is it the 90's or am I just drunk and flipping through youtube... aka... yes drunk youtube is the best...

Wanna go down a youtube rabbit hole with me? Too late… seems like there are better things to do besides watch:

“Rock Lobster” by the B-52’s live on Countdown

“One Week” by Barenaked Ladies (canadiens have an immaculate sense of humor)

seems like a 90’s night: “Gimme Some More” by Busta Rhymes

(that shit was so fucking amazing to experience for the first time and is pretty much just as amazing to experience like fucking 20 years later…)

“Hard to Explain” by the Strokes (what the fuck? Us kids didn’t know Television so this is the most amazing thing we had heard like this)

speaking of that shit: “Marquee Moon” by Television

speaking of bands influenced by Television: “You Only Get What You Give” by the New Radicals

the 90’s brought me to this, one of my favorites: “Virtual Insanity” by Jamiroquai

and this: “Weapon of Choice” by Fatboy Slim

and this: “Protect Ya Neck” by Wu-Tang

by the way, “The 36th Chamber of Shaolin” is amazing. It’s on Netflix, just sayin…

this is also from my childhood: “Jump” by Kris Kross

man, I miss Starter Jackets…

and with that same sample from “Paul’s Boutique,” “I Missed the Bus” by Kris Kross

and we go to a random scottish girl I have a mad crush on: “The Mother We Share” by Chvrches

“We Sink” by Chvrches at the Doug Fir in Portland, OR (I love playing the Doug Fir but fuck Portland)

“Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio

When was the last time you watched “Dangerous Minds?” It’s fucking awesome. Michelle Pfeiffer is so gorgeous and talented, I could watch it over and over…

Speaking of the 90’s, remember the Offspring: “Pretty Fly for a White Guy”

Oh yeah, the Offspring used to be pretty good: “Self-Esteem”

I only knew my biological father til I was 6 years old (and vaguely remember the physical/emotional abuse he put upon me, my mom and sister) so this song always hit me right in the fucking solar plexus: “Father of Mine” by Everclear (another Portland band) but I never heard from my father for the rest of my life (supposedly, he’s still alive in Phoenix. So Fuck Phoenix)

This autoplayed after the last song, so here you go: “Flagpole Sitta” by Harvey Danger

How many bourbons are recommended for a Monday night? 5? Sounds right.

Here’s the final song for tonight: “You Can Call Me Al” by Paul Simon

Not sure how this popped up on my list but fuck yeah, the best music video ever… Now, I’m happy. That doesn’t happen often so I fucking love this…

(dictated but not read)

Dear little buttercup, won't you stay a while? aka what?

Sports and shit...

I almost feel bad for Vikings fans...  Almost.  I get it though.  I really do.  Team of Destiny type feel, incredible regular season run, miracle throw and catch in the Divisional round (though ours was more a result of amazing talent then random brain fart but whatever) and...  complete meltdown in the NFC Championship.  Yep, welcome to the Packers' fans world.  That was our experience last year and now you get to root for the Patriots just as I did last year, which isn't a bad place to be in considering Tom Brady is the cheat code for the NFL.  It's like Brady figured out (and has become) what was the DUMBEST/LAMEST CHEAT CODE EVER IN JOHN ELWAY'S QUARTERBACK ON NES.  Do the Eagles stand a chance?  Of course they do.  But, is it reasonable to expect that this game will eventually come down to Brady vs. that vaunted Eagles defense, just as it did in the Patriots' game against the Jaguars.  And, similarly, just as he did against the vaunted Seahawks' defense and the Falcons' defense in Super Bowls past (not to mention the 51 other 4th quarter comeback wins, including this past weekend), Tom will be ready to tear them a new asshole come crunchtime.  So, Vikings fans, rest assured that the Eagles will get theirs.  I'm sure the first half will be promising for Foles and the Eagles and it'll appear that they have a great chance at taking home their first Lombardi, but that is utterly meaningless when MR. TECMO SUPER BOWL HIMSELF COULDN'T COMPETE WITH TOM BRADY...

Now, I didn't get to watch either of the games this weekend since I was in Spokane, WA for a show (many thanks to the Spokane DoubleTree for upgrading me to the Presidential Suite...  There's nothing quite like a hotel room with multiple bathrooms and more chairs than you can fart in...) and was traveling back during the games.  I have to say I was surprised by the Vikings/Eagles outcome a little, but not much.  My lady did announce, quite authoritatively, that the Jaguars had improbably defeated the Patriots 20-10, to which I replied "Are you sure?  Is there no time left?" knowing that even 10 seconds is enough for Mr. Brady to score 2 touchdowns if he wanted to.  I spent the last five hours of the trip thinking "Blake Bortles is a Super Bowl quarterback...  Yay...  Trent Dilfer would be proud..."  Luckily, it wasn't so...

Life, Music and shit...

This week I got to see the first cut of my music video for "Lookin' at Luckey."  As you'll recall (because you read all of these blog posts/updates religiously, right?  RIGHT?!?!), we shot a music video a few weeks back.  If you don't remember or aren't all up on this bitch, READ THIS SHIT AND GET CAUGHT UP ASSHOLES!  Anyways, the cut was AMAZING!  The director was horribly ill (probably because he works way too fucking hard) and was out for a couple weeks, so this was my first glimpse.  I was BLOWN AWAY GEORGE, BLLLOOOOWWNN AWAY.  Kevin, the director, has such an incredible eye for this shit.  He's an unbelievable talent and I'm still grateful that we got to work with him.  I simply cannot wait to show you guys and gals this thing he's created (and I helped!  Bonus points for anyone who gets that commercial reference.  Sometimes I feel old.  HE LIKES IT, HEY MIKEY).  It could be the thing I'm most proud of being a part of in my career.  Luckily, very little acting was require of me.  Singing along and pretending to play my own fucking song is about the extent of my acting skills.  Oh, and looking fucking badass and sexy in my leather jacket, jeans and boots...  I'M JUST A LONELY LONER, ON A LONELY ROAD...

Since it was a sadder week, here are the top five songs from Bradley's week (since I know you're all dying to know.  Well, I guess you might be if you're actually reading this fucker.  And, if you're reading this, Hi Mom!):

1.  "I am a Scientist" - Guided By Voices

"I am an incurable and nothing else behaves like me."  Just. Fucking. Beautiful.  Also, bonus points for the first comment being "I like to drink and comment on this video."

2.  "Power" - Kanye West

I've been obsessed with trying to learn the lyrics as I played the fuck out of the version he released before the record when he was being weird and leaking his own songs but sometimes they were different versions for some fucking reason with different lyrics or were songs that weren't on the record and it was weird but that's a fucking run-on sentence if there ever was one.  But, he released the alternate version in the middle of my insanity, the middle of my crazy period filled with anything and everything terrible and I can't count the nights I survived because of it's majestic beauty.  Kanye is simply on a different level.  I 100% truly believe he truly is the greatest hip-hop artist ever.  He somehow usurped A Tribe Called Quest for me.  I mean, fuck, he is the man who once said "Have you ever had sex with a pharaoh? Put the pussy in a sarcophagus."  Classic.

3.  "Skyway" - The Replacements

Speaking of Spokane, WA, "It's got bums when it's cold like any other place..."  Just a beautiful song by a man who truly understands us humans.  Not many do, unfortunately.  Or, fortunately, for them.  I think I'm talking specifically about me and not most of humanity.  Maybe it's an Asperger's thing.  I only know me and what makes me "me."  Who knows...

4.  "Sally Goodin'" - A View of Earth from the Moon

Yes, that's me singing this ridiculously old folk song with Jon Fickes and playing one half of the dual harmonica solo.  Yes, there was a time in our lives when we thought a dual harmonica solo was a good idea...  New York City is a hell of a drug...

5.  "You Can Call Me Al" - Paul Simon

Yes, while in Spokane I spent my last couple hours (ridiculously drunk, by the way, as expected) at a piano bar yearning for this song.  The guys didn't have a system that made sense to me so I didn't request this song as I normally would.  They never play it anyways at piano bars...  I need a new piano bar song...  But, this always takes me back to a time when Chevy Chase was one of the funniest people on the planet.  I miss it.  I love "Three Amigos" like it's nobody's business.  I mean, Jesus fuck, THIS HAPPENED.  I still watch my fucking old DVD copy of that movie constantly.  It isn't even in widescreen or fullscreen, it's only fills up part of my TV and is in the old-style cardboard DVD case.  It isn't as old as my "Goodfellas" DVD which I have to flip over in the middle of the movie, but it's probably the second or third DVD I bought.

I could listen to "Al" all day, every day and never tire of it.  NERD ALERT:  this was my favorite song to play in Pep Band.  Turns out when you tear your achilles and you can't play football and basketball (and baseball, but there's no baseball pep band) but you love music and still want to be around sports (and the cheerleaders) you might play in the pep band and learn songs like this.  Goddamn, run-on sentence much after five Woodford's?

No time to proofread this shit, so it is as such.  Read at your own risk, or don't, but if you're reading this than you've fucking read the whole thing anyways...  So, I win...  Til next time...

What do we need? MUSIC! When do we need it? NOW!

So fuck it, let's play some fucking music...

I know things are getting fucking strange out there but we always have our trusted friend Music.  Here's some songs that always put a smile on my face.

Bradley Wik and the Charlatans - "Some Girls (Still Love Rock N' Roll)"

I can't believe I haven't fucking announced that I've sneak-peak-released the first song from my upcoming album "In My Youth, I'm Getting Old..."  I'm so excited to put this album out.  I've been working on it, and fixing the multitude of problems, for A FUCKING LONG TIME.  But, it's finally fit for human consumption and I couldn't be prouder.  The stories, the Rock N' Roll and the band are all so much better after playing hundreds of shows together.  It's so fucking cliche but we truly are operating greater than the sum of our parts on this album.

With thousands upon thousands of albums about falling in and/or out of love (the fuckin' easy part), here's an album about the rest of us. These songs are about you. These songs are about your hometown. These songs are about your friends, those you love, your lost lost loves, your hopes and regrets, your memorable nights, your forgotten dreams, your faith, your fears, your faults, your triumphs, your defeats, your will to be the best you can be, those dark nights you thought would never end, but mostly, they're about life, your life. And my life. I know you because I know myself. Guided by love, hope, faith and fear. All beautiful in our own fucked up ways. We celebrate a life full of jaggedness because that's where all the good shit is...
The press blurb:

Your ears are ringing as you pour yourselves out of the bar and into the street, still laughing.  The moon is bright in the night sky and the way it mixes with the streetlights makes you see each other in a way you’ve missed for the last few years.  In that moment, all the hard times fade away.  When she smiles, it makes you smile.  She grabs your hand as you think to yourself, “Some Girls Still Love Rock N’ Roll…”

Darwin Deez - "Radar Detector"

In another life (my NYC version), I was friends with this brilliant man.  We both would share the Sidewalk Cafe stage at various times, sometimes on the same night.  I loved his quirky, but fucking unbelievably catchy tunes.  He walked onstage and just fucking had "It."  He was a man amongst boys when he took over that room.  He knew what he was doing and how he wanted to do it.  He had us all mesmerized, every single time.  I was surprised when, years later, after he had achieved some fame, he still remembered me and gave me a great big hug when he saw me at Portland's Holocene.  While I was busy trying to be the second coming of Bob Dylan, he was busy making amazing music that was uniquely his own.  New York was a strange but amazing time.  But, Bravo sir on all the success!  You deserve it!

The B-52's - "Private Idaho"

What would a list of "fun" songs (not Fun. songs, God those guys are the fucking worst, still) be without some B-52's.  With a long list of crowd pleasers, I picked the one I return the most to.  It's fun and silly and catchy as hell.  Just what I need to chase the demons away...

Billy Joel - "The Longest Time"

This is one of the songs that reminds me of how much I can't sing.  Sure, I can do a great Rock N' Roll vocal but this is another level.  William goes back in time to remind us of why he is a national treasure.  I've almost worn out my vinyl copy of this album, but am ready to replace it should it fail me.  I cannot live without "The Longest Time," "Uptown Girl" or "An Innocent Man," nor should anyone.  The video is a little weird but don't let it distract you from one of the best pop songs of all-time.

Martha Reeves and the Vandellas - "Jimmy Mack"

I've had a strange obsession with Martha for a long time.  When it comes to singers, there's something intangible that attracts me to certain voices.  I just fall in love with them and they just feel "right."  Obviously, Otis is the #1 example of that but Martha is high on that list.  I just love her voice, her energy, just her in general.  I was also lucky enough to see her live and in-person at Jimmy Mak's here in Portland.  She had previously played with drummer Mel Brown (Motown/R&B staple back in the day and current Portland Jazz staple) in the sixties and the amount of personality between them was boiling over and off the stage.  It was an incredible show which included my personal highlight of Martha acknowledging that my girlfriend had the funkiest of chickens.  A truly memorable night and why "Jimmy Mack" always brings a huge smile to my face.

Talking Heads - "Artists Only"

This is a song that I, once a week, sing over and over in my head.  Why once a week?  Well, that is how often I clean my apartment.  And yes, for the hour and a half it takes, the only thing I can think is:  "I'm cleaning.  I'm cleaning again."  That and how much I love the big suit from "Stop Making Sense."  Brianne Kathleen and I actually paid a little homage during our dance breaks whilst recording her album.  Check out THIS VIDEO at 3:35 through to see how we get down.

Michael Jackson - "The Way You Make Me Feel"

Just... Fucking c'mon.  I can't tell you how many times, as a child, I re-enacted this music video in my living room.  Well, my mom could probably tell you but, needless to say, it's a fucking lot.  I never got the girl at the end, but I'll be damned if I didn't try my hardest.  Probably just didn't dance well enough...

Paul Simon - "You Can Call Me Al"

If the greatest music video of all time can't cheer you up, than nothing can...

Monday Night is for the playlists... a.k.a. time to get your drink on since there literally might not be a tomorrow...

God Save Us All, except Trump.  Seriously, Fuck Trump...  

On the eve of the Election 2016, or as it's better known (insert your favorite John Oliver alternate election name joke here, my favorite being "America's Shit Salad Fuckstravaganza 2016"), I wanted to live it up a little and let loose.  After all, it may literally be my last chance to listen to music and drink as an American.  Let's allow music to take our minds off of the Green Bay Packers' second consecutive loss and our possible pending doom come the morrow.  Enjoy!

The Cardigans - "My Favourite Game"

Jennifer Lopez - "Waiting for Tonight"

Starting this shit off with a two-fer.  Speaking of two-fers, any Gran Turismo 2 fans out there?  One of the most ridiculous things my buddy and I used to do, for hours and hours on end, was firing up the old Playstation, putting GT2 on in head to head mode and playing "tag" with the cars we would choose.  We would stay up all night, racing around the track trying to elude whichever one of us was "it."  We had some epic battles.  Seriously epic fucking battles to the death.  Sort of, but more like stay up all night rocking Jennifer Lopez's "On the 6" on repeat until one of us literally passed out from exhaustion.  "Waiting for Tonight" is the perfect song for three in morning driving, video-game style.  It really gets you in the zone.  One of my favorite things about my then best friend, was the fact that we could, unabashedly, enjoy silly pop music like Jennifer Lopez or Britney Spears or Mandy Moore with no judgement.  Definitely not something I shared with anyone else, being a twelve year old in rural Wisconsin.  For men, listening to Jennifer Lopez was generally frowned upon, to put it nicely.  We enjoyed just being fucking goofy and listening to goofy things.  Lots of great times...

Beach Slang - "Bad Art and Weirdo Ideas"

I know, right?  Fucking left turn immediately but this song kills me.  There just aren't many songwriters who can actually fucking write lyrics worth a damn anymore.  This muthafucker can.  I don't know his name because I hate googling things like that.  Fucking great and smart Rock N' Roll, Punk, or whatever you want to call it.  But whatever you call it, just be sure to also call it awesome.  He focuses a lot on the sense of being "alive," which hits me right where I need to be hit sometimes.  This album, masterfully entitled "The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us," warms the deepest parts of the cockles of my heart and makes me want to find a couple dudes or chicks to start a more hard-rocking version of Bradley Wik and the Charlatans.  I fall in love, rough, with records that inspire me, and this one definitely does.

The War on Drugs - "Red Eyes"

Well... This song has everything I hate about hipster music, but, for some reason, I can't help but listen to it.  They do the stupid "douse everything in reverb" nonsense, I can't understand a goddamn word this fucker is singing, the bridge sucks, the song feels loosely structured and not crafted into its' best possible version, but, despite all of that, I still rock out to it.  Go figure.  Fuck...

Paul Simon - "Kodachrome"

Let's cleanse the palette with this one.  Paul Simon might've been a huge asshole by all accounts, but, fuck, could he write a tune.  I love it when he says "my lack of education hasn't hurt me none."  That's my life.  In this day and age, people look at a (relatively) young man who says he intentionally skipped college quite strangely.  Most people don't understand what I got was so much more valuable.  I spent my college years, the amazing/terrible/hopeful/hope-killing years, traveling this great country across and back playing music.  Believe you me, I've seen more shit than I would've wasting my time learning shit I learned on my own for free anyways.  Maybe I would've banged a few more chicks, but, then again, maybe not.  I'm a relationship type of guy.  Asperger's and depression make it hard for me to be alone for any significant amount of time.  I almost found out the limit of that once, and I don't want to do it again...

Mos Def - "Hip Hop"

Early on in my getting-to-know-hip-hop-music days, my good buddy gave me this record, "Black on Both Sides," along with Talib/Reflection Eternal's "Train of Thought" and Aesop Rock's "Labor Days."  Holy muthafucking shit is that an education on some great hip hop.  I can't thank him enough for introducing me to so many great artists.  Listening back to "Black on Both Sides" makes me sad, though, as all of the issues he poses are still quite prevalent, and getting worse (thanks Trump, you cunt).  You can go back into hip hop further and hear the same things.  After all these years, it's depressing to see we haven't moved forward hardly at all.  It's fucked up.  There's a world full of people who don't look exactly like white Americans and somehow that's hard to accept for some people, and Trump is playing on that ignorance/fear.  Goddamnit.  Please people, don't let him become president...

Stevie Nicks (feat. Don Henley) - "Leather and Lace"

Stevie and Don Henley?  Uh, yes please.  Do I really have to say more?  If I had to pick one song to describe my relationship with my girlfriend, this would definitely be it.  Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but, well, it's true...

Pearl Jam - "Given to Fly"

For all of those who watch "Touring Band 2000" religiously, as I do, you'll get this one.  This is easily one of the highlights.  Fuck, it's just beauty incarnate.  Truly.  That's all I have to say about this one.

Neil Young - "Albuquerque"

This album, "Tonight's the Night," is one of the main influences on my new album.  I love the rawness of the songs and the recordings, which fits the songs fucking perfectly.  Sometimes, the best way to display the stories is to scale back the production.  This song sounds like I want all my songs to sound like.  I know this record was initially rejected by Reprise Records, but goddamn, did they fuck up.  Labels rarely understand.  Wilco made a movie about it...

Roy Orbison - "It's Over"

Someday, I might be able to listen to this song without tearing up, but not tonight.  I wish that when I grow up I can write songs like this.  Obviously, I'll never be able to sing one note in my life as beautiful as Roy, but I wish to God I could.  I really do.  This song is so beautiful and magnificent.  That fucking vibrato, those sad notes.  Roy was truly a once in a lifetime talent.  Johnny Cash spoke very highly of him, and given his "Black and Night" concert, Roy was clearly respected by his peers.  Well, I use "peers" loosely as not many could touch his level of talent and songwriting.  As far as male singers go, Roy's in a rare class with Otis Redding and Jeff Buckley.  Nobody tops Otis, ever, and I mean FUCKING EVER, but Roy comes close.  These are the kind of artists that make me feel so vastly unable to convey the same level of emotion, pain, hope, love, despair, happiness and longing.  At least I know where the bar is set...

Wu-Tang Clan - "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'"

Nine year old Bradley couldn't fucking comprehend this shit.  All I knew was that I loved it.  I heard "Protect Ya Neck" first on MTV and fell in love.  I ran to the library (yes, the library) to check out this CD and revel in it for a couple weeks.  I had friends who liked Biggie and Tupac, but even so, it was hard to convince rural, white Wisconsinites that "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" was brilliant music.  Needless to say, I listened to this a lot by myself.  The music I couldn't listen to around others was usually relegated to the Walkman while cutting grass.  No one could hear what I was playing and it was probably better that way.  I could listen to anything I wanted away from my judgmental friends.  Or, I guess, "friends," as I would find out later.  Maybe I'll tell you the full story sometime, but for now let's just say I ended up punching one of my best friends in the face because he stood behind my (former) friends when they were verbally abusing the only black kid in our high school.  Shit kicked off and punches were thrown and he came to the defense of his lifelong buddy (which is hard to blame him for on that front, but it's obviously not acceptable given the circumstances) and I had to defend myself, and basic human decency, and hit him before he hit anyone else.  It was a strange, confusing time for me and I ended up without friends for a while.  But high school kids don't make great friends anyways and I found out the older kids had better weed.  So, I guess it was a win-win for me.  I won morally and in smokin' that shit while watching WWF on Mondays.  Life is weird but Karma is for real.  For real...

Speaking of Karma, I can't imagine what will happen to all of you who vote Trump tomorrow...  How about we don't find out...  May God have mercy on us all...