Better Than Ezra

Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana that was formed in 1988.

The four original members are vocalist and guitarist Kevin Griffin, Joel Rundell, lead guitarist, bassist Tom Drummond and drummer, Cary Bonnecaze. They were all attending Louisiana State University at the time and their first public performance was at Murphy's in Baton Rouge.

Their name is certainly odd and there is no definitive origin story. The one I like best is that it comes from a line in Ernest Hemingway's novel A Moveable Feast. Hemingway is describing a very annoying sound as "...no worse than other noises, certainly better than Ezra learning to play the bassoon."

Fans of the group (Ezralites) know that the band had a "Chimes Street Demo" cassette tape in 1988 and it is something fans pride themselves in owning. The band released a cassette-only album, Surprise, in 1990.

Joel Rundell, the band's lead guitarist, committed suicide on August 8, 1990. After a break, Griffin, Drummond and Bonnecaze reunited Better Than Ezra as a trio in late 1990 playing house parties and fraternity shows across the southern U.S. into the early 90s.

Their first nationally-distributed album was Deluxe in 1993 on the indie Swell Records. The album got them noticed and got airplay and they signed with Elektra Records in 1995. Elektra rereleased Deluxe and "Good" reached #1 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album went platinum by the end of 1995. Drummond said in a 1998 interview with CNN, "It took us seven years to get signed, and then seven weeks to get to No. 1." when describing the overnight success of Deluxe and its single "Good".

Depeche Mode

Depeche Mode is an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan (lead vocals, occasional songwriter since 2005), Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, vocals, chief songwriter after 1981), Andy Fletcher (keyboards) and Vince Clarke (keyboards, chief songwriter 1980–81). Clarke left the band after the release of their 1981 debut album, Speak & Spell, and was replaced by Alan Wilder (keyboards, drums, occasional songwriter) with Gore taking over songwriting. Wilder left the band in 1995. Gahan, Gore, and Fletcher have since continued as a trio.

In 1980, Clarke, Gore and Fletcher formed a band called Composition of Sound, with Clarke on vocals/guitar, Gore on keyboards and Fletcher on bass, but after a short time, Clarke and Fletcher switched to synthesizers. Dave Gahan joined the band after Clarke heard him perform locally singing David Bowie's "Heroes."


The new band took its name from a French fashion magazine, Dépêche mode.  The verb to hurry in French is se dépêcher where as dépêcher is to dispatch which is what it would mean in this context (from Old French despesche/despeche as a "news report" though the band also took note of despecher - to hurry) and mode meaning "fashion." Gahan was attending college and studying fashion and knew of the magazine. He brought it to the band and said it meant "hurried fashion" or "fashion dispatch."

They first performed as Depeche Mode in May 1980 and made their recording debut that same year on the Some Bizzare Album with the song "Photographic", which was later re-recorded for their debut album Speak & Spell.


Best of Depeche Mode

Algiers and Algeria

Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Its capital and most populous city is Algiers.

The North African country of Algeria is named for the city of Algiers which was the city chosen by the French as its capital when they colonized it in 1830. Adding "Algiers" to the Latinate "country" suffix -ia gave the modern city its name. The city name ii Arabic translates literally as "the islands" and is a reference to four islands formerly off the coast that have been joined to the mainland since 1525.

Al-Jazā’ir is itself a truncated form of the city's older name, Jazā’ir Banī Mazghannā, meaning "The Islands of the Sons of Mazghanna." That name was used by early medieval geographers. The city was built in 960 on the ruins of the ancient Roman city Icosium.

A resident of Algiers was known as an "Algerine" in the mid-17th century and that name was synonymous with "pirate" in England and the United States in early 1800s.

Algiers is located on a bay of the Mediterranean Sea and is still an important port. Algiers today is a large city with a metropolitan population of over 3 million. While downtown Algiers looks modern, the capital is struggling to keep up with rapid growth and standards of living for most of its population is very poor.

Stone Temple Pilots

The American rock band, Stone Temple Pilots (sometimes just abbreviated as STP) was formed in San Diego, California in the mid-1980s.

The band members include Scott Weiland (lead vocals), Robert DeLeo (bass guitar, vocals) and his brother Dean DeLeo (guitar) and Eric Kretz (drums, percussion).

At first, they were named "Mighty Joe Young,"  but after signing a recording contract with Atlantic Records, they needed  a name change. Mighty Joe Young had played several gigs but they discovered while recording their first album that there was already a blues singer who went under that name.

The story is that the band members had liked the STP Motor Oil stickers and decided to use that and make up something to fit the abbreviation. After throwing out ideas, they settled without a lot of thought on "Stone Temple Pilots" without it having any deeper symbolic meaning. Weiland recalled in an interview in Spin magazine that another possibility was "Shirley Temple’s Pussy."

Their debut album, Core (1992) was a hit and they were one of the most commercially successful bands of the 1990s.

They released four more studio albums: Purple (1994), Core (1996), No 4 (1999) and Shangri-LA DEE DA (2001).

The band split up in 2003 and band members moved on to other bands including Velvet Revolver and Army of Anyone.

STP reformed in 2008 for a reunion tour and ended up releasing a new self-titled album, Stone Temple Pilots in 2010 and have been touring since.

StoneTemplePilots.com

Taylor Ham or Pork Roll

Taylor ham or pork roll is a type of breakfast meat that is commonly available in and around New Jersey and Philadelphia.

Having grown up in Jersey, I grew up with this product and I assumed it was a pretty modern invention - sort of a Jersey SPAM.

Wrong.

It actually goes back to 1856 and was invented/popularized by John Taylor of Trenton, New Jersey, although other variations, including a packed minced ham, may date back to the Battle of Trenton which took place on December 26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War.

Did General George Washington have a Jersey Breakfast sandwich before crossing the Delaware River near Trenton, New Jersey? No wonder they kicked Hessian butt!

a 3 pounder - http://jerseyporkroll.com

John Taylor kept the recipe for his "Taylor's Prepared Ham" a secret. But he was forced to change the name after the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was passed, since the product did not meet the new legal definition of "ham".

He rechristened it "Pork Roll" and it was sold as both "Taylor's Pork Roll" and "Trenton Pork Roll".

The real thing is sold 1-3 pound unsliced rolls packed in a cotton bag. But in Jersey, you're more likely to buy it prepared at deli, diner, or food trucks. Its classic presentation is some pan-fried or grilled pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwich, known as a "Jersey Breakfast." Condiments include salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, or hot sauce. The sandwich is normally served with American cheese on a hard roll or bagel.

Sliced halves of a Jersey Breakfast sandwich

In Philadelphia, the hard roll is commonly replaced with the local favorite "long roll" which is also used for hoagies and cheesesteaks.

Pork roll trivia:
 

When you pan-fry or grill the slices, people will make one to three cuts from the outer edges inwards towards the center to prevent the pork roll from curling up in the middle.  

The resulting cooked slices have been nicknamed things like "fireman's badges" or "Pac-Man bacon" based on the resulting shapes.