Customer: "Do you have soul?"
Rob: "That all depends."
Comedy Central is showing High Fidelity tonight, the 2000 film
starring John Cusack as Rob, the thirtysomething owner of a failing
record store who's trying to sort out his love life. Rob is one of my
favorite characters from either literature or film, and Cusack has
become one of my favorite actors based solely on his portrayal of Rob.
(I can't decide which I like more--Rob's awesome record collection or
the fact that his most irresistable old girlfriend was played by
Catherine Zeta-Jones.) In the 1996 novel on which the movie is based,
Nick Hornby gives Rob a speech (lifted here from the movie script)
that's worth reading the entire book for:
What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?The best parts of the film take place in Rob's record store, where he and his two employees, Dick and Barry, create personal top-five lists for every occasion. So in honor of High Fidelity, we present the Top 5 Albums That Almost Never Get Out of the CD Player at My House
1. George Harrison/Thirty-Three and a Third (1976): key tracks: "Crackerbox Palace," "True Love," "Pure Smokey"I promise to go back to politics tomorrow. Honest and truly I do. [posted 7/14/03]2. Mary Chapin Carpenter/Stones in the Road (1994): key tracks: "Why Walk When You Can Fly?," "This is Love," "Shut Up and Kiss Me"
3. Van Morrison/Back on Top (1999); key tracks: "Goin' Down Geneva," "The Philosopher's Stone," "When the Leaves Come Falling Down"
4. Boz Scaggs/Some Change (1992); key tracks: "You Got My Letter," Some Change," "Sierra"
5. Elton John/Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975): key tracks: "Tell Me When the Whistle Blows," "Curtains," "Philadelphia Freedom" (available on recent re-release only, not on the original)