Tag: Music

Jerry Garcia

PARIS: Why does one pinhead always have to vote for Jerry Garcia?

Jerome “Jerry” Garcia (1942-1995), musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence during the counterculture of the 1960s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 as a member of the Grateful Dead.

He had already passed away at this stage, so the votes for him as commencement speaker were definitely jokes.

Kazoo

[Lorelai is watching Sookie and Jackson argue]
SOOKIE: You know, next time I want some grapefruit, I’m just gonna ask for a kazoo because you can only seem to get me the most bizarre opposite.

Kazoo, a musical instrument that adds a buzzing tone to the player’s voice when they hum into it. Kazoos are especially used in jazz, jug bands, and comedy music.

The kazoo was first patented in 1883, and the instrument we know as the modern kazoo first patented in Buffalo, New York, 1902. The Original American Kazoo Company was founded in Eden, New York, in 1916 – by 1994, they were making more than a million kazoos per day, and were the only manufacturers of metal kazoos in North America. Now called the Kazoo Factory and Museum, it is still in operation and open for guided tours.

Weezer

LORELAI: So, Gran, what do you think? I mean, it’s not much. Probably too modest for Korn, but Weezer would be pretty comfortable.

Weezer, alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1992. Their 1994 self-titled debut album, also known as “The Blue Album”, became a multiplatinum success, while their 1996 album Pinkerton was a commercial failure and received mixed reviews, but attained cult status and eventual critical acclaim. In 2001, Weezer returned with another self-titled album, known as “The Green Album”. It was a commercial success with mostly positive reviews.

Weezer’s relaxed thrift store chic image is presumably why Lorelai thinks they would be more at home in her house. The lead singer of Weezer actually lives in a multimillion house in Santa Monica.

Marlo Thomas and Tina Louise

FRANCIE: You do not wanna be my enemy, Marlo Thomas.

RORY: I think I do, Tina Louise.

Margaret “Marlo” Thomas (born 1937) [pictured], actress, producer, author, and social activist. She is best known for starring on the sitcom That Girl (1966-1971). She has received three Primetime Emmy Awards, a Daytime Emmy, a Golden Globe, a Peabody Award, a Grammy Award for a children’s album, and has been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.

Tina Louise (born Tina Blacker in 1934), actress best known for her role playing Hollywood movie star Ginger Grant on the sitcom Gilligan’s Island (1964-67). She won a Golden Globe in 1958 as New Star of the Year for her role in the film God’s Little Acre.

Rory and Francie both identify each other with actresses based on their hair colour.

Betty Boop

EMILY: I brought flowers over and can’t find a decent vase. All I could find was a ceramic Betty Boop head.

Betty Boop, an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, featuring in theatrical cartoons during the 1930s. A caricature of a Jazz Age flapper, she is is a teenager who is drawn as both child-like and sophisticated. Fleischer said that he wanted her to be based on singer Helen Kane, although she is often said to resemble Clara Bow. She is regarded as the first animated sex symbol, and some see her as a feminist icon.

Korn

TRIX: Well, for the past year, I’ve been renting my home in Hartford to a group of musicians. They’ve recently moved out, so I had to come check on the house and secure a new tenant.

LORELAI: What kind of musicians?

TRIX: A rock and roll group of some sort. I believe they call themselves Korn.

Korn, a nu metal band formed in Bakersfield, California in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1994, receiving positive reviews, and being credited with establishing the new wave of metal. Mainstream success came with Follow the Leader (1998) and Issues (1999), both of which debuted at #1. The band has sold more than 40 million records worldwide and have two Grammy Awards.

In real life they lived in Los Angeles in the early 2000s, not in Hartford.

Chuck Berry Live

RORY: Chuck Berry live at The Fillmore on vinyl.

LORELAI: Oh my God, that’s perfect. He loves Chuck Berry. How did you come up with that?

RORY: I called him and asked him what he wanted.

Live at the Fillmore Auditorium, a 1967 live album by Chuck Berry recorded at The Fillmore, a historic music venue in San Francisco. During the 1960s, it was a focal point for psychedelic music and the counterculture in general, mentioned in Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The Steve Miller Blues Band (later the Steve Miller Band) were one of its regular acts, and they provide the backing music for this album.

Winter Carnival, Marching Band Letters

RORY: Man, it’s winter carnival time again already … Are you going?

LANE: I have to. We are raising money for the marching band this year, mandatory booth manning is involved … It’s for letters so we can finally have letter carriers. For some reason, the powers that be think that the reason we never win at competitions is because no one knows who we are. The fact that we suck has never occurred to them. What’s wrong with our uniforms?

Another festival – the Stars Hollow High School Winter Carnival, which is held around mid-January. It is always a fundraiser, and this year it’s raising money for the school marching band to have letters spelling out their name at interschool competitions.

Pose Naked on the Cover of Rolling Stone

[Rory, Lane and Lorelai are walking through Stars Hollow. They cross a street]

LANE: Are you serious? …We can really rehearse in your garage?

LORELAI: In exchange for the promise that you never pose naked on the cover of Rolling Stone no matter how much trouble your career is in.

Rolling Stone magazine has quite a tradition of musicians and actors posing nude or semi-clad on their cover. A few examples are John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1968, Madonna in 1991, The Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1992, and Blind Melon in 1993. Most recently from the perspective of this episode, Christina Aguilera had appeared nude on the cover in November 2002.

In this episode, Lane’s problems finding a rehearsal space for the band are solved when Lorelai generously allows them to rehearse in her garage. Given how noisy bands can be while rehearsing, this is an extremely kind offer on Lorelai’s part.