Recommended Viewing

The other night I happened to catch Half-Japanese: The Band that would be King on the best channel on television, the documentary channel. I didn't know much about the band before watching this. When I was a DJ in college I played a few of their songs for Halloween or whenever I was in a lighthearted mood, but I didn't dealve into their discography. I now regret this oversight.Watching David Fair explain that he 'won' every concert they ever played and Jad Fair say that his aspiration is to write the most popular song ever written I couldn't help but love this band.

The documentary is also interesting outside of it's treatment of the band itself. Interviews with fans reveal an alternate critical world in which Half-Japanese, not the Beatles or the Stones, stands as the greatest rock group of all time. I got the feeling that these people were much more out of touch with the actualities of popular culture than Jad or David. Jad may playfully attest great aspirations but to these fans, Half-Japanese have already achieved greatness, popular opinion be damned. They take the band more seriously than anyone in the band does.

Of course, this documentary wouldn't be nearly as interesting if it didn't include performances by the band. There is footage of an early performance at a nursing home. Jad strums away at a cheap acustic guitar and Davis flails around spastically at his side. A man pulls a harmonica out of his pocket and begins to play along. Latter in the documentary Jad plays with a later configuration of the band with Moe Tucker on tambourine. On a rooftop.