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: I recently read that Laurence Olivier thought his Archie Rice character in The Entertainer was the role to which he felt the closest in his career. That’s a scary thought. This amazing movie is a spiral of depression and bad life choices set against the backdrop of the seaside music halls of post-war England. And it’s one of those movies that’s great from start to finish, but then vaults into another level of excellence in its closing minutes (i.e. The Long Good Friday or The King Of Comedy). You should really see the whole thing, but if you don’t have the time or the inclination (or if you’ve already seen it), go on YouTube and watch the final scene after the jump. I’ve never had the occasion to use what is one of the best onstage kiss-offs of all time, but I’ll certainly be ready if that situation should ever arise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QOnruGEB04
