I Am the Fly: Recent Episodes
David Klein
I Am the Fly is about a brief time in the late 20th century when you could live in the East Village on a waiter’s salary and still afford to go clubbing, when sushi restaurants had smoking sections and MTV was commercial free. When you could rub shoulders with A-listers but still have no place to post it.
I am your narrator, David Klein, and I am the fly.
Even as love and fatherhood have remade my life, I’m not immune to falling into a bit of a rut. But in early-aughts New York, you never know when a chance conversation with Lady Gaga will set a course for the future.
SONGS EXCERPTED IN THIS EPISODE
“Never Understand” - The Jesus & Mary Chain
“London’s Burnin’” (live) - The Clash
“We Are the Sleepyheads” - Belle & Sebastian
“A Method” - TV on the Radio
“Daylight” - Aesop Rock
“Girl on Fire” - the Royal Chains
“Sometimes” - the Brian Jonestown Massacre
“God Only Knows” - the Beach Boys
“I Wanna Be Adored” - the Stone Roses
“My Kingdom” - Echo & the Bunnymen
“Sea Cruise” - Volcano Suns
“Love Sick Dog” - Willie “Loco” Alexander
“Little Wonder” - David Bowie
“88” - Anna Domino
“Rocket 88” - Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats
“88 Lines About 44 Women” - The Nails
“Strawberry Letter #23” - the Brothers Johnson
“Route 66” - Bobby Short
“I’m Eighteen” - Alice Cooper
“Edge of Seventeen” - Stevie Nicks
“‘95 aka Make Things Right” - Lemon Jelly
“Rockin’ the Suburbs” - Ben Folds Five
“Ain’t Got No” - “Hair” Broadway soundtrack
“I Am the Fly” - Wire
My leap into the online dating pool is like 15 years of my dating life condensed into three weeks — a couple of no-shows, a visibly disappointed manic pixie dream-girl, and some fast action on my living room couch.
Maybe Alice … Something with an H will be the one to turn the tide.
SONGS EXCERPTED IN THIS EPISODE
“Good Life” - Inner City
“N.Y.C. (Can You Believe This City?)” - Charles & Eddie
“Space” (Philadelphia Spectrum, 1979)- Grateful Dead
“The Affiliated” - XTC
“Visions of You” - Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart, feat. Sinead O’Connor
“Gentlemen Who Fell” - Milla
“What is Sound?” - Blyzz
“Visions of You” - Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart featuring Sinead O’Connor
“Iron Clad Lou” - Hum
“Guaglione” - Perez Prado
“Just” - Radiohead
“Tukka Yoot’s Riddim” - Us3
“Dig It” - The Beatles
“I Think We’re Alone Now” – Tiffany
“Dead Man Walking” - David Bowie
“720 Times Happier Than the Unjust Man” - The Loud Family
“The Shining - Badly Drawn Boy
“Bewilderbeast” - Badly Drawn Boy
“Magicality” - Salako
“Barhopper 1” - Kid Koala
“Drop” - Cornelius
“It’s a Crime” - Magnetic Fields
“Wipe Me, I’m Lucky” - The Clean
“I Am the Fly” - Wire
Thanks to Jivamukti Yoga, I’m spending more time doing downward dogs than downing beers. But it turns out that changing your habits is easier than changing your scene.
SONGS EXCERPTED IN THIS EPISODE
“Shanti Ashtangi” - Madonna
“Once in a Lifetime” - Talking Heads
“America” - Simon & Garfunkel
“Aya Mood 3.5” - Lizzy Mercier Descloux
“La Vie Boheme” - Rent soundtrack
“For the Society” - Audio Letter
“Kingdom of Lies” - The Folk Implosion
“Visions of You” - Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart featuring Sinead O’Connor
“Tomorrow Never Knows” - Monsoon
“Na-Na’s Waltz” - Aqua Bassino
“Music for a Found Harmonium” - Penguin Cafe Orchestra
“An Ending (Ascent)” - Brian Eno
“Je Ma” - Wah
“Shock the Monkey” – Peter Gabriel
“Hold On” - Sarah McLachlan
“Electric Becomes Eclectic” - Christopher Franke
“A Meeting By the River” - Ry Cooder and V.M. Bhatt
“Namah Shivaya” - Krishna Das
“Ode to Ganesha” - Bhagavan Das
“Trimm Trabb” - Blur
“Mary” - Supergrass
“A Final Hit” - Leftfield
“The Immigrant Song” Led Zeppelin
“The Sensual World” - Kate Bush
“Green Is the Color of Evil” - Salako
“My Love Will Never Die” - Diamanda Galas
“One Will Be the Highway” - The Loud Family
“Arrival Pad #19” - East River Pipe
“Simple Harmonic Motion” - Fridge
“Crying at Airports” - Whale
“Hello Earth” - Kate Bush
“Relaxin’ with Cherry” - Kid Loco
“Blood Simple theme” - Carter Burwell
“Treachery” - Kirsty MacColl
“Chan Chan” - Buena Vista Social Club
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” - Ananda Shankar
“Arkle” - It’s Jo and Danny
“Govinda” - Kula Shaker
“Treefingers” - Radiohead
“KId A” - Radiohead
“Toblume” - Susumi Yakota
“When You Notice the Stripes” - The Shins
“Govinda” - Kula Shaker
“Emma Blowgun’s Last Stand” - Beulah
“I Am the Fly” - Wire
If you can possibly avoid it, do not take part in a lavish Brazilian wedding without a date. To avoid this ignominy, I'll have to woo the sea goddess Janaina through the power of song.
Songs Excerpted in This Episode ”Good Beat” - Dee-Lite
“Comin’ Home Baby” - Herbie Mann
“The Pimp Walk “ - Bohannon
“Life During Wartime” - Talking Heads
“Caramba” - Jorge Ben
“Wild Blue Yonder” - Screaming Blue Messiahs
“Burden” - Ghostland
“Mentira” - Marcos Valle
“Modular Mix” - Air
“She’s a Carioca” - Antonio Jobim
“Manha de Carnival” - Stan Getz
“Desafinado” - Gal Costa
“Lucky Day” - The Carl Stalling Project
“Vivo Sonhando” - Luiz Henrique
“A Waltz for Diane” - Luiz Henrique
“Leaonzinho” - Caetano Veloso
“The Girl from Ipanema” - Stan Getz
“Green Dolphin Street” - Miles Davis Sextet
“Spirit in the Sky” - Norman Greenbaum
“Dusk You and Me” - Groove Armada
“Genie in a Bottle” - Christina Aguilera
“Praise You” - Fatboy Slim
“All-Star“- Smashmouth
“I Am the Fly” - Wire
**My best friend is marrying the Girl from Ipanema, and I’ll be sharing best-man honors with Stephen Mailer, who may be the funniest person I’ve ever met.
And I’ve met Joey Bishop.**
Come … fly with me.
Songs Excerpted in This Episode ”A Trip to Brazil” - Luiz Enrique
“The Swag” - Link Wray
“Jubilation” - Davy Graham
“Mais Que Nada “- Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66
“The Girl From Ipanema” - Stan Getz w. Astrud Gilberto
“South American Getaway” - Burt Bacharach
“Desafinado” - Gal Costa
“Donovan” - Happy Mondays
“Great Escape” - The Chills
“Zaar” - Peter Gabriel
“The Lost Day” - Brian Eno
“Tanto Ande” - Marcos Valle
“Deus Brasileiro” - Marcos Valle
“Something Big” - Burt Bacharach
“Crickets Sing for Anamaria” - Marcos Valle
“I Am the Fly” - Wire
The MTV Video Music Awards ended eight hours ago, so what am I doing in Courtney Love's limousine, and where the hell are we going?
An eyelash, Tiny Sized Chiclets, and a miniature hangman's noose…Love is a many-splendored thing.
What my boss and I have here is a failure to communicate, but tonight, with the help of Burt Reynolds, maybe we can start a brand-new working folder.
In this episode, I lose my shirt at the St. Regis, give elocution lessons to Bono, and meet three legendary record producers, only one of whom is a murderer.
My first cousin, Winona Ryder — Noni to me — is engaged to Johnny Depp, and this has afforded me a weird kind of occasional close access to Johnny, a rising star who’s a few years away from global fame Tonight, we’ll take Manhattan.
Knowing your brother is a genius is one thing; seeing him depicted as a sort of visionary in a slick media magazine is something else.
One-night stands are awkward, and in the era of AIDS they’re dangerous. I need a girlfriend and I need one now. Be careful what you wish for.
In this episode, my roommate provides me with an instant social life, and his alluring girlfriend—an eventual Oscar winner—brings the drama. Let's take a trip.
In the first episode, an after-party hang with Courtney Love goes south, I turn Winona Ryder on to indie rock, and introduce you to my uncle, Sgt. Pepper.
In Episode 2, my father gets extremely Bold with Jimi Hendrix’s Axis, my hometown of Tenafly is lousy with pop hits, and my brother Meets a Beatle. Which sucks …
An evening with Led Zeppelin leaves me dazed and confused at my best friend’s lack of scruples.
Juvenile delinquency with Tenafly's Rum Bum gang ends in a major bummer, but a man with a cigarette is never alone.
Projectiles are all the rage at Smith Schools. A bent paperclip attached to a stretched rubber band achieves greater distance and greater pain. I'm about to meet with the sharp end of that proposition.
Mom finds peace — make that Tenafly Women for Peace — I find Jesus (“Christ Superstar” that is), and Tommy Roberts and I form a Union … of the Smacked.
In Episode 4, my first-grade teacher sniffs out a hippie lover, I land in the stockade, and my brother is always in the last place you’d think to look.
In Episode 3, we’ll all Meet the Beatles and the family genius. Plus: the Scariest Song in the World.