HOLY COW

We have only just one word for you: Devdas.

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NAUSEA

Yes. But I just don’t feel much like talking these days. I don’t know why.

Now, listen; ever heard a song called Which Side of the Bed by The Beat? The English Beat? Yes, the 1980s British ska band. It’s a perfect slice of pop heaven that has so much space in it, so much air, so much white space that it teeters on the edge of silence. And yet has such momentum! I always adored The Beat, and always thought there was so much more than simple ska to the band’s sound.

In the 1980s I had a domestically released cassette called What Is Beat, which I bought even though I had both the vinyl album and the far superior imported British double album. But the cassette; the cassette had Which Side of the Bed on it. And then it vanished. You can get just about any Beat song now, but not that one. I defy you to find a copy of that song on heaven or earth.

Oh, but I did find it. I found it on MP3, surprisingly. On Napster or Gnutella or something. About a year ago. Tears of joy slid down my cheeks the first time I played it. I e-mailed it to several intelligent and tasteful pals who would appreciate such a tune.

And then, this week, I accidentally erased my only copy.

So, does anyone still have it? Anyone?

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