Madder than a junkyard dog

August 1, 2003

BY JIM DeROGATIS POP MUSIC CRITIC

I cited as my favorites "Tonight, Tonight" by the Smashing Pumpkins, "Chicago" by Screeching Weasel, "Full Moon" by Common, "The Woman Downstairs" by the Handsome Family and "Goodbye to Guyville" by Urge Overkill.

My choices for the worst were the ubiquitous "Sweet Home Chicago," "Lake Shore Drive" by Aliotta, Haynes & Jeremiah, "The Eggplant That Ate Chicago" by Dr. West's Medicine Show, "The Night Chicago Died" by Paper Lace and "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" by Jim Croce.

While a handful of correspondents cheered my selections, plenty of others disagreed, and a few offered some alternative recommendations. We thought it was only fair to let them have their say--in list form, in keeping with the original column.

FIVE GREAT CHICAGO ROCK SONGS THAT JIM DeROGATIS MISSED

1. "I was sorry to see you didn't list "312" by my favorite '80s band, Bohemia. After all, 'We ain't L.A., we ain't New York/We ain't London town/We ain't the fastest and we ain't the latest/And we're not like Al Capone!' is a pretty great lyric." --Dan Dillon

2. "To leave off Crosby, Stills and Nash's 'Chicago' is ridiculous. It's a great song in its time, with poignant lyrics." --C. Mitchell

3-4. "You missed 'Take Me Back' by the onetime rock group, now elevator music group Chicago. 'Street corners and Tastee Freez' is what you knew if you grew up in the city. Also, 'L.A., Goodbye' by the Ides of March--even though L.A. is in the title, the song is really about coming back to 'the West Side of Chicago.' " --Barry Daniels

5. "Hey, Jim: Check out 'Dead End Street' by Lou Rawls and let me know what you think." --Don McLeese

THREE REASONS JIM DeROGATIS IS WRONG ABOUT "SWEET HOME CHICAGO"

1. "Bar bands are supposed to play 'Sweet Home Chicago.' After they play that, they will probably play 'Wild Thing,' 'Twist and Shout,' 'Satisfaction,' 'Brown Eyed Girl' and 'Gloria.' And the crowd will love it, because that is exactly what they want the bar band to play. It's a formula that works, dude. Don't knock it." --Matt Anderson

2. " 'Sweet Home Chicago' is a great song and fits perfectly with the classic Blues Brothers theme. Want to totally ruin your credibility, Jim? Tell us you actually LIKE rap music!" --J. Murrin

3. " 'Sweet Home Chicago' is a classic, no matter how often it's played. Any time I'm in another city and hear this song, it makes me smile and dance."

--C. Mitchell

TWO DISSENTING VIEWS ON "SWEET HOME CHICAGO" AND "BAD, BAD LEROY BROWN"

1. "Walk into one of Chicago's most 'hip' nightclubs--say, Cubby Bear or Mother's--pop in a tape of 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown' or particularly 'Sweet Home Chicago,' and watch what happens: Just about every person in the bar is smiling, holding on to each other and singing along as loud as they can. We are proud of those songs, our songs. They are classic, they are part of the city, they are part of each and every one of us. They are not poorly done or 'camped up' or 'silly'; to dare to call them such insults not only the songs and the singers, it insults anyone who's ever sang along to them at a sporting game or a bar."

--Jenifer White

2. "THANK YOU for naming 'Sweet Home Chicago' and (God forbid) 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown' in your worst rock songs about Chicago. 'Leroy Brown' has sucked since the beginning and has been the bane of my existence as every bad band at every boring business function I have ever attended here has played this lame song. And 'Sweet Home Chicago' is emblematic of everything that is wrong with the tourism approach to the Chicago blues scene. My old friend Mike Bloomfield is rolling over with every sloppy rendition."

--Doug Goodwillie

FOUR REASONS JIM DeROGATIS IS WRONG ABOUT "LAKE SHORE DRIVE"

1. "'Lake Shore Drive' is about as authentically Chicagoan as a song can be. You weren't born and raised in Chicago, were you?" --Adam Lato

2. "'Lake Shore Drive' is one of the most excellent, best songs ever. Whenever I hear it, the volume goes up." --J. Murrin

3. "I was stunned and sorry to see that you consider 'Lake Shore Drive' to be one of the worst songs about Chicago. It always brings a smile to my face and lifts my spirits when I hear it on the radio--especially when I'm on the bus on Lake Shore Drive--and I remember hearing the boys play it live many times. Guess it just has good memories for me; sorry it doesn't work for you."

--Cathy Konas

4. "Aliotta, Haynes & Jeremiah's 'getting high on LSD'--now THERE was, and is, a great song!!! Where is Rotary Connection when we need them?" --Mike Throop

THREE REASONS WHY JIM DeROGATIS IS AN IDIOT (AND FAILED GEOGRAPHY)

1. "You wrote: 'Paper Lace gets the geography wrong: "And the sound of the battle rang/Through the streets of the old East Side." Um, listen, chaps: The East Side of Chicago would be called ... Lake Michigan.' You need to drive south of Madison once in a while, because if you did you would know there is an old East Side of Chicago." --A. Perez

2. "Check the phone book or a map: Yes, Virginia, there really is an East Side. If 4100 East at Avenue A and South 106th Street isn't east, then I don't know what is." --John Ryan

3. "Eddie Vrdolyak was from the East Side, and he used to run the place; his brother Petey ran a clique of ironworkers who did most of the work in the steel mills down there, back when they were running. I'm a boilermaker and used to work on East Side a lot. I know some good taverns down there, too--like the Lakeside on Ewing Avenue, which had great fresh walleye and lake perch for lunch on Fridays."

--Tommy Brennan

ONE MORE REASON WHY JIM DeROGATIS IS WRONG ABOUT "THE NIGHT CHICAGO DIED"

1. "We find 'The Night Chicago Died' to be one of the greatest songs ever written and-or recorded, whether encompassing the Windy City or all music in general. We feel you owe a written apology to Paper Lace, and to those living in Lake Michigan."

--Jim Nayder, host of "The Annoying Music Show," WBEZ-FM (91.5)