From The Desk Of Steve Wynn: “The Wire” And “Yacht Rock”

Fifteen years after he scratched a lifelong itch and moved to New York City, Steve Wynn has settled in nicely to life on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The relocation also breathed fire into a music career that already had notched landmark albums by his first band, the Dream Syndicate, collaborations with Gutterball and a slew of excellent early solo releases. Once he turned 40, Wynn rolled up his sleeves and really went to work, cranking out masterpieces like 2001’s Here Come The Miracles and 2003’s Static Transmission. Wynn, wife/drummer Linda Pitmon, Peter Buck (R.E.M.) and Scott McCaughey (Minus 5) are set to begin a U.S. tour. Read our Q&A with Wynn. (Also read our 2001 Q&A with Wynn, conducted by novelist George Pelecanos, as well as our overview of the Dream Syndicate and its fellow Paisley Underground bands.)

Steve Wynn: What do The Wire (pictured) and Yacht Rock have in common? Not much on the surface. One is five seasons of superlative TV, some of the best writing, directing and acting in the history of the 60-year journey from cathode tube to LCD flat-screen panel. And the other is a silly, sophomoric (but hilarious) Internet mini-saga (10 episodes of about five minutes each) of the L.A. “smooth rock” movement of the late ’70s. But they are both things that I discovered recently, a few years after the curve, then proceeded to drive everyone nuts with my belated enthusiasm and proselytizing. (“Yeah, Steve, I know,” friends would say. “I was into that two years ago.”) But they’re both amazing in their own way; the latter will take up much less of your time. And both left me with a feeling of sadness when I realized I had seen the last episode and there was nothing left. Sob. I hear there’s some cool show out there called Twin Peaks. I’ll have to check it out. Video after the jump.

The Wire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmIvu1yg3bU

Yacht Rock:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMTI8vg7A5U