December 7, 2006

"The Florida Supreme Court tossed Seminole County Judge John Sloop off the bench..."

"Sloop had been fighting for his job since he ... ordered 11 people to jail because they were late for court. It turned out they were sent to the wrong courtroom by a courthouse worker. Even when presented with the facts, Sloop didn't get them released and many of them sat in jail for hours." Sloop managed to hang on for 2 years.

16 comments:

Revenant said...

Pardon me, but it has been scientifically proven that the worst pop song ever is, in fact, the Beach Boy's "Kokomo", not "Sloop John B".

Ann Althouse said...

JohnK: "Sloop John B" isn't about hanging on.

Hazy Dave said...

Ann, I was going to see if the judge's first name happened to be "John B." and discovered the link is broken. The "hang on" bit was an 'oh yeah' moment for me when the song started. (I also half expect to see a scan of the 45's label in posts like this and "Green Onions", etc.)

My favorite YouTube video of the moment is Viv Stanshall performing "11 Mustachioed Daughters" with his post-Bonzo group, "biG Grunt":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZHTkb6BUxU

JCJim said...

Good thing he wasn't a teacher with tenure, or he would still be hanging on

Ann Althouse said...

I can't accept the judgment of anyone who thinks "Sugar Sugar" is bad! That is one of the best recordings ever made.

Eli Blake said...

JohnK:

What is wrong with a song about a tropical beach in Indiana?

I take it then, that you drive a big SUV that emits lots of CO2?

Hazy Dave said...

Okay, the judge's name is apparently Sloop, John R.

I finally dragged myself away from all the Bonzo Dog Band videos on YouTube, but not before also finding a video of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band's wonderful performance of Jacque Brel's "Next". Recommended.

paul a'barge said...

Wow.

And, they said that white people can't dance?

Beth said...

As a former 12-year-old girl, I ask, "So???" Sugar, Sugar was pure pop essence.

Sloop John B is a great tune, and the Beach Boys' take on it is possibly my favorite of anything they've done. I like the Kingston Trio's and the Weavers', too. I think there's a folk recording of some Bahamians performing it on the Lomax collection in the Smithsonian.

There's a nice version on a "various artists" album, "Out on the Rolling Sea: A tribute to Joseph Spence and the Pindar Family" that I love and play often. That whole album is worth a listen.

As for the judge? Throw him in the brig!

Badger Down Under said...

No, no, no. The worst pop song ever, by a wide margin is "Afternoon Delight," by the Starland Vocal Band. SVB beat out Boston in the 1976 Grammy's for the best new group, even though Boston's first album broke all sorts of records, and every track still gets radio play. For me, this was a Yankees Fire Casey Stengl moment, a realization -- I was 16 -- that these award shows had nothing to do with merit.

30 years later and I'm still pissed.

Eli Blake said...

You know, there are times when not having a sound card is a good thing.

Badger Down Under said...

Learn something everyday. My whole life I thought that song was by Queen.

chickelit said...

OT, but that's a 17-year old Rick Derringer on guitar.

I don't know about you but I literally cut my copy of "Sugar Sugar" from a cereal box.

Anonymous said...

1) I love "Sugar Sugar", always have, and offer no excuses for doing so.

2) "Hang on Sloopy" is OK by me. When I was a kid I thought it was about Charlie Brown's dog...

3) The worst pop song ever has to be Oh What a Night, but both "Come On Eileen" and "Afternoon Delight" are on my worst list also.

The judge deserved to go. What's that saying about the wheels of justice, grinding fine but slowly? Yeah.

Hazy Dave said...

1) Bubblegum music has a different function than Serious Music. It's Pop.

2) Ann, The link to the news story is still broken.

3) My son was accepted to UW-Madison today!

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