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April 21, 2006
Sounds Worth Saving: Abbreviated Version
Don't just just hate when you accidentally fall asleep without having set the alarm, and then oversleep in the morning? I had planned on not only doing the next entry in this series last night, but I even had a couple of others in mind. It would appear that the sleep fairy had other ideas. So you get an abbreviated entry this morning in this series. Sorry. I was tired, I guess.
15. The Ramones, 1976 There are really only a handful of albums over the course of rock history about which it can be said that, in hindsight, rock history or the direction of popular music changed after their release. There are some brilliant albums that, while totally enjoyable and classic in every other way, don't meet that particular criteria. Among the handful that do, you've got Sgt. Pepper's, Nevermind... and The Ramones.
Brent and Sarah will hork up a lung at me for saying this, but pop music by the mid 1970s had become a parody of rock and roll; art rock and arena rock had virtually killed rock and roll's rebellious spirit, and the pop charts had become full of schlock like "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" and "Shannon." It took four guys from Queens to remind us all of what rock was supposed to be about in the first place -- to re-introduce the rebellion and attitude and energy and the primal nature that rock was supposed to be about. They couldn't really play, had the musical sophistication of a Tom & Jerry cartoon... and they were absofreakinglutely brilliant. There are a few albums I might have enjoyed a little bit more, but there is in my mind only one other that was this important (stay tuned for that one).
14. Nixon's "Checkers" speech, 1952. This is the media rat and history geek in me coming out... Nixon's speech was more than just a brilliant manuver to save his own skin and force Eisenhower to keep him on the Republican ticket in 1952 (although it certainly was that; Eisenhower and his advisors had wanted to remove Nixon and were reputedly discussing how and when to do so at the time Nixon forced their hand). It was also the first demonstration of the power of television as a political medium. Everyone always points to JFK and the debates with Nixon in 1960 as the pioneering political TV moment; I'd argue that it came eight years earlier
If you're not familiar with the story, Nixon was the Vice Presidential candidate in 1952 with Dwight Eisenhower. Ethical allegations surfaced against Nixon, charging that he had acquired a "slush fund" from campaign contributions and was becoming quite wealthy while in public office. Nixon went on TV -- at a point where not even half of all Americans even had a TV yet -- and laid all of his cards on the table. In a brilliant if humiliating speech, he laid out his family's finances, tax returns, assets and debts, in excruciating detail, as if to say "now you know everything about my finances, so you tell me if you think I've gotten rich illegally in this job."
He concluded his revelations with a cynically brilliant tug at viewers' heartstrings. "One other thing I probably should tell you, because if I don't they'll probably be saying this about me, too. We did get something, a gift, after the election. A man down in Texas heard Pat on the radio mention the fact that our two youngsters would like to have a dog. And believe it or not, the day before we left on this campaign trip we got a message from Union Station in Baltimore, saying they had a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was? It was a little cocker spaniel dog, in a crate that he had sent all the way from Texas, black and white, spotted, and our little girl Tricia, the six year old, named it Checkers. And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog, and I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're gonna keep it."
Did it work? Hell yes. In one paragraph, he saved his political career. Whatever one might think of Nixon, it was a briliant move. And the "Checkers" speech, as it came to be known, wins inclusion in my list of audio recordings worth saving. Listen to the speech here.
More tomorrow.
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Comments
Hark!
A cheap hat trick to attract comments from your '70s music fan nemesis?
Well, fine...I'll take the bait.
The songs you cite from the '70s indeed reflect your characterizations. But "AM Gold" and "No static at all" on FM are about as far apart as you are from our nation's (not so) esteemed leader.
As for landmark albums, you would surely cringe at the indisputable fact that Led Zeppelin I belongs on the short list. That's OK. I would certainly include The Ramones' work.
See? I'm reasonable even in the face of hostility. ...
Posted by: Brent at April 21, 2006 08:47 AM
Each of the blogs I've read this afternoon has gotten a different song stuck in my head. Right now have this weird medley of Nirvana, the Beatles, and 42nd Street running through my brain.
Posted by: Jill at April 21, 2006 12:34 PM
I resent that. I flippin' love the Ramones, and believe that without them, music could not have progressed. Did you not hear the song I open my radio show with??
Posted by: Sarah at April 21, 2006 04:01 PM
The Ramones played a key roll in changing music and influencing styles, but whether or not it was a good thing is a matter of opinion.
Absofreakinglutely lame really, but they are legendary.
I would throw a vote for "The Message" from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, but thats a tough list.
Posted by: Cuzin Jose at April 21, 2006 08:21 PM
I suppose you'd rather go back and listen to some tripe like "Houses of the Holy?"
Oh well. Your lack of respect or appreciation for punk notwithstanding, you've got a decent suggestion with the pioneering rap album. But I still say that rock would have died a painful, overproduced, theatrical death if it weren't for punk.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at April 22, 2006 03:59 AM
I don't like Houses of the Holy. Not their best album. Cool, thanks.
Posted by: Sarah at April 25, 2006 04:34 PM
