February 11, 2007
Get The Message?
Just in case anyone missed it, that sound you heard tonight was the record industry delivering a giant and emphatic middle finger to the red states, George W. Bush, and his "we're the only patriots"/thought police supporters. Granted, the collective bird came about four years too late, but they get points for the sentiment if not for the courage of their convictions. "They" meaning the record industry, of course; the Dixie Chicks were showing the courage of their convictions back when it wasn't popular.
The Chicks' virtual banishment from red state airwaves via the blacklisting carried out by Clear Channel and Cumulus and others in the conservative media seems especially ironic today, after time has proven all the liberal criticisms and opposition correct, and shown Bush to be almost inarguably the worst president in American history. But especially in light of what we know now, and how fully established the neocon incompetence and malfeasance has become, it's important to remember tonight what was attempted in this country.
Red states, supported by the conservative-dominated media and egged on tacitly if not directly by the administration and its cronies, attempted to forcibly end the careers of artists for the mere crime of opposing the state -- part of a much larger campaign to silence any and all opposition to conservative policies by branding it unpatriotic to disagree. Just because the Dixie Chicks came back strong and gave the record industry the chance to do the right thing only four years late... doesn't mean that we can or should forget that just four years ago, people were being arrested in this country for wearing anti-Bush t-shirts, and teachers were being fired for simply allowing students to read their own anti-war poetry. Whenever anyone naively claims that "it could never happen here," introduce them to conservatives, give 'em a copy of "Taking The Long Way," and remind them that it in fact has... and will again if conservatives were allowed their way.
So while you're celebrating the Dixie Chicks' triumph tonight or merely enjoying their music, keep one mindful eye open to what it was that they came back from -- and who was responsible for it.
Posted by Christopher at 11:44 PM | Comments (0)January 07, 2007
A Pasty White Guy's 20 Favorite Rap Songs Ever: #2-#1
Not sure how much blogging I'll be able to do in the next month to six weeks... have gotten drafted for temporary assignment to a huge project at work that has already meant nights and weekends, and will mean lots more of both as well as a bit of travel in the coming weeks. So spare time is more rare for a while... and that said, I wanted to be sure to complete the countdown in progress so that I leave no one hanging. So here are my final two in my 20 favorite raps songs ever.
2. "California Love" -- Dr. Dre & Tupac Shakur One of the five best videos ever made, in my opinion -- iconic, memorable, and elevating the song even beyond its aural brilliance. A post-apocolyptic Mad Max homage, the video featured funkmaster George Clinton and a then-unknown Chris Tucker (sounding a lot like he would a few years later in The Fifth Element).
The song is a collaboration between two of rap's giants, and also features the late Roger Troutman and his distinctive voice box. An ode to the state of California, the song also captures the zeitgeist of mid-90s rap like perhaps no other. Combine it with the unforgettable video, and you have my second favorite rap song of all time.
1. "Mama Said Knock You Out" -- LL Cool J Absolutely love this song. From the opening declaration that this is not a comeback... to the way he growls "uuuuuuhI'm gonna knock you out" in the chorus... to the adrenaline pump melody... love it. This is definitely a workout song for me -- on every gym mix on my iPod. I don't care whether LL Cool J has cred or not (don't even know anymore what the perception of him is); I just love this song. Favorite rap song ever.
Posted by Christopher at 12:41 AM | Comments (0)January 03, 2007
A Pasty White Guy's 20 Favorite Rap Songs Ever: #3
3. "Woo-hah! I Got You All In Check" - Busta Rhymes The bizarro dancing in the video... and that distinctive, unique backing melody that sounds vaguely like a Nintendo soundtrack for like Super Mario or something... and Busta's comical "Yah yah yah... yah yah" at the beginning... I was hooked on this song as soon as I first saw/heard it. Still on my adrenaline mix on my iPod. Not much more to say about it other than that I totally dig on this song.
Posted by Christopher at 08:33 PM | Comments (0)January 02, 2007
A Pasty White Guy's 20 Favorite Rap Songs Ever: #4
4. "It Was A Good Day" -- Ice Cube Because you know... any day where you don't even have to use your AK... I guess that's a good day. I'm not even sure why I like this song... maybe it's just that I like Ice Cube (loooove the movie "Friday"). Maybe it's the positive vibes in the tune. Maybe it's that beep from Kim -- you know, she can... no, never mind. Maybe it's the smooth Isley Brothers sample that forms the melody. For whatever reason, I love this song. (This was another one that MML and I used to rap at each other back in the DC office.) Lyrics not work safe... just in case you're clicking the video.
Posted by Christopher at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)December 12, 2006
Cash Back
This isn't quite new; it looks to have been released last month. But it's new to me... so if you've seen it or heard it already, don't mind me for raving about old news.
By the time he reached his 60s and I reached my 30s, Johnny Cash was one of my musical idols. He was one of the most authentic voices in music history, authentic and powerful and commanding. Whatever The Man In Black was singing about -- be it walking the line, the burn of forbidden love in the ring of fire, how hard it was to be a boy named Sue, or wanting to ride silver stallions with the Highwaymen -- you just felt the passion and belief in the man's voice; there was no artifice to Johnny Cash. When he sang aboout why he always wore black, you knew he really did wear it for the poor and beaten down. When he sang "Hurt" toward the end of his life, it took on an aching poignancy and a power that Trent Reznor's original, as good as it was, couldn't muster. Trent was singing about addiction, which few of us ever must wrestle. But when Johnny sang it, it was about getting old and the ravages of time, and every line drew you closer to the realization that you too are someday going to wither, grow old, and die. Johnny made it about us; but then again, everything that Johnny Cash sang was about all of us.
Before he died in 2003, Johnny Cash did one last set of vocal recordings for his "American Recordings V: A Hundred Highways" album. The single from the album, "God's Gonna Cut You Down," is one I only now heard and saw the video for. And the only reaction I can have is: God I miss Johnny Cash. Sparse and minimalist, the arrangement here is at once righteous and rebellious; the power and passion of Cash's voice once again has you begging to go wherever he wants you to go. If Cash was the preacher, even I would go to church on Sunday.
The video features nearly three dozen famous people dressed in black and paying tribute to Cash with their appearance... and the broadness of the spectrum from which these artists and actors are drawn shows you the extent of Cash's influence and legacy. Perhaps only a Johnny Cash video could open with Iggy Pop followed by Kanye West. The full list of those appearing in the video, in order is:
Iggy Pop, Kanye West, Chris Martin (Coldplay), Kris Kristofferson, Patti Smith, Terrence Howard, Flea, Q-Tip, Adam Levine (Maroon 5), Chris Rock, Justin Timberlake, Kate Moss, Sir Peter Blake, Sheryl Crow, Dennis Hopper, Woody Harrelson, Amy Lee (Evanescence), Tommy Lee, Dixie Chicks, Mick Jones, Sharon Stone, Bono, Shelby Lynne, Anthony Kiedis, Travis Barker (Blink 182), Lisa Marie Presley, Kid Rock, Jay Z, Keith Richards, Billy Gibbons, Corinne Bailey Rae, Johnny Depp, Graham Nash, Brian Wilson, Rick Rubin, and Owen Wilson.
God, I miss Johnny Cash.
Posted by Christopher at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)October 12, 2006
It's Only Rock And Roll, But I Like It
So the "big" gig was last night... in some ways it was a lot of fun, and in others it reminded me of the few things I didn't like about being in a band. I will leave it to friends of the blog who attended to give actual reviews of the gig if they choose (and be honest if you do!)... but here's a recap from the singer's perspective:
The Good: We got compliments from everyone at the end, though I wasn't really sure if people really liked us or were just respectful of the effort and the cojones it takes to get up in front of professional colleagues. But people did say nice things. And the big boss, the one who'd requested this command performance in the first place, shook our hands afterward and said he was impressed and that we'd done well. We had a number of people, the ones who didn't really know us or the story of how we formed one month ago, asking us where we play our "real" gigs in the area; they thought we were a legit band who played non-work shows. We even had someone ask, in all seriousness, if we'd consider playing her Christmas party in December.
My favorite 'rock and roll' moment of the "show" was almost a disaster, but was fun for me, if nothing else. We segue directly from Sweet Child O'Mine into Baba O'Riley -- we play the songs in the same key, and the last note of Sweet Child is the same as the first of Baba -- and as the drummer let loose and really kicked into the song, I had the bright idea of really playing it up to the audience... there is a huge "hole" in the center of the atrium where a stairwell leads down to the sub-ground floor below; the drop from the floor we were on to the floor below is about 20 feet. Surrounding this open stairwell on the top floor, padded benches ring the open area. I decided that this would be a good perch from which to play lead singer. As the power chords were driving and our drummer was doing his best Keith Moon, I took a running hop up to the bench, figuring that standing on it and leading the crowd from there in the intro would be fun.
Unfortunately, I am only a rock star in my own head; in reality, my knees are my knees -- especially the one that's currently bunged up due to that face-plant incident while hiking two weekends ago -- and I didn't quite complete the jump. Caught the foot of my bum leg on the edge of the bench and pitched forward... and for one precarious moment, I thought I might be going over the short wall and to the floor down below. (It turns out I wasn't exaggerating; our guitarist and bass player both told me afterwards that they thought I was going over too, and were legitimately worried for a moment.) But, I recovered, didn't fall (obviously), and was able to keep doing the old rock and roll fist thrust thing. Good times, good times.
Oh -- and The Girl managed to make other arrangements for picking her son up from daycare, and was able to be there to see the whole show. Showing off for friends is good. Showing off for a significant other is better.
The Bad: I was reminded of how hard it is as the lead singer to keep things going in a room where there are a lot of people not paying attention to the band. This was, after all, a reception for a work event, and though the crowd did reach upwards of 175 or so scattered across a large atrium area, there were a number of people who were there to socialize and be at a reception, not to hear an impromptu band made up of a few of their colleagues. That number increased as the afternoon progressed... and while there were quite a few who, god bless 'em, hung in there with us through the whole set, there were an equal number not paying us any attention by the end. Which is fine, it's what you do at a professional reception. But for the band, well, it's a little challenging. And while the musicians can focus on their instruments and playing the songs, as the singer you're out there trying to connect with people, and when they don't want to be connected with you're kind of left hanging a little.
We also had to deal with acoustics from hell; it poured rain in our area yesterday so the idea of playing outside was quickly scrapped... which left us indoors in a huge glass-paned atrium with about a 50 foot ceiling and a couple hundred feet of empty, cavernous space for the sound to bounce off of. In the end I'm not sure people could really clearly hear a whole lot; we were playing in an echo chamber. Stage banter was useless and indiscernable... just wasn't ideal.
The worst of it for me, though, was that I came off really, really flat on the first song, Rockin' In The Free World, and I knew it. My voice cracked on the first line of the first verse, and I was flat on the notes of the first chorus... and even though I recovered later in the song, it still set the tone in my head: 'you don't have it tonight.' And there's nothing worse than being up at the beginning of the set and realizing that you still have all your songs to go, and that your voice isn't up to the challenge that night. You've got no place to go, and no other choice than to give it your all anyway... but you know you're not on, that you don't sound as strong as you want... it's a little like being naked in public. (Then on "Creep" I totally missed the note on the first part of the bridge, when he's wailing "Ruuuuuuuunnnn!" I was flatter than an A cup on that line, and I could hear how off it was. Ugh.)
The Ugly: First song. Coming out of the guitar solo. Ready to kick into the third verse. All eyes on me. And I can't for the life of me remember the next line. Awkward moments ensue as the band keeps playing the three chord intro over and over, looking at me expectantly... the audience looking at me expectingly... and me sitting there like a deer in headlights realizing that I have once again forgotten the words to a song I've practiced for ten hours in the last four days. And it doesn't come back to me. Ten, then twenty seconds go by. I'm forced to actually say into the mic, "Would you believe that I forgot the words?" Everyone laughs... but the words stilldon't come. Now it's been thirty seconds. The lead guitar plays a small two bar solo to buy me time. The rhythm guitarist comes up to me and shouts the intro to the second verse -- and when he does, I remember that he's on the second verse, and that the third verse begins with "We got a thousand points of light." I launch into it as best I can from there. Ugh. Lee. Ug-ly. Thankfully, the audience cut me some slack.
Anyway, rock and roll, party on Wayne and party on Garth, and all that stuff. With that, my adult-onset front man syndrome is over, we've played our last show, and I can go back to being a mild-mannered cube farm denizen.
Posted by Christopher at 06:05 AM | Comments (8)October 10, 2006
Rock And Roll
After one last four hour rehearsal Monday night, the set list for Wednesday's show is now in stone. (I'm told that about 250 people have RSVP'd for this little social event -- and since I am a veteran of only house parties and small bars that happen to have live music, I don't think I've ever played for 250 people before. If everyone shows, this will be my biggest crowd ever. Am I insane for really looking forward to this?)
Rockin' In The Free World
Sweet Child O'Mine
Baba O'Riley
I Will Follow
I Wanna Be Sedated
Creep (Radiohead, not TLC)
All Along The Watchtower
Red House
I Saw Her Standing There
September 26, 2006
Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll
Cheap sunglasses: $12. T-shirt with vaguely impish rock star words ("By reading this you have given me brief control of your mind"): $11. Black Levis 505 jeans bought especially for the gig: $29. Singing in front of a live crowd again, even if I don't have the range I used to have anymore, and hearing people cheering (if even out of pity!): priceless.
More coming later, but I really need to get to work. My main thought after seeing the photos from the show, however, is that I will never eat again. Ever. I look like I ate one of the amps.
Posted by Christopher at 08:30 AM | Comments (12)September 24, 2006
Pop Quiz: Answer
A week ago I gave you a list of songs and asked what they had in common. A couple of you took a stab at guessing the commonality. (Doc doesn't count though, because he knew.) And now, I'll tell you.
It's a set list.
But not just any set list. It's the set list for the impromptu and one-night-only band that I'm going to be fronting tomorrow night -- thus making good on one of my new year's resolutions. See, there's this real big meeting at work tomorrow, with guests from all over the country and in a couple of cases the world, followed by a reception ... and the executive in charge of the meeting thought it would be fun to have a band playing the reception or shortly after it. He knew that one of the guys on his team is an accomplished guitar player, and asked the guy to put together an impromptu band to play the "gig," figuring that he probably would have known of other office workers in the company who used to play in bands or at least played an instrument -- and so he did. As it happens, this guitar player is also one of my card playing buddies... so guess who got tapped to play front man?
It's going to be my first live gig in 17 years. A lot has changed since then: back then I could have looked passable in spandex if I'd really have wanted to (thankfully I never took that much leave of my aesthetic senses); today, I resemble Bachman Turner Overweight. Back then, I could hit Axl Rose's notes, Sebastian Bach's notes, and even some Robert Plant ones; today I have a range somewhere close to Michael Duncan Clarke's. Back then, we were playing Guns N Roses songs because it was what was current and cool; tomorrow night we're playing one because our audience will share our nostalgia for it.
We're not going to be great, by a long shot; we've had all of 16 days' notice of the gig, have been a band for only 15 days, and have had all of two rehearsals. We're all aging rockers who make the Stones look positively boy band-esque as far as age and energy. Our adopted name -- the Hip Replacements -- reflects our desire to tap the past glory of Minneapolis alt-punk bands of the 80s, to be self-referentially and self-mockingly cool, and our acknowledgement of our ages. And playing in a barely rehearsed band that's existed for two weeks in front of 100 or so of our professional colleagues lands somewhere between being in public naked and catching your parents doing the nasty on the Most Mortifying Things That Could Ever Happen To You Scale.
But you know what? It's gonna be damned fun fronting a band and playing to a crowd again. I'm going to ham it up like I'm onstage at Madison Square Garden. And if this is the last live gig I ever play, I'm retiring while having fun.
I've been threatened by my bandmates with death, destruction, appendage amputation, and having my unkickables mule-kicked by a sumo wrestler if I do something stupid like post video or place it anywhere that anyone could access it. So unfortunately, no video or mp3s will be made available (while I personally don't mind being embarrassed on my own blog in the name of amusing commentary, I do and will respect the wishes of my bandmates to remain, shall we say, anonymous.) But I'm planting friends in the audience who will (I hope) take a few photos that keep my friends' identities cloaked while giving you all something to laugh at... shots of Mudge pretending he's Bono while looking instead like Pavarotti. :-)
My first live gig since 1989.. with a band that's existed for two weeks and rehearsed twice... in front of a hundred people I have to work with every day. This, friends, could be interesting. Wish for me that I break a leg. No seriously... somebody break my leg. Please.
Posted by Christopher at 10:24 AM | Comments (7)September 17, 2006
Pop Quiz
What do the following songs have in common:
All Along The Watchtower
I Saw Her Standing There
I Wanna Be Sedated
I Will Follow
Red House
Rockin' In The Free World
Surrender
Sweet Child O'Mine
(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?
Answer in eight days. No sooner.
Posted by Christopher at 12:11 PM | Comments (3)August 01, 2006
Ladies and Gentlemen... Rock and Roll
25 years ago today, the world changed.
On August 1, 1981, MTV signed on the air on exactly one cable system, in northern New Jersey. No one -- not even those directly involved with the channel -- had any idea what they'd unleashed. And in the ten good years MTV had before frankly plummeting off the precipice of good television and into pure suckitude, they changed the music industry, the TV industry, the advertising industry, and even society itself.
Here's a YouTube clip of MTV's sign-on moment. Doesn't Mark Goodman have that early-80s "I'm coked out of my head" look in his eyes? And doesn't Martha Quinn have that "Even though he's only 13 right now, the Mudge is gonna be my wall-shaking stud someday" look in her eyes?
The early 80s were MTV's glory years. Everything they did was new, fresh... they doomed aesthetically challenged acts like Christopher Cross and made image as important as sound in the music industry for the next two and a half decades. They got past their shameful omission of black acts early on, and became the vehicle through which Michael Jackson conquered the world. MTV hosted Headbanger's Ball, Yo! MTV Raps, and featured contests that none of us who watched the network then will ever forget. ("Asia in Asia?" And come on, say it with John Cougar Mellencamp and me now... "and we'll paaaaint the mother paaaaink!")
To be a teenager then was to live for MTV. One of my childhood friends was the first to get cable in our area in like 1982, and we'd come home from practice every day and literally sit and watch four hours of MTV. And, the network gave me my first rite of passage; my very first celebrity crush was the pixie-ish Martha Quinn. (I never did get over having a thing for petite women... it's all because of Martha.)
MTV has become stupid, frankly. There's no M in their TV anymore. They're all inispid reality programming now. They haven't played a video in what, 6 years? Does anyone even make videos anymore? Or is it a lost art form? I suppose it's natural that I stopped being interested in MTV by now, being out of their demographic by at least a decade and a half as I am. But MTV was a beloved and embedded part of my teen-dom, of my growing up, and I have fond memories for what it was then, and what it set out to be. 25 years ago today.
Oh... and happy birthday, Jami.
Posted by Christopher at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)July 09, 2006
Bad 80s Video War: The Final Salvo
Okay, Corey... this is the worst/best I can do, I think. This isn't really a video, so much as a "live" performance. But - I will argue that not only is this the worst song of the 80s.... it may well be the single worst song ever recorded, ever. Ever.
Ever.
Does it count as a bad video? Who knows? There's no cheesy 80s effects, there's no god-awful early MTV cliches. There's just the worst song ever recorded. Ever.
Ever.
Ladies and gentlemen... don't hate me... but here it is: Charlene's "I've Never Been To Me."
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Posted by Christopher at 12:52 AM | Comments (8)June 06, 2006
The Bad 80s Video War Is... OVER
Corey... you can't beat this. It's over. I win. Ladies and gentlemen... William Shatner's interpretation of "Rocket Man."
And I'm gonna be.... HIIIIIIGH as a kite by then.
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Posted by Christopher at 08:12 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBackMay 31, 2006
Bad 80s Video War: Weapons of Mass Destruction
Corey isn't playing nice anymore. Not only did he break out a painfully bad video to counter "Love Is A Battlefield" (Don Johnson's "Heartbeat"), but he's stealing signs, man -- "Heartbeat" was bookmarked in my browser as the next video I was going to pull out of my hat in this little war.
All right, Big C. You wanna play nasty? You wanna take the gloves off? Fine. Take this. We've got comically basic arthritic-finger keyboard playing. We have mounds of aluminum foil surrounded by mirrors. We got chicks in faux-kabuki/warrior makeup, dressed in Hefty bags. We have a red squiggly line appearing out of nowhere and for no discernable reason. And most of all, we have 80s hair! Lots of it.
That's right, big man. I'm breaking out A Flock Of Seagulls on your ass. This trumps your Sheila E. acid wash, Don Johnson's corset-wearing warbling, and Rebbie Jackson. You should just give up now and retreat to the comfort of your sweet new pad along the Gulf Coast, my friend. Don't make me cut you. ;-)
"I Ran (So Far Away)" by A Flock of Seagulls, ladies and gentlemen.
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Posted by Christopher at 06:31 AM | Comments (7)May 27, 2006
The Bad 80s Video War: Game. Set. Match.
Corey fought back hard from Toni Basil. He rolled out the acid wash from Shiela E. That's a pretty stiff challenge. And it required my tapping the one video I know that features every 80s video cliche.
You want a storyline totally unrelated to the song? We got that. You want authority figures who just don't understand? Check. Lots of ambient sound (like sirens, shouts, and the splash of water)? We got your hookup. Bad clothes? Cheesily choreographed extended dance scenes that require the mid-song instrumental to be extended to allow for the video scene to play out? All here.
Plus, this video features perhaps one of the most memorable of all archetypal characters from 80s MTV: the only gold-toothed pimp in the history of pimping who was ever intimidated out of business by a bunch of dancing girls shimmying their shoulders. (Actually, in hindsight, watching Pat Benatar try to dance is pretty scary.) Oh, but that's right, he wasn't a pimp, because they were only dancing with the random guys with that empty, detached, coked out look in their eyes.
Other highlights from this video (besides the comical gold-toothed sneer and that immortal dance confrontation during the solo) include Trey Wilson, the manager from Bull Durham, as the father throwing our heroine out of the house for some undisclosed sin. (This despite the fact that Wilson was only five years older than Benatar.)
Yes, ladies and gentlemen (and Corey)... my counterstrike in the Bad 80s Video War is the immortal "Love Is A Battlefield" by Pat Benatar. And Corey, you're really gonna have to dig deep to come back from this one... because I think I've got you game, set and match.
And remember, ladies... any time you find yourself in a trouble situation where you could be in danger... just shimmy.
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Posted by Christopher at 12:24 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBackMay 25, 2006
The Bad 80s Video War Rages On
Corey made me do this.
In response to what I thought was one hell of an opening salvo (when I pulled out the Falco video), Corey fought back like a man with his back to the wall... he busted out Rebbie Jackson's "Centipede" on me, complete with its cheesy bad dancing and wild animal special effects. Bloodied by that vicious uppercut, I very nearly conceded the war to him right then and there.
But I have a secret weapon. And I never said I fight fair. Ladies and gentlemen... Toni Basil's "Mickey."
God bless cheerleaders. Not these cheerleaders, but God bless cheerleaders in general.
Posted by Christopher at 07:12 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBackMay 24, 2006
American Midol
I don't get it.
It's a glorified fourth grade talent show. It's a national karaoke night (and while karaoke is admittedly fun, you have to actually know the people you're singing with, or it's no fun at all). And yet inexplicably to me, it's a ratings monster yet again this season. Hell, it led the news on MSNBC.com overnight.
I'll say that again: a sitting Vice-President is going to be called to testify in a criminal proceeding; the FBI has (apparently unconstitutionally) raided the legislative branch; rival Palestinian factions are having talks today to try and nip some internal fighting in the bud. And yet the lead news story here among the major US outlets is about which cracker won a talent contest?
I cannot be the only one who thinks this is ridiculous. Why the hell do people give a ... gosh darn... about who wins American Idol? Spare me the defenses about the drama or how it's compelling TV. This show unleasged Ryan Seacrest and Clay Aiken upon the world; for that alone it will live in infamy. And the fact that people tune in just to watch Simon Cowell insult people... well, I suspect these people also own the "Best of Don Rickels" DVD.
I don't get American Idol. I just can't see why anyone would care. And I am extremely disturbed in a snobby, righteous indignation way that the show's season finale could be considered "news" at all -- much less the lead story -- in my country. We really are a nation of Stepford drones, if this is what we consider news... or even entertainment.
Posted by Christopher at 11:09 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBackMay 20, 2006
Separated At Birth
Okay, I really like the White Stripes. And since I also really like Brendan Benson, I am psyched about the Raconteurs as well. But someone's gotta talk to Jack White, so I guess it's gotta be me.
Jack... buddy. You're supremely talented and somewhat eccentric. We get it. But your look... pal... I mean, I know you're going for the whole Johnny Depp in Benny and Joon thing. But it's not working. You look more like Michael Jackson every day. And while I love your music, I am becoming less and less comfortable with being a fan of someone who looks like Neverland's most famous fan of little boys.
Please, Jack.
April 30, 2006
Radio Curmudgeon, May Day Edition
I know... the most pressing question on your "enquiring" minds this Sunday morning is: What is Mudge listening to these days? (I've had to accept my role as cultural signpost. The pressure is intense, but I have decided to shoulder it. I'm swell that way.)
So here's a list of the latest songs I've downloaded off iTunes (remember, ClearChannel iand media conglomeration is evil and has killed broadcast radio... iTunes or XM/Sirius is the only acceptable place to get music from anymore). I don't make any claims that all of these songs are good or that you'll have the same tastes as I do. Hell, even I'll admit that I am sometimes embarrassed about what I listen to. Anyway, in no particular order, here's a little of what's currently on Radio Mudge (and be warned, I was in country music country last week, so my playlist is heavy on it right now):
-- "Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy," Big and Rich. 2005's most annoying and ubiquitous country novelty song has suddenly arrived on my airwaves in spring 2006... I wasn't really into this song last year when it was #1, but when I discovered a country radio station during last week's drive from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, this song was the one on when the "scan" hit 107.9. And all of a sudden, the song -- complete with its pretty rock and roll back guitar line -- doesn't call NASCAR to mind ... I think of barreling down that desert highway with the windows down, the dust in the air, and feeling freer than I had in a long time. I downloaded it as soon as I got home. And Doc, I know you have it on your iTunes as well... I think you and I have our next song for the next karaoke night (no matter how bat-crazy it makes Mrs. Doc that we're doing country.)
-- "Worldwide Suicide," Pearl Jam All right, so I'll join the chorus of bleating sheep who are proclaiming that Pearl Jam are back and that this is their best work since "Ten." Because you know what? This song, the first single off the new album out next week, kicks total ass. It's so good, it almost makes me forgive them for "Last Kiss."
-- "The Nth Degree," Morningwood Destined to be one-hit-wonders. For real. No band that has ever referenced itself and its own name in its debut single has ever lasted. Even doing it in later songs is a poor gimmick that indicates total lameness ("Hangin' Tough" by the New Kids is probably the most egregious example of such suckitude). But you know what? This song also proves the value of an intriguing video. It was running on MTV Europe while I was in Italy, and it stuck in my head because of the video. Sure, Liz Phair did the whole "album covers from different eras" concept in 2003 with "Why Can't I?" (and Liz, you know I still love you, baby... call me). And the concept owes a great deal to the internet memes that have floated for the last few years about worst album covers of all time. But I don't need it to be original to be fun. Heck, if I ever had access to two days of photographers and had the money for vanity shoots, the album-covers-through-time concept is kinda fun. Anyway, while I doubt I'll ever hear from the band Morningwood again once this song has cycled, it's still fun.
-- "Sweet Nothings," Venice Maki Think of what it might sound like if Seal and Jack Johnson musically mated and produced a singer/songwriter offspring. That's who Venice Maki is. Great voice, and every song on his debut CD is strong. I've really been into him since hearing him for the first time about a month ago. I'm wishing I'd heard him about two months ago -- he was just in New York City in late March, and had I known I would have really wanted to see his show. Anyway, I think this guy's really talented, and "Sweet Nothings" is my favorite among ten really good songs on this first CD from him. Of every artist on my current playlist, he's the one I recommend most unreservedly. (Except for you, Beav. He'll be too soft for your taste.)
-- "Why," Jason Aldean Another country song that stuck in my mind after hearing it a few times while in New Mexico last week. By the numbers "I done her wrong" song, but I like the guy's voice, and since every guy has been a jerk at at least one point to at least one woman he's loved, it's a relate-able song.
-- "Foxy, Foxy," Rob Zombie Because I still have a rocker side to me, and between Rob Zombie's new album and the Arctic Monkeys, this is how I indulge it.
Posted by Christopher at 10:46 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBackFebruary 22, 2006
Come On Feel (and hear) The Noize
Courtesy of Pete, here's a little exercise that pretty much cured me of my belief that modern popular music absolutely sucks when compared to the top 40 songs of my youth. It cured me because I realized that the top 40 has pretty much always sucked, and that as a nation we have the musical tastes of neanderthals. (Although a second look at the charts does show a dramatic drop-off in the presence of even tolerable songs after about 1991, so things seem to have gone from bad to worse.)
This little site will tell you what song was #1 on the Billboard Top 40 charts the day you were born... and obviously every year after that.
The #1 song in the country the day I was born was something called "This Guy's In Love With You," by Herb Alpert. Great. A trumpet player trying his hand at singing a sleepy would-be ballad was the top song on the charts? Rock and roll, baby! It got no better -- on my 1st birthday, #1 was the love theme from Romeo and Juliet, by Henry Mancini. Geez, why don't we just get the freaking Ray Conniff Singers in here and put the entire world to sleep?
My first decade of life saw birthdays marked by crap like ""Song Sung Blue" by Neil Diamond, "Love Will Keep Us Together" by The Captain & Tennille, Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney & Wings, and "Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward. Things got no better in the 80s, with such sludge as "Ebony and Ivory" by Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder, "The Reflex" by Duran Duran, "On My Own" by Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald, and "Baby Don't Forget My Number" by Milli Vanilli. The 90s were characterized by slop from the New Kids on the Block, All-4-One, Jennifer Lopez, and freaking Puff Daddy.
Pop music sucks nowadays, it's very true; nothing that appeals to anyone over the age of 14 has hit #1 in at least 15 years. But looking at these lists will convince you that pop music has sucked since its inception. So the questions to you, faithful readers, are: 1) What song was #1 the day you were born? 2) What song's presence on your list of birthday #1s makes you break out in the most painful hives? and 3) Are there any songs on your list that you actually like? (I am 37, and I counted all of 4 on my list that I even like... so my hopes for you are not high.)
Posted by Christopher at 07:02 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBackJanuary 15, 2006
When Cheap Effects Attack!
Generally speaking, I am a Europhile. I like Europeans. I love visiting Europe. I'm psyched that I get to go back there in about three months for work and will be there for a while.
But one thing I neither understand nor like about Europe is the taste Europeans have for the more embarrassing elements of American pop culture. The love of the French for Sharon Stone, for example. Or the bizarre and diisturbing fascination the Germans have with David Hasselhoff.
Courtesy of my friend Dave out in the Bay Area comes a link that makes that aforementioned German fascination even more troubling -- dare I say frightening. You'd think that having been the star of the world's most successful television series ever, and being a "big star" on the German music scene, Hasselhoff could afford special effects for his music videos. As you'll see here, this is not the case. In fact, it would appear that Mr. Hasselhoff hired the Sunnyvale Middle School A/V club to produce and do the effects for his video for his cover of "Hooked On A Feeling." Seriously, it's a 7th grade production project. Hell, my friend Ethan's video is 20 times better, and he just did his all by himself for a grad school project; he's not Germany's biggest musical star. (Well, not yet anyway.)
But you have to check this video out. Not only is it the most unintentionally, hysterical in that it's-so-awful-it's-funny way video of all time, but it features the whitest dancing in the history of all white men. Dig it when the acoustic solo ends and Hasselhoff is superimposed over the image of people dancing in the club... when that annoying "Ooga Chaka, Ooga Ooga, Ooga Chaka, Ooga Ooga" thing is going on: you won't even see dancing that white when I'm drunk enough to be in da club and on da floor. If you survive all the way to the very end, you're rewarded with fresh fish. And, of course, Hasselhoff dancing in front of that world famous Anchorage, Alaska skyline.
Destined to join that video of the fat kid singing the theme to Titanic and Hurra Torpedo's ass-crack and kitchen appliance version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" as the worst-best video performances of all time. It's that bad/good. Check it out here.
Posted by Christopher at 07:57 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBackDecember 09, 2005
Pass Me The Blunt
Thanks to Saturday Night Live, I got exposed to a new-to-me artist this weekend. And true to form for me, when I hear something I really like for the first time, I listen to it obsessively until there are grooves in my CDs or computer. So I've been listening to about a half dozen of this guy's songs over and over again all week. (And lord am I bracing for the hell I know I am going to take from the Beav for this on the blog, since she's been letting me have it on IM since I confessed, since I now apparently share musical tastes with her teenage sister.) Does it detract from my masculinity that I really am digging a soft-rock folkie with an ethereal sound and introspective, emotional lyrics? (Do I need to go crank up some SliPKnoT or Avenged Sevenfold to get my testosterone back?)
James Blunt, formerly of the British Army, played Saturday Night Live this past weekend. He's a pianist and folkie, and his songs (at least the ones he played Saturday night) are slower, pretty melodies with sometimes haunting lyrics... he reminds me a bit of Jeff Buckley, actually. Apparently he's quite the rising superstar in the UK, from what I can read, and he is getting a foothold in the States now. (His lead single is #12 on iTunes today.)
If Blunt's song "Goodbye My Lover" had been around a couple of years ago, I might never have gotten out of bed again... the way he delivers the line "And I still hold your hand in mine... in mine when I'm asleep," whispering high notes that make him climb to the limits of his register, the vulnerability is palpable. When he's wailing "I'm so hollow" at the end of the song, it takes you back to every painful breakup you've gone through. In fact, I think this song may become the official national anthem of sad divorces and breakups. (The video -- co-starring Mischa Barton from "The O.C." -- is available about halfway down the MTV page here.)
The lead single, "You're Beautiful," is perfect for New York -- where pretty much every subway ride guarantees that you'll see at least one woman per trip who stops time with her beauty... and you've already started thinking about what you're going to name your children until she gets off two stops before you'd worked up the line you were going to approach her with, and now you'll never see your would-be wife again. (That's actually a germ of a short story, inspired by real-life train musings, that I have bouncing in my head that I'll probably never flesh out or write.)
Yeah, she caught my eye, as we walked on by... And I don't think that I'll see her again, but we shared a moment that will last till the end... You're beautiful., you're beautiful; You're beautiful, it's true... I saw your face in a crowded place, and I don't know what to do.. cause I'll never be with you.
Yeah. Happens every time I'm on the train. Anyway... as you can tell, I am on a James Blunt high right now (heh heh... I'm, like, witty and stuff). If you're secure enough in your own manliness (even female readers), I recommend checking him out. (Hell, guys... play your cards right, this guy's songs can probably get you a really good night, provided you make breakfast the next morning.)
Posted by Christopher at 07:39 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBackDecember 08, 2005
All We Are Saying...
Nothing you can make that can’t be made
No one you can save that can’t be saved
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time
It’s easy
All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
We miss you, John. Thank you.
Posted by Christopher at 09:31 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBackOctober 17, 2005
Now That's What I Call Folk-Hop! Volume 1
A friend of mine at the office instant messaged this link to me this afternoon, and I laughed so hard at it that my colleagues heard me and asked what was so funny... I am proud to tell you that I then played this song in the headquarters halls of Corporate America, thus setting off laughter across three cubes.
If any of us were asked the question, "What song of all songs in the last 20 years would best lend itself to a gentle, country-folk cover version?", I know we'd all answer the same way. Of course, there's only one answer:
Baby Got Back, by Sir Mix-a-Lot.
You haven't lived until you've heard a white folk music voice crooning about his anaconda while a gentle banjo keeps rhythm behind him. Gotta tell you, I don't know who Jonathan Coulton is, but I'm blogrolling his site from now on. Hysterical stuff, kids.
Posted by Christopher at 09:59 PM | Comments (1)October 12, 2005
A Voice From Heaven
You know, I'm as rock and blues as it gets... with a healthy streak of country laced in there just to keep myself real. I'm generally not one for adult contemporary, or world music either for that matter. But after I went last summer to see a Cirque du Soleil performance of their show Alegria, I bought the DVD for the show... and since then, I've been keeping an eye out for any work by the woman who portayed The Singer In White in the original cast, Francesca Gagnon. Her voice struck me on first listen, and still does now, as one of the most powerful and ethereal I'd ever heard. I just wanted to hear what else she was capable of.
I finally remembered to look her up on the Web a few days ago... and even though it'll probably earn me a few barbs from folks convinced that I'm going soft, I'm gonna recommend her anyway. She sings in world music style... and being from Quebec, very little of it's in English. It looks and sounds like her new CD, Hybride, is sung in a combination of French, Italian, Spanish, and a little bit of English. So I can only pick up bits and pieces of words ... and it totally doesn't matter. This woman simply has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard. Genres and languages be damned, her voice just overrules it all. (And don't just take my word for it; read the customer reviews of her first CD over at Amazon... literally every review is 5 of 5 stars. Not one even rated her 4 stars. How often does that happen?)
Her Website has a slew of samples playing as you navigate through it... I recommend you do. It's not for you rockers out there... but for anyone who likes to check out something new or out of your usual every now and then, I'm going to rave and say I think you're going to enjoy it. I haven't bought a CD in almost three years now -- no point, when there's iTunes and iPods -- but I just bought her CD, for the strength and beauty of her voice alone, whether the music's my style or not. So... a different kind of recommendation from ol' Mudge this time out, but this is a unique musician and unique talent that I think is worth your checking out.
Posted by Christopher at 10:35 PM | Comments (4)October 11, 2005
A Music Meme From Corey
Shamelessly lifting material from my friend Corey. And for the record, if Corey didn't stick to just one for each band, I don't have to either. Dammit. Away we go.
Favorite Beatles song: "Across The Universe" or "I Am The Walrus"
Favorite solo song by a former Beatle: As much as I really want to say something by John or George, I have to go with one of the only Paul songs I ever liked: "Live and Let Die."
Favorite Rolling Stones song: "Gimme Shelter"
Favorite Bob Dylan song: "Subterranean Homesick Blues"
Favorite Pixies song: "Where Is My Mind?"
Favorite Prince song: "U Got The Look" wins the tie-breaker because Sheena Easton was so freaking hot.
Favorite Michael Jackson song: On principle I should refuse to have one - frickin' pedophile. But that's not in the spirit of the meme, so I'll go with "Beat It."
Favorite Metallica song: "One" (with strong honorable mention to "Master of Puppets.")
Favorite Public Enemy song: "He Got Game" (yeah, I know it was past their prime, but what can I say, I like the mellower, pensive Chuck D better than the angry, lashing out Chuck D)
Favorite Depeche Mode song: "Blasphemous Rumors" (because God does have a sick sense of humor)
Favorite Cure song: "Pictures of You" (yeah, I know it's wussy. Shut the hell up.)
Favorite song that most of your friends haven't heard: Can't break the tie between "Thing Goin' On" by J.J. Cale, and "Orange County Suicide" by (wait for it...) Billy Bob Thornton
Favorite Beastie Boys song: "Sabotage" (starring Nathan Wind as Cochise, and Alessando Allegro as "The Chief")
Favorite Police song: "Message In A Bottle"
Favorite Sex Pistols song: "God Save The Queen"
Favorite song from a movie: "I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow" - Soggy Bottom Boys
Favorite Blondie song: "Heart of Glass"
Favorite Genesis song: Do I have to have one? Prog rock is Satan's spawn, and Phil Collins is the antichrist! Sigh... fine. "Throwing It All Away"
Favorite Led Zeppelin song: Another band I will never get the appeal of, even though I know I am in the distinct minority. There's only like three songs of theirs I like... of those, "The Immigrant Song" is easily above the others.
Favorite INXS song: "What You Need" or "Beautiful Girl" for sentimental reasons.
Favorite Weird Al song: Did he have a song called "I Am A Talentless Plagiarizing Hack?"
Favorite Pink Floyd song: I'll say it again: prog rock is Satanic spawn. If I have to pick one, I'll say "Time," because the line "And then one day you find/Ten years have got behind you/No one told you when to run...You missed the starting gun" freaks me the hell out every time I hear it and sets me off into a depression about all the things I haven't done in my life... and even if I hate the genre, anyone who can come up with a line that messes with me every time I hear it deserves some credit for writing powerful stuff.
Favorite cover song: Either "Brown Eyed Girl" by Everclear, or "Oh! Pretty Woman" by Van Halen
Favorite dance song: "Dancing Queen" because there's not a woman on the planet who doesn't rush the dance floor in near-orgasmic glee when it comes on, or "Come On Eileen" (even though it's not a dance song per se, it's a shout out to my BU Rat Pack)
Favorite U2 song: "Desire" or "Vertigo"
Favorite disco song: "Rock Your Baby" by George McRae
Favorite The Who song: "I Can't Explain"
Favorite Elton John song: "Someone Saved My Life Tonight"
Favorite Clash song: "Should I Stay Or Should I Go"
Favorite David Bowie song: "Fame" or "Let's Dance"
Favorite Nirvana song: "Heart Shaped Box"
Favorite Snoop Dogg song: "Deep Cover" (yes, I know he had Dre with him)
Favorite Ice Cube song: "It Was A Good Day"
Favorite Johnny Cash song: "The Man In Black" or "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky"
Favorite R.E.M. song: "Superman" or "The Great Beyond"
Favorite Elvis song: "Jailhouse Rock"
Favorite cheesy-ass country song: "I Love This Bar" - Toby Keith
Pete, you're a music guy. You wanna take a crack?
Posted by Christopher at 08:21 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBackOctober 09, 2005
Saturday Night Guts
Not that I am a huge Ashlee Simpson fan (in fact, I don't really like her at all), but I will give her a lot of credit for the guts she showed last night. One year after the lip-synching debacle that nearly ruined her career, Ashlee Simpson returned to the scene of the crime last night, and performed as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. She even made fun of herself in some of the promos for the show.
Of course, I didn't see her performance, though I admit that the curiousity factor had me kind of interested. But whether she was good or bad, whether she sounded on or off, whether her song rocked or sucked, isn't the point. The kid was humiliated on national television and in front of the world last year on that stage. No matter. She went back to try again. I wonder how many of us, if humiliated and found incompetent at our chosen field at a time when there were more eyes on us than perhaps ever before in our careers, would have the guts to go back and do it again.
Nice stones, kid.
Posted by Christopher at 01:23 PM | Comments (2)September 03, 2005
Death Bell Blues
As I have discovered the blues later in my life, one of the regrets I've had is that so many of the artists I now appreciate died before I really got into them. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins, Son House, John Lee Hooker, Albert King... all of 'em gone before I figured out that I should be listening to them more often. One bluesman I had discovered -- though I hadn't had a chance to see him play live anywhere -- was R.L. Burnside. A highly entertaining and talented practitioner of the Delta Blues, Burnside died Thursday in Memphis. He was 78.
Burnside wasn't really "discovered" until late in life, even though he'd been playing since he was young. Thankfully, I was paying attention before he was gone. If you're a fan of Delta Blues, do yourself a favor and pick up some R.L. Burnside (my favorites include "Boogie Chillen," "Death Bell Blues," and "Mellow Peaches," if you're looking for recommendations).
Farewell, R.L.. See you on the other side.
Posted by Christopher at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)August 29, 2005
When I Was Seventeen... It Was A Very Bad Year
Ok, I'm lifting this from PSoTD. It's a fun enough idea: Pick your high school graduation year, grab the top 100 songs of that year, bold the songs you still like, strikethrough the songs you hate, and underscore your favorite from the list.
This was gonna be fun until I checked the list for 1986, the year I graudated high school. And never mind the whole strikethrough thing... the thing is, 1986 was just a god-awful year for chart music. I mean, like hideous. In the whole list of the top 100 songs of 1986, I liked all of 11. And that's when I'm being generous. The thing is, I don't remember '86 being so tragic. Apparently it was, though. This is an ugly, ugly list. So instead of the strikethrough thing, I simply bolded the handful that I like. Geez, what an embarrassing year.
1. That's What Friends Are For, Dionne Warwick, Elton John, and Gladys Knight
2. Say You, Say Me, Lionel Richie
3. I Miss You, Klymaxx
4. On My Own , Patti Labelle and Michael McDonald
5. Broken Wings, Mr. Mister
6. How Will I Know, Whitney Houston
7. Party All The Time, Eddie Murphy
8. Burning Heart, Survivor
9. Kyrie, Mr. Mister
10. Addicted To Love, Robert Palmer
11. Greatest Love Of All, Whitney Houston
12. Secret Lovers, Atlantic Starr
13. Friends And Lovers, Carl Anderson and Gloria Loring
14. Glory Of Love, Peter Cetera
15. West End Girls, Pet Shop Boys
16. There'll Be Sad Songs, Billy Ocean
17. Alive And Kicking, Simple Minds
18. Never, Heart
19. Kiss, Prince and The Revolution
20. Higher Love, Steve Winwood
21. Stuck With You, Huey Lewis and The News
22. Holding Back The Years, Simply Red
23. Sledgehammer, Peter Gabriel
24. Sara, Starship
25. Human, Human League
26. I Can't Wait, Nu Shooz
27. Take My Breath Away, Berlin
28. Rock Me Amadeus, Falco
29. Papa Don't Preach, Madonna
30. You Give Love A Bad Name, Bon Jovi
31. When The Going Gets Tough, Billy Ocean
32. When I Think Of You, Janet Jackson
33. These Dreams, Heart
34. Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone), Glass Tiger
35. Live To Tell, Madonna
36. Mad About You, Belinda Carlisle
37. Something About You, Level 42
38. Venus, Bananarama
39. Dancing On The Ceiling, Lionel Richie
40. Conga, Miami Sound Machine
41. True Colors, Cyndi Lauper
42. Danger Zone, Kenny Loggins
43. What Have You Done For Me Lately, Janet Jackson
44. No One Is To Blame, Howard Jones
45. Let's Go All The Way, Sly Fox
46. I Didn't Mean To Turn You On, Robert Palmer
47. Words Get In The Way, Miami Sound Machine
48. Manic Monday, Bangles
49. Walk Of Life, Dire Straits
50. Amanda, Boston
51. Two Of Hearts, Stacey Q
52. Crush On You, Jets
53. If You Leave, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
54. Invisible Touch, Genesis
55. The Sweetest Taboo, Sade
56. What You Need, INXS
57. Talk To Me, Stevie Nicks
58. Nasty, Janet Jackson
59. Take Me Home Tonight, Eddie Money
60. We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off, Jermaine Stewart
61. All Cried Out, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam With Full Force
62. Your Love, Outfield
63. I'm Your Man, Wham!
64. Perfect Way, Scritti Politti
65. Living In America, James Brown
66. R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A., John Cougar Mellencamp
67. Who's Johnny, El Debarge
68. Word Up, Cameo
69. Why Can't This Be Love, Van Halen
70. Silent Running, Mike and The Mechanics
71. Typical Male, Tina Turner
72. Small Town, John Cougar Mellencamp
73. Tarzan Boy, Baltimora
74. All I Need Is A Miracle, Mike and The Mechanics
75. Sweet Freedom, Michael McDonald
76. True Blue, Madonna
77. Rumors, Timex Social Club
78. Life In A Northern Town, Dream Academy
79. Bad Boy, Miami Sound Machine
80. Sleeping Bag, ZZ Top
81. Tonight She Comes, Cars
82. Love Touch, Rod Stewart
83. A Love Bizarre, Sheila E.
84. Throwing It All Away, Genesis
85. Baby Love, Regina
86. Election Day, Arcadia
87. Nikita, Elton John
88. Take Me Home, Phil Collins
89. Walk This Way, Run-D.M.C.
90. Sweet Love, Anita Baker
91. Your Wildest Dreams, Moody Blues
92. Spies Like Us, Paul McCartney
93. Object Of My Desire, Starpoint
94. Dreamtime, Daryl Hall
95. Tender Love, Force M.D.'s
96. King For A Day, Thompson Twins
97. Love Will Conquer All, Lionel Richie
98. A Different Corner, George Michael
99. I'll Be Over You, Toto
100. Go Home, Stevie Wonder
Geez, how pathetic is it that there were only 11 decent songs that year? Meanwhile, about half of these songs make my list of Worst. Songs. Ever.
Posted by Christopher at 09:19 PM | Comments (10)August 15, 2005
Guilty Pleasures
MSNBC.com has a feature story up on tweleve suggested "Guilty Pleasures" songs. While I agree with their premise that this makes for a fun fluffy article, the premise depends upon the songs on the list actually being enjoyable (even if you have the windows rolled up when you play it in the car).
And their list, their "Hidden 12," is quite frankly awful. Most of it's unenjoyable. Hell, they couldn't even settle on actual songs for a couple of entries. "Broadway songs" isn't one song. Nor are "Misheard Lyrics." If you're gonna make a list of guilty pleasures, don't hide behind a category... admit it to the world. And only like two of the ones they do name are even any good!
In that spirit, I decided to expose myself (figuratively, of course). I've compiled my own "Hidden 12" -- the 12 most embarrassing songs in my iTunes collection. Now, when I say "guilty pleasure," I don't mean little-known song, or good song from a genre I may be alone out here in enjoying (ie, country for example). See, if you like a lot of stuff from a lot of genres, you're just eclectic, not sad.
No, I'm talking about the songs that even I know better than to like... songs I'll admit up front have no business being in my collection. Or anyone else's collection. Songs that -- dammit to hell -- I like despite knowing that should anyone see them on my iTunes, I will never get laid again. (So naturally, I go putting them out here, right? Not a problem - like I ever show this site to any woman I have a shot with? No, the rule is that they gotta wait until after the deed is done before I'll let them come here.)
So here are my twelve most embarrassing, birth control song guiltiest pleasures, counting down from the least embarassing to the most. (And don't even pretend... you know that if you and I were in a blue convertible with a dead deer in the back and driving down some Wisconsin road, and at least one of these songs came on, you would play Spade to my Farley and be doing the whole "Whatever... I can live with it if you can" thing.)
12. "All The Things She Said," t.A.T.u. I first heard this song while in a shuttle from Charles de Gaulle airport to my hotel in Paris. I just thought it was an interesting piece of Europop. When I got home, I looked it up on line, and thought: "Hm. Russian teens with Barbie doll voices who dress provocatively and smooch on stage for the titilation of their teenage boy fans who don't yet get that some women actually like women because it's who they are, not for the viewing pleasure of males... catchy pop tune... yeah, it'll be a hit." Sure enough, it was. I still think it's pretty good dance pop, to tell you the truth. But because t.A.T.u.'s faux lipstick lesbian marketing schtick is so embarrassing to all involved, this a guilty pleasure. The Indigo Girls they're not, but I kinda dig it anyway.
11. "I Still Can't Get Over Lovin' You" - Ray Parker, Jr. When I was a teenager, I just thought this was a really nice song about regret over a lost love - but I thought the music was so pretty that I never thought about or paid attention to the words. Once I downloaded it from iTunes and listened to it as an adult, I went, "Wait a tick... he's singing about stalking an ex, refusing to let her move on, and eventually threatening to kill her. This isn't a love song, it's a domestic violence anthem!" The closing line, "I'm gettin' mad, girl. Don't you ever even try to leave... it'll be the last thing you ever do," is haunting and freaking sick - and I wish I'd have understood the real subject of the song before I gave that jerk 99 cents for it. Still has pretty music though.
10. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes - Asia I don't suffer from the same Asia hatred that so many of the music critics seem to have. To me, "Heat of the Moment" still stands up as good power pop. But owning Asia's last hit - a string-laden number with I think one of the most repetitive choruses and builds ever? Especially when you remember their faux French movie (complete with subtitles) melodramatic video for it, with the little girl sad over her parents' fighting... and you eventually see her little doll floating in the river, implying that she's drowned herself. No song with a video that contains subtitles for the imagined dialogue and consciously tries to ape European angst film should be in any self-respecting man's collection. But for all its Broadway-esque over the top-ness, I still kind of like it.
9. Seventeen - Winger I have Doc to blame for this. I am not going to go into the circumstances; I'll only say that this was one of the Doc's many (failed) attempts to cast witty commentary on my recent social life. I copied it from him while laughing good-naturedly at the joke. Later, I wished I hadn't been so caught up in the male bonding moment as to have actually copied it. But I'd still be able to sing along word for word if it came on in the car.
8. "Brandy" - Looking Glass Ah, the early 70s, when cheesy songs that told a story were all the rage. But while "Billy Don't Be A Hero," "The Night Chicago Died," and "Angie Baby" sound far worse today, Brandy's actually not a bad song. And you know, she's a fine girl - what a good wife she would be! This one, of all the songs on my list, gets my vote as The Song Most Likely To Also Show Up On The Lists Of People Who Read This Blog.
7. Is It Over Yet? - Wynonna This one's a holdout from the dumping that pretty much directly led to my leaving Minnesota for good more than a decade ago (right about when this was a hit). It's a syrupy, self-pitying piece of schlock, and anyone else hearing it would probably just want to slap Wynonna and say, "Okay, you're getitng dumped - enough with the pity party already!" If you were to ask me why I own a whiny ode to getting heartbroken all those years ago (especially when the move east turned out in retrospect to be one of the best things I've ever done), I'd have no good answer. No self-respecting male of any orientation should own this song. But damned if I didn't buy it on iTunes anyway.
6. This Could Be The Night - Loverboy I wrote about this earlier this year; as god-awful cheesy and flat out stupid as the lyrics are, and as 80s power ballad as the music is... it was my senior prom song, and when it came on the 80s station over Memorial Day weekend while the bunch of us were hanging at Doc's place, I knew I'd end up buying it for the nostalgia factor alone. Unlike most of the songs on this list, I don't really like this song... but I guess since I bought it in 2005, it still counts as a guilty pleasure.
5. Wilkommen - Joel Grey Unlike the person who put MSNBC's llist together, I'm not going to apologize for liking Broadway showtunes. I love Broadway. I'm a straight man. Sue me. But while there's nothing to be ashamed about in digging showtunes, they should be good showtunes. What there is that's good about hearing Joel Grey belt out, "Im Cabaret, Au Cabaret, To Cabaret," I have no idea. I didn't even like this show. But there the song is in my library. Oy.
4. "19" - Paul Hardcastle Hey, I have a great subject for a dance song: the most divisive American experience ever! Yeah, man... we could have a narration about the post-traumatic challenges that Vietnam veterans face, interpserse it with old news clips, and then use tape loops of the narrator's voice saying "Nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh, Nineteen!" Because you know... none of them received a hero's welcome. This is another one I got from Doc... why either of us own this, I have no idea. And yet, I still chose to grab it off his iPod. Vietnam... S-S-Saigon. Purple Heart. Saigon!
3. Eres Tu - Mocedades I made a Tommy Boy reference at the beginning of this list; it's Tommy Boy I have to thank for the fact that I own this song. Seeing Chris Farley and David Spade singing along to early 70s Spanish folk, well... it was funny enough to make me actually buy the song off iTunes, just so I could hear the song all the way through once. Once I had, all I could think was, "thank God I was too young to remember the early 70s with any kind of clarity... and that I can blame my parents for anything my five year old butt was listening to or wearing in 1973!" Good god, the 1970s were just a hideous period in time - the fashion and music equivalent of an atomic blast.
2. In The Ghetto - Elvis Last year, I was Fat Elvis for Halloween. I had the white jumpsuit, the wig with sideburns, the scarves, the huge 70s shades... I had the look down, man - right down to the bloat. For some reason, I decided to "get in character" by downloading a few of Vegas Elvis' "best" songs. "Kentucky Rain" and "Suspicious Minds" are I suppose defensible. But "In the Ghetto" is one of the most unintentionally funny attempts at social commentary ever recorded. All of it -- the white guilt lyrics, the french horns and strings, even the hilariously cheesy backing vocals from the "gospel girls" behind Big E -- is terrible. Just terrible.
But try to tell me that you don't know every word. Sure you don't.
1. Our Lips Are Sealed - Hilary and Hayley Duff When I read in some gossip column that Hilary Duff and her baby sister had committed the sin of covering the Go-Gos' new wave classic, all I could think was, "Oh, I have to hear this just to see how badly they massacred it." I downloaded it without even listening to the sample, expecting to spend 99 cents on a good laugh. And the Disneyesque alteration of the lyrics (somehow the line about the walls being too thin to hide the relationship just disappears -- can't let anyone think that a 17 year old girl just might be having sex or anything, right?) is enough to make me roll my eyes.
But you know what? Outside of that, the Duff girls just didn't do an awful job. Their harmony's pretty good, and it's a pretty faithful cover of what was and remains a good song. It's embarrasing as hell that I own it, because a) my guy friends see it in my collection and give me that eyebrow raised look that says, "Chris, if you're gonna do the Disney chick thing, at least go for Lindsay Lohan"... and women usually give me the same raised eyebrow, only with them the look says, "Why does a man in his mid 30s own teeny pop? You don't really think I'm getting anywhere near you now, do you Perv? And no, you can't meet my little sister either!" But as humilating as owning it is for me, I have to at the very least give the Duff girls credit for making a pretty decent effort at respecting a classic.
So there they are - the 12 most embarrassing songs in my iTunes collection. Besides the fact that you're singing at least one of them in your head right now, I'm also willing to bet that your iTunes collections contain at least a few that you're ashamed to admit that you like. So before you belittle me (deservedly, I admit), I challenge you to open your iPods to the world and see what kinds of embarrasing things we can find in the nightstand drawer recesses of your music collections.
August 11, 2005
And The Beat Goes On
The world is still safe for disgusting bathrooms, punks, and yuppies who used to wish they were punks. (Yes, that's really the bathroom, and no, there really is no door. And if you think it looks disgusting in the photo, you should actually use it once.)
A judge ruled today that the legendary punk club CBGB's cannot be evicted by its landlord, which runs a homeless shelter in the building. Basically, what happened is this: the shelter people don't like having to have the club in the bulding, so they jacked the rent way up -- but never told the club's owner they were doing so, and never billed him for it. When the owner continued to pay what he believed was the correct amount, the shelter waited four years to let the past due amount accumulate, then took the club to court with an eviction notice saying they hadn't paid rent. Thankfully for music fans, the judge wasn't buying it.
"It would be unconscionable for this court to allow petitioner to proceed with its intent to evict CBGB ... because it failed to notice that monies were outstanding for approximately four years," the judge wrote.
You know, this has been fairly big news around New York here, as musicians and cultural historians have staged benefits and made counter-proposals to try and save CBGB's. And one of the most striking things about the case has been the smug, over-bearing self-righteousness of the shelter owners... as if the fact that they house the homeless there gives them the right to break the law or act unethically, and as if they are just light years better than those (hold your nose) musicians downstairs.
I love CBGB's anyway and wanted the club to stay, but I'm taking extra pleasure in the fact that those smug pricks at the shelter got their asses handed to them. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this shelter's behavior and attitude have single-handedly made me much less receptive to homelessness issues... if everyone involved in the cause are as prickish as these folks are, then I won't listen to a word they have to say.
In the meantime, the judge's words ring true: "CBGB has proven itself worthy of being recognized as a landmark — a rare achievement for any commercial tenant in the ever diverse and competitive real estate market of New York City," she wrote in the ruling.
The musical legacy of CBGB's is as rarified as any club's anywhere -- and if you're a punk fan or ever were, CBGB's is as close to the Elysian Fields as you'll ever get. The Ramones... Talking Heads... Blondie... B-52s... the Police... their first gigs were here. And even though it's much smaller than you might imagine (and much nastier than you might imagine), it's still a thrill to touch the stage and think "Joey Ramone used to play here."
I've said before that one of the best nights I ever had in New York was the night that Tim, the Doc and I made our first pilgrimage to CBGB's. (And it was even a great night before we met up with the bachelorette party at the transvestite bar... let's just say that being the only straight and single guy in the room when six drunken women were on a bachelorette bender served me very well. Special thanks to Doc for the hit he willingly took on his credit card to buy two rounds of shots for the nine of us, just to make sure the ladies stuck with us/me. 18 shots in five minutes: about $200... Friends who will drop that kind of money and have to explain it to their wives the next day, just to make sure you get hooked up: priceless.)
Anyway, CBGB's is still alive, at least for the time being. The only thing left to say is: "One! Two! Three! Foh!"
Posted by Christopher at 08:54 PM | Comments (5)August 01, 2005
The History Of Rock in two miserable little CDs - Intro
A few weeks ago I mentioned the "history of rock" project that my brother was planning for a colleague. I said it was impossible to do just one CD, or even two... we all went back and forth on it here for a while... and then life got busy and I kind of dropped it.
Well, over the weekend John and I dealt with the subject again; while acknowledging that the project simply doesn't lend itself to even two CDs, he said that 2 was as many as he felt he could give his friend "Britney" and still get her to listen to it. He asked for my final call on which songs would fill those two CDs.
I did it under protest, but I filled out my Cliffs Notes version of the CDs and sent it to him last night. Here is the note I sent - complete with my justifications and my complaints about what was getting left out. (For the record, I may do my own "box set" later on of 6 CDs or so, in order to do this right. But for now, the results of this flawed process are in the two posts below.)
Posted by Christopher at 08:36 PM | Comments (6)The History Of Rock in two miserable little CDs - Disc One
You know how philosophically opposed I am to the whole Cliff's Notes concept... [Britney] needs to lighten up. But, since it appears that we're stuck with this, here is my tortured attempt to narrow to "one per genre."
(And by the way, remember that we're not doing this just for "good" songs, we're doing it for cultural touchstones - so that your friend knows the basic songs everyone should know. So tossing out a genre because it's disposable is a bad call for this project.)
DISC ONE:
1. Doo-Wop: "Come Go With Me" - The Del Vikings
2. First "rock and roll" song: "Rock Around the Clock" - Bill Haley & the Comets
50s Heyday: Impossible to go with just one - here's why: you can't skip Elvis, and you can't skip Chuck Berry - not just for influence but also for cultural touchstones. So there are two that you have to include here.
3. "Hound Dog" - Elvis Presley
4. "Johnny B. Goode" - Chuck Berry
Go ahead, tell me that not EVERYONE should at least know them both.
If you're going with only folk and not splitting it into acoustic and electric, it ought to be:
5. "Like A Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan
Surf Rock: I'd still say you can't do this without Dick Dale. (Not to mention Jan & Dean's "Deadman's Curve.") But I think you have to go with:
6. "Surfin' USA" - The Beach Boys
British Invasion: Again, I simply don't think it's possible to do this genre - or any history of rock - without all three of the grand-daddies: Beatles, Stones, Who. So I'd argue that all three of these are required:
7. "She Loves You" - The Beatles
8. "Satisfaction" - The Rolling Stones
9. "My Generation" - The Who
For the record, it's a crime to narrow all three of these bands to one song. The Beatles actual biggest touchstone, I'd say, oughta be "Hey Jude." But that was later, not part of the invasion... and I digress.
Motown: As my friend Corey pointed out on the blog, Aretha Franklin was not Motown - she was on Atlantic. I'd say that you can't do that sound without her, though. Here are the "Motown Sound" touchstones I'd call for that everyone should know:
10. "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" - Aretha Franklin
11. "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" - Marvin Gaye
60's protest:
12. "For What It's Worth" - Buffalo Springfield
Psychedelia: Two songs are touchstones here... besides, you simply cannot do a history of rock without Hendrix. So...
13. "White Rabbit" - Jefferson Airplane
14. "Purple Haze" - Jimi Hendrix
Flower Children: Personally, I think "San Francisco (Wear Flowers In Your Hair)" captures the mood better. But no one remembers it. So go with:
15. "California Dreamin'" - Mamas and Papas
70's Pop: I still say you have to include both cheesy and good, to fully capture the genre and the touchstones. So I'd close out Disc One with these two - the first is good 70s pop, the second is cheesy:
16. "Fire and Rain" - James Taylor
17. "Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)" - Looking Glass
The History Of Rock in two miserable little CDs - Disc Two
DISC TWO
All right, I had left off with the early 70s pop. But the first song I think you have to put on here doesn't really have a genre; it's half folk, half 70s pop, half protest, and half country. But it's in the pantheon, whether I like it or not - it's a cultural touchstone:
1. "American Pie" - Don McLean
Early 70s soul: Many good ones to choose from, but I would have to go with this one - both as a cultural touchstone and as just a great tune:
2. "What's Goin' On" - Marvin Gaye
70s Blaxploitation: as we discussed, I think "Freddy's Dead" is both a better song, and more emblematic of the genre. However, we're also going for touchstones here. So I have to agree with your original thought:
3. "Theme From Shaft" - Isaac Hayes
Glam: "All the Young Dudes" is a great song, "Bang a Gong" is more emblematic, and even most of Bowie's stuff is better than the one I am suggesting. But we're talking about cultural touchstones... so I suggest:
4. "Changes" - David Bowie
Heavy Metal - 70s version: Stairway is a great tune but doesn't capture the real Zepplin sound... and it's long, which we don't want if we're only doing two CDs. And it feels wrong to do a history of rock without Zepplin, even as much as I dislike them. But they're not on iTunes... so I have to say you should go with:
5. "Iron Man" - Black Sabbath
Southern rock: you really do have to stick with the song that started this whole thing:
6. "Free Bird" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
70s funk: I like a lot of this stuff, and not all of it's from Parliament-Funkadelic. But they're the granddaddies. Atomic Dog is the classic, and personally I like "Flashlight" better... but Atomic Dog is too long, and "Flashlight" wasn't as well known as:
7. "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)" - Parliament Funkadelic
Art/acid/prog rock: God, I hate this stuff. The worst. The dregs. Thankfully, you already decided on the song you're using here, so I don't have to recommend Yes or ELP or Genesis.
8. "Brain Damage/Eclispe" - Pink Floyd
Country rock: Man, the Eagles invented this stuff. But they're in later with Hotel California, so can't put them in twice. The problem is that very few other country rock songs are cultural touchstones... Neil Young is great, but which of his songs would you say that EVERYONE knows? And as much as I love Buffett, and as much as Margaritaville is a cultural touchstone, we're running out of room on this CD. I would argue that you skip this genre.
Stadium rock: thankfully, we don't need to get Styx or Journey in here... I could make a forceful argument for "More Than A Feeling" by Boston (although that may be my single least favorite song in history), but there are two anthems that don't fit anywhere else that really have to be in here...
9. "Born To Run" - Bruce Springsteen
10. "Hotel California" - The Eagles
Disco: there are a few classics that I think are absolute touchstones (I Will Survive, Dancing Queen), but if you're only taking one, it's simply got to be:
11. "Stayin' Alive" - The Bee Gees
Punk: coming along to save the day from the absolute shit that music had become in the mid-to-late 70s, punk saved rock and roll. While the Pistols' "Anarchy in the UK" is a classic punk anthem, I think if you're looking for touchstones you have to go with the Ramones... I think more people know:
12. "I Wanna Be Sedated" - The Ramones
New Wave: Boy, this is a tough one. Personally, I'd argue for "Roxanne," but I don't think it's as well known -- or as intentionally disposable as the genre wanted to be -- as:
13. "Heart Of Glass" - Blondie
Old Skool Rap: I would really argue hard for "The Message," but if you're worried about it being 7 plus minutes long, go with this one, which is only 5 minutes:
14. "Rapper's Delight" - The Sugarhill Gang
MTV pop: I hold this in a slightly different class than I do 80s pop - I feel like the MTV bands had their own style:
15. "Hungry Like The Wolf" - Duran Duran
80s pop: Man, now we're getting into our era, huh? Sad that this stuff's actually 20 years old, huh? It feels so odd to recommend 80s pop without Madonna, without Prince... but you only want one, right? And there's only one artist it could come from then:
16. "Beat It" - Michael Jackson
We're running low on space here - maybe one or two songs left. If you kill "Brandy" off the end of Disc One and replace it with American Pie, we have two, possibly three left here. With that in mind, conserving space, I think you have to skip both 80s R&B and 80s alternative (as much good as it would be to have Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, The Smiths, or XTC on this list, you haven't left me the room).
That leaves us with two genres, two songs left. I think the more important trend in the 80s was the rise of club music/dance music, and then of course the hair bands. The 80s dance guys paved the way for techno, electronica, etc. .. and the hair bands defined the decade. So my last two are:
17. "Don't Go" - Yaz
18. "Pour Some Sugar On Me" - Def Leppard
And that's that. We've committed a major [freak]ing crime here... a "history of rock and roll" that doesn't include Little Richard, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Led Zepplin, Joni Mitchell, the Grateful Dead, the Temptations, The Supremes, Elton John, the Talking Heads, The Sex Pistols, The Police, Madonna, Prince, U2, Guns N Roses, or N.W.A. ... just for starters. I think this is criminal, meself. However, I have done as you asked: distilled the genre into two CDs.
Watch my blog... I'll be doing my own six CD damn box set to get this "right." :-)
Christopher
July 30, 2005
Tag, I'm It
Pete over at A Perfectly Cromulent Blog has opted to make me one of his tags for a music meme that's floating around. And since I can never resist these things anyway, it's even more impossible when you're tagged by the best blogger you know. So awaaaaay we go.
List ten songs that you are currently digging ... it doesn't matter what genre they are from, whether they have words, or even if they're no good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying right now. Post these instructions, the artists, and the ten songs in your blog. Then tag five other people to see what they're listening to.
Thank goodness I just took "Xanadu" out of my CD player, huh? Moving forward... I've never said I was consistent in either genre or quality -- just that I am varied. Don't say you weren't warned. In no particular order, here they are:
1. Buddy Guy, "Feels Like Rain" -- As you know, I just saw Buddy while on vacation last week, and I am on a major blues kick right now, so Buddy's back in the CD player in my car. I especially love when he does older, more traditional stuff; this version of an old John Hiatt song has everything that I love about the blues -- that soulful bluesy voice, the smooth guest guitar solo from Bonnie Raitt... Plus, you've gotta love the sentiment: big storm's a coming, so we might as well get nekkid, baby.
2. Michael Powers, "Graffiti" -- Continuing on my blues kick, this is my favorite tune from the guy Tim and I saw a couple of weeks back. If Jimi Hendrix had stuck around and mellowed as he eased into his 50s, he might have written something that sounded like this.
3. Guadalcanal Diary, "Cattle Prod" -- This one just became available on iTunes, so it's fresh in my collection. The band I was in back in college used to play this song (as a break from our hair band roots), I think in part because my bandmates loved to make me stand up in front of a crowd and sing about screwing cows. Good 80s alt-rock.
4. Rise Against, "Nervous Breakdown" -- Okay, so it's from a "sk8ter" movie ("Lords of Dogtown"), which automatically means it should suck. But it's just good old fashioned Black Flag loud punk - and I'm digging this cover.
5. Placebo, "Pure Morning" I really dug this song when it first came out about 9 years ago; my brother's digging Placebo these days and had this CD in his car while I was in DC, which reminded me of how much I liked this song.
6. Tracy Lawrence, "Used To The Pain" -- I like country. Sue me. I like Tracy Lawrence. Sue me. And I like this song about that phase after a breakup where you're not crushed anymore, but not really "over it" either. Sue me.
7. Jessica Andrews, "Summer Girl" -- Fun little country pop song about a laid back party girl enjoying the summer. Plus she's just plain cute.
8. The Killers, "All These Things That I've Done" -- Brit alterna-pop. Catchy. Harmless. Fun.
9. Brad Paisley, "Alcohol" -- Country sing-along style song about everybody's favorite beverages. Good ol' fashioned drinkin' song.
10. Portishead, "Sour Times" -- Going on a decade and a half old now, and still as good as trip-hop gets. Plus they're great mood music.
All right, so I've lived up to most of my obligation. Of course, I'm supposed to pass this on to five people, right? So Corey, Eden, Ethan, Mileah, and Brent, you're up. (Plus, Pemagnet, if you do this it will give me a chance to link to your brand new blog of your own.)
Posted by Christopher at 01:53 PM | Comments (8)July 09, 2005
A God in Greenwich Village
An unforeseen confluence of events found Tim free as a bachelor last night, so we took advantage it and headed into the city for a boys night out. And as much as I don't like the city, even I will concede that Greenwich Village is very, very cool. One of the great things about walking around Greenwich Village is the sheer diversity of the neighborhood.
On the same block of Bleecker Street, you can find a vintage record store, a day spa, a tattoo parlor, jewelry stores, vintage clothing stores, body piercing studios, hipster clothes stores, music clubs, fruit stands, bodegas, and restaurants serving any kind of cuisine you can think of: Mexican, Indian, Ethiopian,Italian, Brasilian, Vietnamese, Thai, Irish pubs... and then you go on to the next block and see a whole new set of stores and restaurants. You don't need to have anything in mind when walking Bleecker Street; eventually you just see something that looks good, and you go in. We ended up doing just that -- walking in to someplace that looked good -- and had Vietnamese for dinner at The Butterfly Grill. Not the best Viet I have ever had, but it was pretty good, if you're in the Village and looking for Vietnamese food.
But the highlight of the evening was going to Manhattan's last remaining blues clubs, Terra Blues. We're both huge blues fans, so we'd been looking forward to this ever since we started planning the boys night out. Terra Blues is a small club, might hold 150 people if you packed them in butts to nuts - but that's great, it lends an intimacy to the performance that makes the show even better. We got there good and early (have to start sampling the scotch collection, right?) and got a table right up front in the first row... And the headliner didn't disappoint; I saw the fingers of God play guitar last night.
I'd never even heard of Michael Powers or his trio, The Michael Powers Frequency. But after seeing him last night, I am an unabashed fan. That was quite simply the best blues show I have ever seen. This guy is an absolute god on guitar -- and what a relaxed, genuine presence on stage! He was playing three sets between 10:30 and 3:30 am, and we caught the first one. I was in awe. The guy did a cover of "Little Wing" that damn near made me cry; his original stuff is incredible ("Night In Madrid" and "Graffiti" are favorites of mine already), he did phenomenal covers of some standards ("Psychotic Reaction" and "Can't Quit You Baby" stood out) and he closed his set with a 15 minute version of "Hey Joe" that was far and away the best I have ever heard.
Should you think I'm just rambling on, don't just take my word for it: check out what Amazon's readers, Southbound Beat, and Music Box have to say about him. Bottom line is, if you are a fan of contemporary electric blues, Michael Powers' "Onyx Root" is a must-have album. And if you ever have the chance to see him live, he is a must-see show. Behold my new blues hero: Michael Powers.
Posted by Christopher at 01:00 PM | Comments (6)July 05, 2005
Rock History, Part II: The Early 60s
Okay, before we move on to the first half of the 60s, I'll add the newest twist. As I mentioned in my post about our beach weekend, the crew and I spent several tipsy hours sorting this all out. Unfortunately, I don't completely agree with our formula in hindsight; too often we chose the artists who we felt were most influential and then picked their signature song, rather than sticking to the songs that most defined their genre. Nevertheless, as consensus was by and large reached, I'll submit you our choices from here on out. And now, on with the countdown.
3. Folk. My brother's initial classification was to just have folk as one category. Either Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin" or something basic by Simon and Garfunkel, "Sounds of Silence" maybe...
I argued that folk has to be split into two eras: plugged and unplugged. You can't go electric to do early 60s folk. Dylan got booed off the stage at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964 for plugging in. So while I love "Sounds of Silence," it doesn't fit here. Go with Dylan - either the song you picked, or "Blowin' In The Wind," or most of all "It's A Hard Rain A-Gonna Fall." For electric folk, I would go with "Like A Rolling Stone," Simon and Garfunkel's "Sounds Of Silence," or The Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man."
Beach House Consensus: "Like A Rolling Stone," Bob Dylan.
4. Surf Rock: John picked the most obvious candidate: "Surfin' USA" by the Beach Boys. I concurred. Yeah. I don't think it was their best song, but it's most evocative of the era. Also think of adding some Dick Dale stuff, or maybe "Wipe Out" by the Surfaris.
The beach house didn't get into this genre, mostly because I spaced it when we were discussing the 60s.
5. Motown. John admits some weakness here... I was thinking "Respect" by Aretha, or "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" by the Four Tops. But I've never been big into Motown, so I wanted to get your opinion.
As John alluded, I am a big Motown fan... so I was floored. Never big into Motown? Oh man, I gotta school ya! There were "early" and "late" phases of Motown.. for early, you have two good songs, I might also suggest "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" by the Temptations, "Dancing In The Streets" by Martha and the Vandellas, "Uptight" by Stevie Wonder,or "The Tracks of My Tears" by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.
For late Motown, I suggest "I Want You Back," by the Jackson Five, "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye, or "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by (take your pick of versions: Diana Ross, The Temptations, or Marvin Gaye & Tammy Terrell. You alos can't really talk Motown without at least mentioning Diana Ross & the Supremes.
Beach house consensus: "R-E-S-P-E-C-T," Aretha Franklin.
So here are the next three genres... folk was about the only thing keeping music alive during the early 60s (during which time the charts had degenerated into novelty songs, blue-haired instrumentals, and that bizarre teenage death genre that couldn't go away fast enough. (The British Invasion really rejuvinated rock, but we'll get to that next time.) Folk boomed as idealists inspired by JFK and the Peace Corps and the civil rights movement began finding melodies for their principles. Surf rock was perhaps the first regional sound to blow up -- pure California all the way -- and captured a feeling and lifestyle that still captivate millions. And the rise of Motown gave us some of the best music ever recorded...
Now the trick is picking just one song for each of these. Do you agree with me that folk is really two genres? Or do you just pick one Dylan tune to sum it all up? Surf rock... which Beach Boys tune do you select? Or do you take the dark horse, "Wipe Out?" (But if you do, how do you have a history of rock and roll list that misses the Beach Boys?) And how, how, how do you pick just one of the great Motown classics for this compliation?
The heat is on, kids. What say you?
Posted by Christopher at 10:23 PM | Comments (10)July 02, 2005
Your Help Needed: Rock History Project
On Friday morning, I got an e-mail from my younger brother John; part of it included this challenge:
"I'm putting together a CD I'm going to burn for a colleague of mine at work, (for this post, we'll call her Britney S.). She's in her mid 20s and has a scandalously lacking basic music and film cultural literacy. We're always making fun of her because people will refer to basic movies that EVERYONE in American culture has seen or at least knows about, and she more often than not has never even heard of them.
She was with me in (Springfield) on this last trip, and we were out one night with a couple colleagues at a restaurant that has a couple guys who play live flamenco music every night. We were joking that we should request they do "Free Bird," and of course (Britney S.) had no idea what that was. So we roasted her some more for that, but I promised her that I would burn her a CD of all the songs in pop music history that she simply needed to know about to not be taken for a rube.
As I thought about it, I decided it would be best to choose each major phase in rock and roll history and choose one song that in some sense epitomizes that era. So I came up with the below list, but there's a couple categories for which I can't decide on the best song.
So I wanted to get your advice, and also see if there are any major categories I left out. Let me know what you think. I know all these songs are very basic, but I think it's necessary - I mean, this poor woman didn't even know what Free Bird was, so that's the place we're starting from. As we poked fun at her, she protested that her musical knowledge begins with Nirvana. So I told her the objective of the CD I would burn would be to get her the ABCs or Rock and Roll from Elvis to the dawn or Nirvana."
Now how could a music fan/historian/incredibly smug & verbose pseudo-expert like me turn this down? But as I started to take a swing at the project, I found it simply impossible to narrow down to one song per genre. How can one summarize the 50s, for example, by including Elvis but not Chuck Berry -- or vice versa? So I put a list together for my brother that was, as I put it, the 6 CD box set to go with the PBS special. I had about a half dozen songs for each of the 20 or so genres/phases John identified.
But John wrote back that if he delivered 6 CDs to poor young Ms. "Britney" (and first of all, John, I happen to know that some 22 year olds have indeed heard of Free Bird, Marvin Gaye, and even know who the Beatles were; I might suggest that you inform your colleague that youth is no excuse for musical ignorance), it would in fact be too much and she'd never listen to it all... no, my kid brother actually wants to put a compilation together with one, maybe two songs per genre and that's it.
There are two criteria: One, the song must have a sound that is representative of its era - in other words, if you only ever heard one song from the era in your whole life, you'd get a sense of what they all sounded like. Two,the song should be some sort of cultural touchstone, for well or ill; every era has a song or two that stand out and become part of the canon as it were, and those are the songs we're looking for.
So,