apropos of nothing

Just Let Tom Scharpling Write a 33 1/3 Book Already

Not real … yet.


“I’m sick of being passed over in life,” WFMU’s “The Best Show” host Tom Scharpling complained on last week’s show. “Is this about 33 1/3?” his caller asked. Scharpling has been waging a campaign for weeks on his show, trying to get Continuum Press to allow him to write a book for their 33 1/3 series of music criticism, in which each book addresses a seminal album in rock-and-roll history. According to Scharpling, 33 1/3 has rejected his proposals for books on albums as diverse as Styx’s Cornerstone, Paul Simon’s The Rhythm of the Saints, and Kris Kross’s Totally Krossed Out. “You should see the people writing these 33 1/3 books,” he griped the other week. “It makes me ill.” (He claims that Andy Milonakis is writing a book for 33 1/3 about an album by MTV sock-puppet comedian Liam Lynch.) 33 1/3 series editor David Barker is on vacation, but when he gets back, we’re going to demand that he let Scharpling write a book about whatever album he wants. If they’ll let idiots like us write for the series, why not a mad genius like Tom Scharpling?

“The Best Show” archives [WFMU.org]

(Photo from the indispensable Recidivism.org “Best Show” recaps.)

Just Let Tom Scharpling Write a 33 1/3 Book Already