We've noted our love of baseball in the past, so when the former National League MVP Dale Murphy launched a blog recently and used one of his early posts to declare his fondness for Wilco (and some other great bands), we were thrilled. As the best of the AL and NL prepare to clash for the 82nd time, we caught up with the seven-time All-Star for his first-ever interview about music.
Aquarium Drunkard: You made a lot of your fans really happy when you launched your blog and joined Twitter. What prompted you to get active online at age 55?
Dale Murphy: You know, it’s all kind of a big mystery to us 50-plus-year-olds, but my kids [ed note: Murphy has eight of them] were all saying “C’mon dad, you’ve got to get on Twitter!” I remember when it first came out and the founder said it’s just a conversation between you and your friends where you answer “What are you doing right now?” and I thought to myself “Man, that sounds so boring! I don’t know how long this idea’s going to last.” But then it just kind of evolved and I kept hearing about it, so I finally gave in--and I have to say, it’s been a lot of fun. When I first got on Twitter I was like, okay, who should I follow? So I was looking around in the Music & Entertainment section and I saw Wilco and I said, okay, I gotta follow Wilco. It was funny because when you first get out there, people are trying to figure out if you’re real or not and this one guy [tweeted] “This can’t be the real Dale Murphy. He follows Wilco and Trent Reznor.”
AD: One of your earliest blog posts was primarily devoted to your love of Wilco, but you also mention other lesser-known bands like Midlake and Local Natives. What’s currently in heavy rotation for you?
Dale Murphy: Ha. When my son Chad and I started doing the blog we had some funny names for it. One of my favorites was “Murph Listens To WHAT???” I’d probably still be listening to classic rock radio if it wasn’t for my kids because I didn’t really know what was out there. So I get a lot of tips from them and I also really like “All Songs Considered” on NPR for finding new music. WIlco’s always there in the rotation, but I have to say I really like this latest Decemberists record. I think it’s fantastic. I don’t even know what years some of the things I listen to are from, but the great thing is that it’s all new to me. I really like LCD Soundsystem. I can’t think of anything more different than them and Wilco, but I love that beat. Maybe it’s all that disco stuff I grew up with (laughs).
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