind to the fact that maybe we shouldn't just settle for where we are, that there might be other plans to consider.

I wished him the best when he left, and though I haven't been too good at keeping up on emails, I still think about him a lot, and keep thinking of scenarios where he might come back and join the car pool again...

Why does he deserve a birthday shout out, though? Well, this fella was one of the first visitors to this site, and one of the first people to post a comment. So on this special day of his, I have this AC1 to offer.

Albert Hammond, Jr. is (get this...) the son of Albert Hammond, Sr.! The older A.H. was the dude that gave us "It Never Rains (In Southern California)," and went on to produce an impressive Latin music heritage. His career was going so well, seemingly, that he sent his son off to an exclusive school where he met like-minded dude Julian Casablancas. They went on to nab a couple of other guys to form The Strokes. Heard of 'em?

I liked learning this, because I like the Strokes. But I don't love them. When I listen to them, I always think that there's a little something missing. Good songs, but there seems to be some sonic portions that got left behind in the studio. I think Hammond, Jr. might have been sweeping them up and keeping them in baggies, waiting to unleash them in this album. "Scared" moves along very nicely, nodding to the world he would have grown up in with his dad, and homaging its way up to the DIY aesthetic of the Strokes "Is This It" (Never with a question mark!!!).

When this song ends, I'm always amazed that 4 and a half minutes have already gone by. It seems so effortless, but that has to be it's brilliance.

So, if you're Giovanni, or if you're not... You still owe it to yourself to give this track a hear, hear! And to you, Pappa G, Happy Birthday!




AC EXTRA:

For all of you that have trouble figuring out how to pronounce my friend's cool Italiophile name, this nifty restaurant chain in Boston has it all spelled out for you...




Happy Birthday G'vanni!