My Ghod! It's almost Dec! Which means Xmas will B along in just a few wks, & the Holiday Season is officially underway, w/ Thanksgiving last wk & the even-more-stressful-&-perilous "Black Friday" kicking-off this past wknd. (U didn't really GO OUT in2 that madness, did U?)
So even tho it Cms like it was just New Yr's Eve a few wks ago, it's time 4 my list of Great (Mostly) Overlooked Xmas Songs!
I've bn wanting 2 do this list 4 over a yr. I've spared no Xpense 2 bring U nothing but the beast in (mostly) fairly-obscure Xmas hits. I gotta million of 'em. So, w/o further ado....
* The Carpenters: "Merry Christmas, Darling" & "It's Christmas Time" (1971) -- These R my 2 favrite trax from my fave Xmas album ever, the Carps' CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT. I can't hear this album w/o Bing flooded by tons of holiday memries, & I've gotta have it playing if some1 Xpects me 2 help decorate a tree. "Merry Christmas, Darling" got lotsa airplay when it came out & still gets played on-radio during the season, & is still 1 of Karen's best vocal per4mances ever. Even w/ the overly-lush production, it's very moving -- & there's some great sax in the middle-break!
But. When I 1st heard PORTRAIT, I wasn't ready 4 "It's Christmas Time," which at 1st is a sorta perfect miniature, Karen & a piano, at 1st it almost Cms like she's taking it 2 fast, but as the song gingerly moves 2 its subdued finish, it's a perfect moment, so sweet & quiet -- so beautiful it'll send chills down yr spine. BUT THEN the choir takes over & repeats the whole song. At 1st it Cms like it's overkill, but it's not -- their version turns out 2 B just as moving as Karen's solo vocal. (OK, in the space of a wk I've come outta the closet on both The Carpenters & Abba. I'm done.)
* The Royal Guardsmen: "Snoopy's Christmas" (1967) -- Wait, mayB I'm NOT done. This is a treasured piece from my childhood, the 1st real rock-opera (or pop-drama NEway), w/ a back-story that features a vivid picture of the battle-scarred WWI front line, an intrepid pilot fighting 4 freedom, Xmas in a foxhole, a villain who turns out 2 B not such a bad guy after all, & much more. The best thing these folks ever did (w/ LOTSA help from producers Phil Gernhard & John Abbott), & the choruses R SO joyous U can't help singing along. I haven't heard it played on the radio since 1972....
* John Lennon: "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" (1971) -- Xmas is all about getting sentimental, & this is John at his mushiest, w/ a gorgeous tune, great choral vocals, a perfect Phil Spector wall-of-sound production, & -- I swear 2 Ghod -- Yoko Ono's best singing ever. A beautiful plea 4 world peace that effortlessly gets the msg across (unlike some of John's other efforts in this area). I bot this on an Apple-green-vinyl 45 in the winter of '71 & I've still got it, & it still sounds just as great as it did back then.
* Peter, Paul & Mary: "A'Soulin" (1962) -- This hypnotic # works 4 either Halloween or Xmas, cos clearly the kids in this song R doing something like trick-or-treating, but during the holiday season. It's not Xactly a happy song (the kids R begging 4 food), but the intertwining vocals R gorgeous & the acoustic-guitar work is superb. The song closes P,P&M's '62 album MOVING.
* The Pretenders: "2000 Miles" (1983) -- I always loved Chrissie Hynde's softer side ("Birds of Paradise," "I Go to Sleep"), & this could B the most beautiful thing she ever wrote, the gorgeous bittersweet closer 2 her/their album LEARNING TO CRAWL. It's perfect, w/ the chiming gtrs that sound like snowflakes falling, the distant chill in the air....
* The Beach Boys: "Little Saint Nick" & +"The Man With All the Toys" -- "Little Saint Nick" is basically a rewrite of "409," Santa as hip drag-racer, complete w/ period gearhead jargon, & what could possibly B wrong w/ that? "Man With All the Toys" is less charming & has a less-developed tune, w/ a closing vocal "bump" apparently borrowed from Nino Tempo & April Stevens' classic "Deep Purple."
* Darlene Love/The Crystals/Phil Spector/etc.: "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" -- I'd like 2 rate this higher, but the only time I've ever heard it was during the opening credits 4 the movie GREMLINS, where it sounded just like NE of those great Crystals/Ronettes classics of the early '60s. I understand Spector's Xmas album is pretty brilliant, but I've never Cn a copy....
+ Barbara Streisand: "Jingle Bells?" -- Well now. Bet U weren't Xpecting THIS. In less than 2 mins, Barbara totally revamps "Jingle Bells," taking it at a screaming, breakneck pace, en route turning it in2 something like "Flight of the Bumble Bee." She spits the words out like a possessed woman -- she makes fun of the lyrics! It's hilarious. & tho I learned when I heard this again a coupla yrs back that it isn't quite the Lost Gem Of The Ages that I'd thot, 1nce U hear it there's nothing U can do Xcept play it again & hope 2 catch a little more of the many things this song zings right at U....
+ The Jackson 5: "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" (1971) -- Charming, joyous rendition from back in the days when Michael still Blieved in Santa. I understand Bruce Springsteen borrowed this arrangement when he did this song at seasonal concerts.
= The Smothers Brothers: "The Bell That Couldn't Jingle" -- When I was growing up, everybody in the family had Smothers Bros albums. I thot their singing was almost the weakest part of their act, the stuff that connected their comedy bits. But this cute, modest little # is pretty charming in its cozy early-'60s sorta way.
= Andy Williams: "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" -- My Mother is 2 blame 4 this. His voice is actually pretty good, & I think the song should B played on an Ndless loop during all those ugly "Black Friday" sales....
BONUS TRACK:
* Jose Feliciano: "Feliz Navidad" -- The best thing he ever did. It's so joyous, how can U resist it? & the emotion in his voice on the choruses -- he means it.
BONUS CLASSIC:
It's probly no suprise that my favrite Xmas song ever is "Carol of the Bells." But it's important 2 find the Right version. Trans-Siberian Orchestra does a version that's just 2 much, 2 overblown -- Phil Spector w/ super-heavy gtrs. When I was a kid, I think it was the version by Eugene Ormandy & the Philadelphia Orchestra that my Mom always played. But I have yet 2 track this 1 down....
...I'm sure there's plenty I'm missing, like NEthing from the past, oh, 30 years....
...The Beatles' annual Xmas msgs 2 their Fan Club were always hysterical, & Apple released a limited-edition album of them in the early '70s -- but where can U find them now?
...I also Cm 2 remember a kitschy # by Steve Lawrence & Edie Gorme called "Hurry Home for Christmas" that my Mom was a sucker 4, & that I liked enuf that I can still recite the choruses from memry -- but after including Barbara Streisand & Andy Williams in this countdown, I'm not gonna push my luck.
...Dolly Parton did a song called "Hard Candy Christmas" that was pretty great....
...I'm also aware there's no Elvis in this list -- "Blue Christmas" has a certain kitschy charm (love those swooning-Gulf-breeze backing vocals -- by The Jordanaires?), but it ain't Xactly obscure, & I've never heard "Merry Christmas, Baby."
...The Harry Simeone Chorale's "The Little Drummer Boy" is such a Xmas Classic it won't fit in2 this list either, but I'd agree it's a timeless piece of brilliance, still moving after all these yrs. Joan Jett's flat rendition of it can't come close (& I like her).
...The Moody Blues, Jethro Tull & The Beach Boys have all released Xmas albums, but I've only heard bits & pieces of each....
OH CRAP, I ALMOST 4GOT: *Cheech & Chong's "Santa Claus and His Old Lady" (1971) -- This isn't a SONG, but it sure is hilarious, among the Very Best things they ever did, & 4 a lotta yrs, trying 2 obtain a copy of this 45 woulda cost U about $2K (tho U can now get this on C&C's 2-CD best-of anthology WHERE THERE'S SMOKE...). Why didn't I grab a copy of THIS 45 back in '71 when I picked-up Lennon's "Happy Xmas"? Musta bn part of that early-onset Alzheimer's that I'm now suffering-from WAY WORSE....
...& I really DID 4get: *Jethro Tull's "Ring Out, Solstice Bells" (1977) -- I must REALLY B losin it, or I haven't had enuf coffee.... This is a cute little folk-dancy-style holiday song, w/ great singing, acoustic-gtrs & lutes, flute of course, jingling & clanging bells, jumpy handclaps & lots more. It's gotta really nice, lite folky feel that I thot Tull hadda superb touch 4 (WAY better than mosta their heavier stuff, I still can't take mosta AQUALUNG), & U can probly even Riverdance 2 it, if that's yr thing.... SONGS FROM THE WOOD is probly still my fave Tull album....
...MY SON (ADD) REMINDED ME THAT I 4GOT A REAL CLASSIC:
* Kate Bush: "December Will be Magic Again" (1980) -- Told ya the Alzheimer's was gettin me. Basically a series of sorta-goofy surreal images of summa the things that make Xmas special, sung w/ a bright, childlike innocence & absolute confidence that All Is Right w/ the world, this is 1 of the most gorgeous songs Kate has ever done, & woulda topped the above list if I had NE brain left AT ALL. It's so pretty, & so crystal-clear, that w/ the jangling bells U can hear the snow falling on the city's black-soot-icicled roofs. It's on her 2-CD THIS WOMAN'S WORK best-of, along w/ a lotta other great stuff -- go get it. U won't B sorry. & Many Thanx 2 ADD 4 reminding me about it. Talk about saving the best 4 last....
YEEZUS, HERE'S ANOTHER 1:
* The Pogues: "Fairytale of New York" (1983) -- This really is a modern-day Xmas song, Mphasis on the "modern." & it's hilarious. Starts out as a sweet, mournful, nostalgia-packed ballad. Sorta. & then the verses get a little (more) twisted.... Singer Shane MacGowan's vocals R his usual slurred stuff, tho U can almost follow the words 4 a change, & the backup vocals by the late Kirsty MacColl R wonderful, even when she's swearing. I won't spoil the fun 4 U, but 1nce it gets going, the verses R hysterical. Probly not 1 4 the kids. The song's been used recently in the great romantic-comedy movie P.S. I LOVE YOU, & possibly some others. Right up there w/ "Lorelei" among the very best things the Pogues did....
Your thoughts?....
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Pretty-good early-'80s mainstream pop....
It's bn awhile since I've done this, but I needta get back in the habit, so....
Charlie Dore's LISTEN! (1981) is a pretty solid, above-avg Xample of early-'80s lite mainstream pop, per4med by a woman who was previously something of a pub-rocker, & later went on 2 have a pretty Dcent songwriting career. Her only hit in America was the kinda-silly Top 20 "Pilot of the Airwaves" (which isn't on here), & she later co-wrote Sheena Easton's hit "Strut" -- neither of these songs ever did much 4 me.
This album sounds nothing like pub-rock & only a little like Sheena Easton. The production's strong & the backing is studio-pro perfect -- producer Stewart Levine also polished-up the 1st Dixie Dregs album & helmed sevral albums 4 lite-jazzers The Crusaders. The backing band includes 3 members of Toto -- Jeff Porcaro on drums, Mike Porcaro on bass, & Steve Lukather on guitar.
MayB U're thinking all this studio polish might make this sorta a bland, faceless early-'80s piece of hackwork. Well, mayB, Xcept that....
Dore wrote or co-wrote all but 1 of the songs, sevral w/ her keyboardist Robbie Buchanan, & a couple of the cuter, sillier 1's ("I'm Over Here," "Sister Revenge") w/ her longtime writing partner Julian Littman. (The only song she didn't at-least co-write was "You Should Hear (How She Talks About You)," a Dean Pitchford/Tom Snow job which Bcame a Top 5 hit 4 Melissa Manchester a coupla yrs later. Dore's version is almost as annoying as Manchester's, & the arrangement is almost identical.)
Then there's the vocals. Dore had an amazing range. One section near the Nd of the crashingly melodramatic side-closer "Don't Say No" is sung at the very top edge of her range, her voice all squinched-up & tiny, & as a result the lyrics R the most poignant in the whole song: "How does it feel with my heart on your sleeve?/You're scared that I'll stay and I'm scared that you'll leave/Reason leaves town for the day/But I want you anyway...." Then the band, orchestra & chorus kicks in & the world shudders. As the gtrs chime away doomily like it's The End Of The World & the chorus chants "Don't ... say ... no" over&over, in the background U can hear Charlie calling out "Listen to me!" & she sounds like she's drowning. & w/ this production, she probly was. U know me, I love my melodrama....
But the album starts out much more modestly. "Listen" itself is almost a standard adult-contemporary lovesong, bouncy & attractive enuf in its repeated choruses 2 pull U in2 the album. "Falling," dedicated 2 high-wire aerialist Karl Wallenda, has some great lyrics, tho the music still isn't what NE1 would call heavy: "On the wire I'm kissing fate/All the rest is only waiting/Waiting 'til the moment comes again...."
"Wise to the Lines" keeps up the melodrama after "Don't Say No," opening Side 2 w/ a clever catalog of events laid-out like a spy novel but narrated by the Other Woman, on the run from the Jealous Girlfriend. Xcellent gtr here & Xcellent catchy choruses, & Dore's backing vocals R marvelous.
"I'm Over Here" is a silly love letter from a fan 2 a rock star, cute but kinda obvious. "Sister Revenge" opens w/ a pretty arresting couplet ("I'd like to get you in a dark corner/And do something nasty to you...."), but it never follows-up....
"Like They Do It in America" is about how couples drive each other crazy, & the lyrical slide from the verses in2 the choruses is irresistable.
So, 6 pretty-good songs outta 10. At least a couple of em coulda/shoulda bn hits. If U're a fan of early-'80s women vocalists U should try it. Tho there R occasional slips in2 melodrama & silliness, a lot of it's probly what record-co types thot young housewives were listening-2 in the early-'80s. (But who really knew?) Sheena Easton fans'd probly like it.
The folks at Chrysalis Records didn't give LISTEN! much of a promotional push -- Xcept 4 Jethro Tull, Blondie, Billy Idol & Sinead O'Connor, did they ever push NEthing? So it pretty-much sank w/o a trace in the U.S. Tho Dore herself has a page on Wikipedia, there's no Ntry 4 this album. 2 bad. MayB not a Lost Classic, but nice. & parts of it R still really striking....
(This review is 4 my old Idaho buddy Don Vincent, the only person I know of Bsides me who bot a copy of this album. He picked it up during a visit 2 California, 2 remind him of a woman he was in love w/, & geographically separated from by about 600 miles, B4 they eventually got 2gether & got married. Tho I wasn't impressed by LISTEN! at 1st, every time Don played it -- & he played it a LOT while missing his future wife -- it grew on me more until I had 2 get a copy 4 myself. ... Their marriage lasted 10+ yrs & they got a coupla great kids out of it. In some ways, he & I have very similar lives.... R U out there, Don?)
Charlie Dore's LISTEN! (1981) is a pretty solid, above-avg Xample of early-'80s lite mainstream pop, per4med by a woman who was previously something of a pub-rocker, & later went on 2 have a pretty Dcent songwriting career. Her only hit in America was the kinda-silly Top 20 "Pilot of the Airwaves" (which isn't on here), & she later co-wrote Sheena Easton's hit "Strut" -- neither of these songs ever did much 4 me.
This album sounds nothing like pub-rock & only a little like Sheena Easton. The production's strong & the backing is studio-pro perfect -- producer Stewart Levine also polished-up the 1st Dixie Dregs album & helmed sevral albums 4 lite-jazzers The Crusaders. The backing band includes 3 members of Toto -- Jeff Porcaro on drums, Mike Porcaro on bass, & Steve Lukather on guitar.
MayB U're thinking all this studio polish might make this sorta a bland, faceless early-'80s piece of hackwork. Well, mayB, Xcept that....
Dore wrote or co-wrote all but 1 of the songs, sevral w/ her keyboardist Robbie Buchanan, & a couple of the cuter, sillier 1's ("I'm Over Here," "Sister Revenge") w/ her longtime writing partner Julian Littman. (The only song she didn't at-least co-write was "You Should Hear (How She Talks About You)," a Dean Pitchford/Tom Snow job which Bcame a Top 5 hit 4 Melissa Manchester a coupla yrs later. Dore's version is almost as annoying as Manchester's, & the arrangement is almost identical.)
Then there's the vocals. Dore had an amazing range. One section near the Nd of the crashingly melodramatic side-closer "Don't Say No" is sung at the very top edge of her range, her voice all squinched-up & tiny, & as a result the lyrics R the most poignant in the whole song: "How does it feel with my heart on your sleeve?/You're scared that I'll stay and I'm scared that you'll leave/Reason leaves town for the day/But I want you anyway...." Then the band, orchestra & chorus kicks in & the world shudders. As the gtrs chime away doomily like it's The End Of The World & the chorus chants "Don't ... say ... no" over&over, in the background U can hear Charlie calling out "Listen to me!" & she sounds like she's drowning. & w/ this production, she probly was. U know me, I love my melodrama....
But the album starts out much more modestly. "Listen" itself is almost a standard adult-contemporary lovesong, bouncy & attractive enuf in its repeated choruses 2 pull U in2 the album. "Falling," dedicated 2 high-wire aerialist Karl Wallenda, has some great lyrics, tho the music still isn't what NE1 would call heavy: "On the wire I'm kissing fate/All the rest is only waiting/Waiting 'til the moment comes again...."
"Wise to the Lines" keeps up the melodrama after "Don't Say No," opening Side 2 w/ a clever catalog of events laid-out like a spy novel but narrated by the Other Woman, on the run from the Jealous Girlfriend. Xcellent gtr here & Xcellent catchy choruses, & Dore's backing vocals R marvelous.
"I'm Over Here" is a silly love letter from a fan 2 a rock star, cute but kinda obvious. "Sister Revenge" opens w/ a pretty arresting couplet ("I'd like to get you in a dark corner/And do something nasty to you...."), but it never follows-up....
"Like They Do It in America" is about how couples drive each other crazy, & the lyrical slide from the verses in2 the choruses is irresistable.
So, 6 pretty-good songs outta 10. At least a couple of em coulda/shoulda bn hits. If U're a fan of early-'80s women vocalists U should try it. Tho there R occasional slips in2 melodrama & silliness, a lot of it's probly what record-co types thot young housewives were listening-2 in the early-'80s. (But who really knew?) Sheena Easton fans'd probly like it.
The folks at Chrysalis Records didn't give LISTEN! much of a promotional push -- Xcept 4 Jethro Tull, Blondie, Billy Idol & Sinead O'Connor, did they ever push NEthing? So it pretty-much sank w/o a trace in the U.S. Tho Dore herself has a page on Wikipedia, there's no Ntry 4 this album. 2 bad. MayB not a Lost Classic, but nice. & parts of it R still really striking....
(This review is 4 my old Idaho buddy Don Vincent, the only person I know of Bsides me who bot a copy of this album. He picked it up during a visit 2 California, 2 remind him of a woman he was in love w/, & geographically separated from by about 600 miles, B4 they eventually got 2gether & got married. Tho I wasn't impressed by LISTEN! at 1st, every time Don played it -- & he played it a LOT while missing his future wife -- it grew on me more until I had 2 get a copy 4 myself. ... Their marriage lasted 10+ yrs & they got a coupla great kids out of it. In some ways, he & I have very similar lives.... R U out there, Don?)
Friday, November 27, 2009
Worst Rock Albums Ever!
Here in roughly Dscending order is my list of the Bottom-20 Worst Rock Albums Ever....
I admit I didn't Xactly wrack my brain 2 get these, & I reserve the right 2 add more later. But these stomach-turners will do til something else even worse occurs 2 me.
I've tried 2 restrict this list 2 albums I've actually bn able 2 get all the way thru (I think). I've not included Really Badly-Constructed greatest-hits packages (tho U should take a look at Warner Bros' Really Horrifyingly Bad best-of 4 Manfred Mann's Earth Band sometime -- if U dare!!), & I included no untalented clueless acts I merely wanted 2 take a cheap shot at (this is known as the Whitney Houston Rule). In fact, some of my absolute all-time faves R included here....
Some albums didn't make it 2 this list 4 some fairly subtle reasons. Coldplay's A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD doesn't make it Bcos as Really Bad (or 4gettable) as 90% of it is, "Clocks" is REALLY GOOD. Queen's JAZZ doesn't make it Bcos it includes sevral Guilty Pleasures -- "Fat Bottomed Girls," "Bicycle Race," "Don't Stop Me Now," "Mustapha," etc. Pink Floyd's THE FINAL CUT doesn't make it cos the title track is pretty moving, & the overall production & presentation works -- even tho it's pretty freakin grim. U thot ANIMALS was dark? (Oh, & "Not Now John" is a pretty good joke.) Camel's STATIONARY TRAVELER doesn't make the list cos it includes a coupla pretty-good songs ("West Berlin" is best), & 1 rather nice instrumental. Gong's spacey, goofy hippie/psychedelic YOU doesn't make the list Bcos it includes 2 pretty-Dcent freakout instrumentals, "Master Builder" & "A Sprinkling of Clouds."
But 1 good track doesn't save some of the others on this list.... Onward.
#20 -- Keane: UNDER THE IRON SEA. Based on how good some of the songs were on Keane's debut HOPES AND FEARS (the gorgeous "Bend and Break," "Somewhere Only We Know," "This is the Last Time," "Your Eyes Open"), I had really high hopes 4 the 2nd album by this keyboard-based pop band. But Btween the 2 albums, Keane apparently Dcided 2 Bcome art-rockers. This sure wasn't pop. The opener & hit "Is It Any Wonder?" was over way 2 soon & wasn't enuf 2 save the rest. Messy, unfocused, bloated, lyrically pretensious, capital-A "Art" w/ Xtra added guitar that wasn't needed on the 1st album. I want the cute little classically-influenced pop band back....
#19 -- Beach Boys: FRIENDS. Celebrating the Maharishi, TM & all U'd ever need back in 1968, I still think this is the Boys' laziest, worst album ever. The best thing on it is the wordless roller-skating-rink theme "Passing By." Dennis Wilson's fragments "Be Still" & "Little Bird" R pleasant, but at under 2 mins each U can't Xactly call them songs. Summa the rest is harmless: "Meant for You" has nice vocals, "Anna Lee the Healer" is pleasant. But "Transcendental Meditation" & "Diamond Head" both suck. Mosta the rest is just clueless & 4gettable. & meanwhile Brian was practicing w/ the rather nice "Can't Wait Too Long" & the lame "Busy Doin' Nothin'." Luckily, the Boys would sorta pull it back 2gether w/ parts of 20/20, SUNFLOWER & SURF'S UP.
#18 -- Eagles: THE LONG RUN. It was packaged 2 look like a funeral. & it was. 1 OK Joe Walsh solo track, "In the City." 1 OK Poco-soundalike by former Poco member Tim Schmit, "I Can't Tell You Why." 1 pretty-good joke, "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks." & that's all. They did 1 good song after this, on their LIVE album: "Seven Bridges Road." Ghod, I wish I could rank this LOWER....
#17 -- Yes: TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS. Merely boring. Or if U prefer: Tranquil, placid, quiet, meditative. & let's not 4get long-winded. I THINK I made it all the way thru this. I KNOW I made it all the way thru "Ritual," tho I don't remember Alan White's drum solo that I thot was sposta B in there. I actually thot "Ritual" was sorta pleasant, while Jon Anderson was singing. The rest I don't remember at all.... Intresting how this is all placid & subdued, & the next album, RELAYER, is all chaotic & fiery...? I'll get back 2 these guys....
#16 -- Fleetwood Mac: BEHIND THE MASK. Speaking of placid.... Lindsey Buckingham left B4 this, replaced by Billy Burnette & Rick Vito. The songs R all boring, Xcept 4 the rather creepy & effective "In the Back of My Mind," which U can also find on their box set 25 YEARS/THE CHAIN -- that's where I tripped over it....
#15/14 -- Gong: EXPRESSO & EXPRESSO II. This is a hippie/psychedelic band trying 2 morph in2 a jazz-rock group. But there's no center 2 the compositions. EXPRESSO is muddy & virtually unlistenable. II is just dull -- song titles include "Boring" & "Sleepy." The band -- who R all Xcellent players -- draft in special guests like Steve Winwood, Mick Taylor, Alan Holdsworth & 4mer member Steve Hillage 2 try 2 give this background music a 4ground. & it doesn't work. But they got a little better later as drummer Pierre Moerlen took full control & the composing got stronger....
#13/12 -- Caravan: BETTER BY FAR & THE ALBUM. After the brilliance of FOR GIRLS WHO GROW PLUMP IN THE NIGHT, a rather good LIVE album, the at-times marvelous BLIND DOG AT ST. DUNSTAN'S, & even the 1/2-REALLY-disappointing CUNNING STUNTS, I was hoping 4 still more magic from these guys. But the magic was already gone. Keyboardist Dave Sinclair left after CUNNING STUNTS, leaving guitarist/singer Pye Hastings 2 write 95% of the songs -- & tho Pye was mostly up 2 it on BLIND DOG, after that his inspiration Cmd 2 run dry. BETTER BY FAR opens w/ the usual 1/2-smutty-1/2-jokey "Give Me More" (with some pretty-good group vocals), but the rest of the album flatlines under Tony Visconti's streamlined production. (Visconti Cmd 2 B smoothing-out lotsa people in the late '70s & early '80s, C the Moody Blues....) Tho Sinclair returned 2 yrs later, THE ALBUM is even flatter -- lifeless, boring songs, not 1 memrable 4 NE reason; they could B NE1. Even the album cover artwork reflects this, showing a monolith falling apart in drab grays & greens. Caravan tried 1 more album then went on a 20-yr vacation....
#11 -- Miles Davis: LIVE EVIL. A list of Really Bad jazz-rock albums ... would probly B a pretty long list. But I'm sure this'd B on it. There is no center 2 these aimless jams, either. There's nothing funky going on here, just A LOT of aimless noodling. The guy making snurfling-dog noises on the saxophone is kinda cool -- 4 awhile, & the only reason NEbody should listen more than 1nce. Miles Davis was Ghod?
#10/9 -- Jethro Tull: A PASSION PLAY and A. Ahhh, now we're REALLY getting in2 the bad stuff. A PASSION PLAY is stupefyingly boring, 2 full sides of music not unlike the earlier THICK AS A BRICK, only w/ a little story/play in the middle 2 break things up. The "Overseer" Theme near the Nd (ID'd as "Passion Play Edit #9" on Tull's M.U./BEST OF) is the only thing here worth hearing, the only thing the slightest bit catchy or involving. & I useta LOVE these guys! Eddie Jobson, 4merly of Roxy Music, U.K. & Curved Air, helps out w/ keyboards & electric violin on A, & it doesn't help. I was stunned how nondescript, uneventful, BORING this album was. Earlier Tull useta B irritating at times, but they were never boring....
#8 -- Yes: TORMATO. Totally goofy! After the upbeat, revitalizing GOING FOR THE ONE, the guys rush THIS out a yr later?! I was actually Xcited til I saw the cover -- Hipgnosis musta heard the album 2, cos they splattered tomatoes all over it.... What kinda drugz were Yes on? "Release, Release" would almost B good if it wasn't done so FAST, w/ Jon Anderson rushing 2 cram-in lines like "Show some signs of appreciated loyalties...."(?) Dspite that, the choruses almost work. But the rest just sorta floats away.... Net reviewer Captain Ryan Atkinson 1nce called this "Comedy Album of the Year," but if U ever took these guys Seriously, this was at least ... Not Funny. With this, Yes went from something kinda mysterious & other-worldly 2 just another drugged-out crazy-ass British prog band. They got a little bit of the mystery back on DRAMA....
#7 -- Barclay James Harvest: OCTOBERON. BJH was always wildly uneven, but this 1976 release plunged way down in2 unlistenableness. Nothing was memrable Xcept the worst thing on it, the Ndless, notorious "Suicide?" in which -- after a LONG buildup -- a guy throws himself off the top of a building -- & then the whole track is repeated again (sorta a "lowlights" version) at 2wice the normal speed. Compared 2 this, the 1/2way Dcent 1977 follow-up GONE TO EARTH sounds brilliant....
#6/5 -- Knack: GET THE KNACK & ...BUT THE LITTLE GIRLS UNDERSTAND. As much as I wanna rate this lower, some Really Bad Stuff lurks below. So, permit me 2 sum up: With their smarmy, sexist lyrics, their whiny singing, their riding-the-New-Wave approach, the intentional packaging of their 1st album by Capitol Records in order 2 make them look like The New Beatles, the fact that the words 2 "Good Girls Don't" hadta B censored 2 get NE radio airplay, that "Baby Talks Dirty" was even worse, that this band had NO redeeming factors -- they earned their 15 mins of fame followed by an immediate-backlash trip 2 instant obscurity. People have bought millions of copies of even-worse stuff. Who cares about the guitar riff on "My Sharona"...?
#4 -- Emerson, Lake & Palmer: TARKUS. I'm not sure I got thru the 2nd side, but I know I got thru the 1st 1, 22+ mins about some kinda battle-tank/armadillo that's born in a volcanic eruption, fights battles, & heads off on a search 2 find itself -- along w/ summa the stupidest lyrics & ugliest keyboard sounds ever. Moronic, pretentious, bombastic, self-absorbed, every minute screaming "Ego!" -- could it all have bn a joke? MayB I was 2 stupid, pretentious & self-absorbed 2 Get It....
#3 -- Genesis: DUKE. I had hopes 4 this after AND THEN THERE WERE THREE, which I liked, & I was a big fan of their Middle Period after Peter Gabriel left but B4 they Bcame big stars (TRICK OF THE TALE, WIND AND WUTHERING, SECONDS OUT, THREE SIDES LIVE, etc.). But I wasn't prepared 4 this 50-min sludgefest. True, "Turn It On Again" is here, & it's not bad. But the rest is more like "Misunderstanding" -- only even slower & more ponderous. Like TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS broken up in2 4-min segments. NONE of it works, none of it jumps out at U, U can't tell 1 song from the next, & when the guys throw in a long instrumental bit at the Nd, it doesn't work either. Amazing that they recovered from this lifeless disaster 2 release the spirited & at least 1/2 successful ABACAB a yr later....
#2 -- Rolling Stones: EMOTIONAL RESCUE. Even muddier than EXILE ON MAIN STREET. Pure sludge, 50 mins worth! Jagger's Arnold-Schwarzenegger-like monologue on the title track about how "Like a knight in shining armor on a white charger I am coming to your emotional rescue" is funny 1nce or 2wice (Do U Xpect me 2 quote this verbatim? I haven't heard this in 30 yrs), but none of the rest works, & some of it's offensively bad. ("She's Hot" is an OK overdone joke, I guess....) Hard 2 Blieve the story that their later 1/2way Dcent TATTOO YOU came from outtakes from THIS....
#1 -- Moody Blues: KEYS OF THE KINGDOM. SUR LA MER, STRANGE TIMES & OTHER SIDE OF LIFE may all B weak, but they all have something worth hearing on them. This has NOTHING. Nothing reaches out 2 grab U. It's all smooth & faceless -- they could B NE1! This came out in 1991 when I was in Turkey & coulda used a lift on the level of their earlier THE PRESENT -- but this wasn't even up 2 the level of SUR LA MER (2 good songs, + 1 of the Bottom 3 most Mbarrassing trax they've ever released, "Deep"). I've read reviews that say Ray Thomas's "Celtic Sonant," buried near the Nd of the album, is the best thing here. But it's possible I was asleep B4 I got 2 it. In terms of what they'd done B4, this is Mbarrassingly flat & lifeless. They sound old, tired, bored w/ their own music. They shoulda retired w/ THE PRESENT....
Other Dishonorable Mentions -- Doobie Brothers: ONE STEP CLOSER....
Now U can all join in! Add yr own suggestions 4 REALLY BAD rock albums, from NE time period. At least we'll all know what 2 avoid 4 Xmas, right? Unless it's so bad it's almost sorta GOOD....
I admit I didn't Xactly wrack my brain 2 get these, & I reserve the right 2 add more later. But these stomach-turners will do til something else even worse occurs 2 me.
I've tried 2 restrict this list 2 albums I've actually bn able 2 get all the way thru (I think). I've not included Really Badly-Constructed greatest-hits packages (tho U should take a look at Warner Bros' Really Horrifyingly Bad best-of 4 Manfred Mann's Earth Band sometime -- if U dare!!), & I included no untalented clueless acts I merely wanted 2 take a cheap shot at (this is known as the Whitney Houston Rule). In fact, some of my absolute all-time faves R included here....
Some albums didn't make it 2 this list 4 some fairly subtle reasons. Coldplay's A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD doesn't make it Bcos as Really Bad (or 4gettable) as 90% of it is, "Clocks" is REALLY GOOD. Queen's JAZZ doesn't make it Bcos it includes sevral Guilty Pleasures -- "Fat Bottomed Girls," "Bicycle Race," "Don't Stop Me Now," "Mustapha," etc. Pink Floyd's THE FINAL CUT doesn't make it cos the title track is pretty moving, & the overall production & presentation works -- even tho it's pretty freakin grim. U thot ANIMALS was dark? (Oh, & "Not Now John" is a pretty good joke.) Camel's STATIONARY TRAVELER doesn't make the list cos it includes a coupla pretty-good songs ("West Berlin" is best), & 1 rather nice instrumental. Gong's spacey, goofy hippie/psychedelic YOU doesn't make the list Bcos it includes 2 pretty-Dcent freakout instrumentals, "Master Builder" & "A Sprinkling of Clouds."
But 1 good track doesn't save some of the others on this list.... Onward.
#20 -- Keane: UNDER THE IRON SEA. Based on how good some of the songs were on Keane's debut HOPES AND FEARS (the gorgeous "Bend and Break," "Somewhere Only We Know," "This is the Last Time," "Your Eyes Open"), I had really high hopes 4 the 2nd album by this keyboard-based pop band. But Btween the 2 albums, Keane apparently Dcided 2 Bcome art-rockers. This sure wasn't pop. The opener & hit "Is It Any Wonder?" was over way 2 soon & wasn't enuf 2 save the rest. Messy, unfocused, bloated, lyrically pretensious, capital-A "Art" w/ Xtra added guitar that wasn't needed on the 1st album. I want the cute little classically-influenced pop band back....
#19 -- Beach Boys: FRIENDS. Celebrating the Maharishi, TM & all U'd ever need back in 1968, I still think this is the Boys' laziest, worst album ever. The best thing on it is the wordless roller-skating-rink theme "Passing By." Dennis Wilson's fragments "Be Still" & "Little Bird" R pleasant, but at under 2 mins each U can't Xactly call them songs. Summa the rest is harmless: "Meant for You" has nice vocals, "Anna Lee the Healer" is pleasant. But "Transcendental Meditation" & "Diamond Head" both suck. Mosta the rest is just clueless & 4gettable. & meanwhile Brian was practicing w/ the rather nice "Can't Wait Too Long" & the lame "Busy Doin' Nothin'." Luckily, the Boys would sorta pull it back 2gether w/ parts of 20/20, SUNFLOWER & SURF'S UP.
#18 -- Eagles: THE LONG RUN. It was packaged 2 look like a funeral. & it was. 1 OK Joe Walsh solo track, "In the City." 1 OK Poco-soundalike by former Poco member Tim Schmit, "I Can't Tell You Why." 1 pretty-good joke, "The Greeks Don't Want No Freaks." & that's all. They did 1 good song after this, on their LIVE album: "Seven Bridges Road." Ghod, I wish I could rank this LOWER....
#17 -- Yes: TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS. Merely boring. Or if U prefer: Tranquil, placid, quiet, meditative. & let's not 4get long-winded. I THINK I made it all the way thru this. I KNOW I made it all the way thru "Ritual," tho I don't remember Alan White's drum solo that I thot was sposta B in there. I actually thot "Ritual" was sorta pleasant, while Jon Anderson was singing. The rest I don't remember at all.... Intresting how this is all placid & subdued, & the next album, RELAYER, is all chaotic & fiery...? I'll get back 2 these guys....
#16 -- Fleetwood Mac: BEHIND THE MASK. Speaking of placid.... Lindsey Buckingham left B4 this, replaced by Billy Burnette & Rick Vito. The songs R all boring, Xcept 4 the rather creepy & effective "In the Back of My Mind," which U can also find on their box set 25 YEARS/THE CHAIN -- that's where I tripped over it....
#15/14 -- Gong: EXPRESSO & EXPRESSO II. This is a hippie/psychedelic band trying 2 morph in2 a jazz-rock group. But there's no center 2 the compositions. EXPRESSO is muddy & virtually unlistenable. II is just dull -- song titles include "Boring" & "Sleepy." The band -- who R all Xcellent players -- draft in special guests like Steve Winwood, Mick Taylor, Alan Holdsworth & 4mer member Steve Hillage 2 try 2 give this background music a 4ground. & it doesn't work. But they got a little better later as drummer Pierre Moerlen took full control & the composing got stronger....
#13/12 -- Caravan: BETTER BY FAR & THE ALBUM. After the brilliance of FOR GIRLS WHO GROW PLUMP IN THE NIGHT, a rather good LIVE album, the at-times marvelous BLIND DOG AT ST. DUNSTAN'S, & even the 1/2-REALLY-disappointing CUNNING STUNTS, I was hoping 4 still more magic from these guys. But the magic was already gone. Keyboardist Dave Sinclair left after CUNNING STUNTS, leaving guitarist/singer Pye Hastings 2 write 95% of the songs -- & tho Pye was mostly up 2 it on BLIND DOG, after that his inspiration Cmd 2 run dry. BETTER BY FAR opens w/ the usual 1/2-smutty-1/2-jokey "Give Me More" (with some pretty-good group vocals), but the rest of the album flatlines under Tony Visconti's streamlined production. (Visconti Cmd 2 B smoothing-out lotsa people in the late '70s & early '80s, C the Moody Blues....) Tho Sinclair returned 2 yrs later, THE ALBUM is even flatter -- lifeless, boring songs, not 1 memrable 4 NE reason; they could B NE1. Even the album cover artwork reflects this, showing a monolith falling apart in drab grays & greens. Caravan tried 1 more album then went on a 20-yr vacation....
#11 -- Miles Davis: LIVE EVIL. A list of Really Bad jazz-rock albums ... would probly B a pretty long list. But I'm sure this'd B on it. There is no center 2 these aimless jams, either. There's nothing funky going on here, just A LOT of aimless noodling. The guy making snurfling-dog noises on the saxophone is kinda cool -- 4 awhile, & the only reason NEbody should listen more than 1nce. Miles Davis was Ghod?
#10/9 -- Jethro Tull: A PASSION PLAY and A. Ahhh, now we're REALLY getting in2 the bad stuff. A PASSION PLAY is stupefyingly boring, 2 full sides of music not unlike the earlier THICK AS A BRICK, only w/ a little story/play in the middle 2 break things up. The "Overseer" Theme near the Nd (ID'd as "Passion Play Edit #9" on Tull's M.U./BEST OF) is the only thing here worth hearing, the only thing the slightest bit catchy or involving. & I useta LOVE these guys! Eddie Jobson, 4merly of Roxy Music, U.K. & Curved Air, helps out w/ keyboards & electric violin on A, & it doesn't help. I was stunned how nondescript, uneventful, BORING this album was. Earlier Tull useta B irritating at times, but they were never boring....
#8 -- Yes: TORMATO. Totally goofy! After the upbeat, revitalizing GOING FOR THE ONE, the guys rush THIS out a yr later?! I was actually Xcited til I saw the cover -- Hipgnosis musta heard the album 2, cos they splattered tomatoes all over it.... What kinda drugz were Yes on? "Release, Release" would almost B good if it wasn't done so FAST, w/ Jon Anderson rushing 2 cram-in lines like "Show some signs of appreciated loyalties...."(?) Dspite that, the choruses almost work. But the rest just sorta floats away.... Net reviewer Captain Ryan Atkinson 1nce called this "Comedy Album of the Year," but if U ever took these guys Seriously, this was at least ... Not Funny. With this, Yes went from something kinda mysterious & other-worldly 2 just another drugged-out crazy-ass British prog band. They got a little bit of the mystery back on DRAMA....
#7 -- Barclay James Harvest: OCTOBERON. BJH was always wildly uneven, but this 1976 release plunged way down in2 unlistenableness. Nothing was memrable Xcept the worst thing on it, the Ndless, notorious "Suicide?" in which -- after a LONG buildup -- a guy throws himself off the top of a building -- & then the whole track is repeated again (sorta a "lowlights" version) at 2wice the normal speed. Compared 2 this, the 1/2way Dcent 1977 follow-up GONE TO EARTH sounds brilliant....
#6/5 -- Knack: GET THE KNACK & ...BUT THE LITTLE GIRLS UNDERSTAND. As much as I wanna rate this lower, some Really Bad Stuff lurks below. So, permit me 2 sum up: With their smarmy, sexist lyrics, their whiny singing, their riding-the-New-Wave approach, the intentional packaging of their 1st album by Capitol Records in order 2 make them look like The New Beatles, the fact that the words 2 "Good Girls Don't" hadta B censored 2 get NE radio airplay, that "Baby Talks Dirty" was even worse, that this band had NO redeeming factors -- they earned their 15 mins of fame followed by an immediate-backlash trip 2 instant obscurity. People have bought millions of copies of even-worse stuff. Who cares about the guitar riff on "My Sharona"...?
#4 -- Emerson, Lake & Palmer: TARKUS. I'm not sure I got thru the 2nd side, but I know I got thru the 1st 1, 22+ mins about some kinda battle-tank/armadillo that's born in a volcanic eruption, fights battles, & heads off on a search 2 find itself -- along w/ summa the stupidest lyrics & ugliest keyboard sounds ever. Moronic, pretentious, bombastic, self-absorbed, every minute screaming "Ego!" -- could it all have bn a joke? MayB I was 2 stupid, pretentious & self-absorbed 2 Get It....
#3 -- Genesis: DUKE. I had hopes 4 this after AND THEN THERE WERE THREE, which I liked, & I was a big fan of their Middle Period after Peter Gabriel left but B4 they Bcame big stars (TRICK OF THE TALE, WIND AND WUTHERING, SECONDS OUT, THREE SIDES LIVE, etc.). But I wasn't prepared 4 this 50-min sludgefest. True, "Turn It On Again" is here, & it's not bad. But the rest is more like "Misunderstanding" -- only even slower & more ponderous. Like TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS broken up in2 4-min segments. NONE of it works, none of it jumps out at U, U can't tell 1 song from the next, & when the guys throw in a long instrumental bit at the Nd, it doesn't work either. Amazing that they recovered from this lifeless disaster 2 release the spirited & at least 1/2 successful ABACAB a yr later....
#2 -- Rolling Stones: EMOTIONAL RESCUE. Even muddier than EXILE ON MAIN STREET. Pure sludge, 50 mins worth! Jagger's Arnold-Schwarzenegger-like monologue on the title track about how "Like a knight in shining armor on a white charger I am coming to your emotional rescue" is funny 1nce or 2wice (Do U Xpect me 2 quote this verbatim? I haven't heard this in 30 yrs), but none of the rest works, & some of it's offensively bad. ("She's Hot" is an OK overdone joke, I guess....) Hard 2 Blieve the story that their later 1/2way Dcent TATTOO YOU came from outtakes from THIS....
#1 -- Moody Blues: KEYS OF THE KINGDOM. SUR LA MER, STRANGE TIMES & OTHER SIDE OF LIFE may all B weak, but they all have something worth hearing on them. This has NOTHING. Nothing reaches out 2 grab U. It's all smooth & faceless -- they could B NE1! This came out in 1991 when I was in Turkey & coulda used a lift on the level of their earlier THE PRESENT -- but this wasn't even up 2 the level of SUR LA MER (2 good songs, + 1 of the Bottom 3 most Mbarrassing trax they've ever released, "Deep"). I've read reviews that say Ray Thomas's "Celtic Sonant," buried near the Nd of the album, is the best thing here. But it's possible I was asleep B4 I got 2 it. In terms of what they'd done B4, this is Mbarrassingly flat & lifeless. They sound old, tired, bored w/ their own music. They shoulda retired w/ THE PRESENT....
Other Dishonorable Mentions -- Doobie Brothers: ONE STEP CLOSER....
Now U can all join in! Add yr own suggestions 4 REALLY BAD rock albums, from NE time period. At least we'll all know what 2 avoid 4 Xmas, right? Unless it's so bad it's almost sorta GOOD....
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
'77 was a pretty good yr....
Tony Parsons' STORIES WE COULD TELL (2005) is probly the best rock&roll novel I've read since Lewis Shiner's GLIMPSES.
It's not perfect, there R a few minor things that go wrong w/ it, & it takes awhile 2 get where it's going -- but in its final 50 pgs Parsons pulls-off some moments that R warm & sweet & laff-out-loud funny. It's not a happy Nding 4 every1, & I'm not sure about the last few pgs, but it's definitely worth the trip.
Parsons (along w/ Julie Burchill) was 1 of the "young gunslingers" that England's NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS hired in the mid-'70s 2 try & get a handle on Punk Rock. Parsons has apparently taken some of his Xperiences (or at least the setting & mood of those times) & put them in2 this novel, which takes place on the nite in Aug '77 when Elvis Presley died. (Parsons wrote this book after penning 3 or 4 rather big non-music-related best-sellers in the U.K.)
All the main characters work 4 a British weekly music tabloid called THE PAPER. Terry, a fan of the rising punk bands, Bfriends longtime nearly-has-bn rocker Dag Wood, who's trying 2 make a comeback -- but Dag Btrays him by trying 2 steal Terry's girlfriend Misty, who's a photographer 4 THE PAPER. Boy-Wonder reporter Ray Keeley has fallen on hard times & is threatened by THE PAPER's editor -- if Ray can't get an Xclusive interview w/ John Lennon, Ray's out of a job! Meanwhile, Leon wants 2 get more politics in2 THE PAPER -- he gets bruised during the anti-fascist riot in Lewisham & is stunned that THE PAPER won't cover it: "This is what's really going on!"
The book follows the 3 reporters thru their Xperiences on this 1 nite -- in & out of clubs, thru romance & heartbreak, dealing w/ Family Issues, avoiding warring thug gangs, & much more. Terry checks-out a coupla other girls, but gets his old girlfriend back & Dlivers some classic revenge 2 Dag Wood. + Terry has a big suprise coming. Leon discovers Disco & meets The Girl Of His Dreams. Ray travels all over London seeking Lennon, & finds a new love in the process -- but there'll B no spoilers here: This 1 plot thread is 2 good 2 mess-up.
Tho the book starts promisingly, I think Parsons wanders around a lot in the middle, & tho he pulls it 2gether in the Nd, I think he coulda still used EVEN MORE room 2 draw all the strands of his story back 2gether (the book's less than 300 pgs). Leon's story especially feels unfairly cut short -- he never gets 2 write about what happened at Lewisham 4 THE PAPER, or even about his cosmic disco Xperiences. & the storyline about his Dream Girl is disappointingly tossed away.
But the laffs R pretty great, & there's a lotta really good period Dtail -- Parsons should know, he was there. Tho we never meet NE of them, the Sex Pistols, Clash, Jam, Buzzcocks, Vibrators, Stranglers, New York Dolls, Elvis Costello, Eddie & the Hot Rods, Slaughter & the Dogs, the Tom Robinson Band, David Bowie & Kraftwerk all get name-checks in this book, in addition 2 the Dtailed portraits of fictional per4mers Dag Wood, Billy Blitzen, Grace Fury, Leni and the Riefenstahls, & Brainiac & the Electric Baguette. (We also get a pretty vivid tour of Greater London, w/ all the familiar clubs & landmarks & much more.) But by the Nd of the book, there's a definite feeling that the heyday of Punk Rock has already passed, by the Nd of the Summer of '77. (My original title 4 this post was gonna B "Dglamourizing Punk Rock.")
There R a few factual errors: The Led Zeppelin album cover that's Dscribed near the Nd of the novel is LZ IV, not III as stated in the book -- the Dscription's accurate, but it's the wrong album title. Abba's hit "Dancing Queen" is Dscribed in the text as "new" in Aug '77 -- when it had already hit #1 in America 6 mo's earlier -- mayB America heard it 1st, but I think that's unlikely. & at 1 point Yoko Ono asks who the B-52's R -- 1977 strikes me as a bit early 4 her 2 B asking that question since the B's 1st album wasn't released til 2 yrs later. & Bsides, even if they were around then, since John&Yoko lived in NYC, they'd likely know more about the Athens, Ga.-based B-52's than NE1 in London....
But the mood & atmosphere & the intertwining stories mostly make up 4 all this. There R also some great little touches -- like Terry, Ray & Leon Bing the "young guys" at THE PAPER, looked upon w/ some resentment by the never-named "Old Guys," some of whom must B -- *SHOCK! HORROR!* -- almost 30 years old! Skip Jones, THE PAPER's resident eccentric & every1's choice 4 Greatest Rock Journalist Of All Time, is a perilously old 25. & there's a great bit near the Nd of the book when an even-younger Child Prodigy briefly upstages the young guys ("Who was THAT?!" "He's the New Guy."), but they don't think he's worth taking seriously....
& who woulda Blieved that a then-young-hothead like Tony Parsons was a sucker 4 John Sebastian & the Lovin' Spoonful?! In the book, 1 of Parsons' characters calls Sebastian "better than Dylan! I love this geezer!" & the title of the book comes from a song on Sebastian's long-ago cut-out solo album THE TARZANA KID. An album I'm now probly gonna havta track down....
I'm also gonna havta track-down Parsons' & Burchill's THE BOY LOOKED AT JOHNNY....
It's not perfect, there R a few minor things that go wrong w/ it, & it takes awhile 2 get where it's going -- but in its final 50 pgs Parsons pulls-off some moments that R warm & sweet & laff-out-loud funny. It's not a happy Nding 4 every1, & I'm not sure about the last few pgs, but it's definitely worth the trip.
Parsons (along w/ Julie Burchill) was 1 of the "young gunslingers" that England's NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS hired in the mid-'70s 2 try & get a handle on Punk Rock. Parsons has apparently taken some of his Xperiences (or at least the setting & mood of those times) & put them in2 this novel, which takes place on the nite in Aug '77 when Elvis Presley died. (Parsons wrote this book after penning 3 or 4 rather big non-music-related best-sellers in the U.K.)
All the main characters work 4 a British weekly music tabloid called THE PAPER. Terry, a fan of the rising punk bands, Bfriends longtime nearly-has-bn rocker Dag Wood, who's trying 2 make a comeback -- but Dag Btrays him by trying 2 steal Terry's girlfriend Misty, who's a photographer 4 THE PAPER. Boy-Wonder reporter Ray Keeley has fallen on hard times & is threatened by THE PAPER's editor -- if Ray can't get an Xclusive interview w/ John Lennon, Ray's out of a job! Meanwhile, Leon wants 2 get more politics in2 THE PAPER -- he gets bruised during the anti-fascist riot in Lewisham & is stunned that THE PAPER won't cover it: "This is what's really going on!"
The book follows the 3 reporters thru their Xperiences on this 1 nite -- in & out of clubs, thru romance & heartbreak, dealing w/ Family Issues, avoiding warring thug gangs, & much more. Terry checks-out a coupla other girls, but gets his old girlfriend back & Dlivers some classic revenge 2 Dag Wood. + Terry has a big suprise coming. Leon discovers Disco & meets The Girl Of His Dreams. Ray travels all over London seeking Lennon, & finds a new love in the process -- but there'll B no spoilers here: This 1 plot thread is 2 good 2 mess-up.
Tho the book starts promisingly, I think Parsons wanders around a lot in the middle, & tho he pulls it 2gether in the Nd, I think he coulda still used EVEN MORE room 2 draw all the strands of his story back 2gether (the book's less than 300 pgs). Leon's story especially feels unfairly cut short -- he never gets 2 write about what happened at Lewisham 4 THE PAPER, or even about his cosmic disco Xperiences. & the storyline about his Dream Girl is disappointingly tossed away.
But the laffs R pretty great, & there's a lotta really good period Dtail -- Parsons should know, he was there. Tho we never meet NE of them, the Sex Pistols, Clash, Jam, Buzzcocks, Vibrators, Stranglers, New York Dolls, Elvis Costello, Eddie & the Hot Rods, Slaughter & the Dogs, the Tom Robinson Band, David Bowie & Kraftwerk all get name-checks in this book, in addition 2 the Dtailed portraits of fictional per4mers Dag Wood, Billy Blitzen, Grace Fury, Leni and the Riefenstahls, & Brainiac & the Electric Baguette. (We also get a pretty vivid tour of Greater London, w/ all the familiar clubs & landmarks & much more.) But by the Nd of the book, there's a definite feeling that the heyday of Punk Rock has already passed, by the Nd of the Summer of '77. (My original title 4 this post was gonna B "Dglamourizing Punk Rock.")
There R a few factual errors: The Led Zeppelin album cover that's Dscribed near the Nd of the novel is LZ IV, not III as stated in the book -- the Dscription's accurate, but it's the wrong album title. Abba's hit "Dancing Queen" is Dscribed in the text as "new" in Aug '77 -- when it had already hit #1 in America 6 mo's earlier -- mayB America heard it 1st, but I think that's unlikely. & at 1 point Yoko Ono asks who the B-52's R -- 1977 strikes me as a bit early 4 her 2 B asking that question since the B's 1st album wasn't released til 2 yrs later. & Bsides, even if they were around then, since John&Yoko lived in NYC, they'd likely know more about the Athens, Ga.-based B-52's than NE1 in London....
But the mood & atmosphere & the intertwining stories mostly make up 4 all this. There R also some great little touches -- like Terry, Ray & Leon Bing the "young guys" at THE PAPER, looked upon w/ some resentment by the never-named "Old Guys," some of whom must B -- *SHOCK! HORROR!* -- almost 30 years old! Skip Jones, THE PAPER's resident eccentric & every1's choice 4 Greatest Rock Journalist Of All Time, is a perilously old 25. & there's a great bit near the Nd of the book when an even-younger Child Prodigy briefly upstages the young guys ("Who was THAT?!" "He's the New Guy."), but they don't think he's worth taking seriously....
& who woulda Blieved that a then-young-hothead like Tony Parsons was a sucker 4 John Sebastian & the Lovin' Spoonful?! In the book, 1 of Parsons' characters calls Sebastian "better than Dylan! I love this geezer!" & the title of the book comes from a song on Sebastian's long-ago cut-out solo album THE TARZANA KID. An album I'm now probly gonna havta track down....
I'm also gonna havta track-down Parsons' & Burchill's THE BOY LOOKED AT JOHNNY....
Saturday, November 21, 2009
The Kids Are Alright....
After reading hilarious Irish reporter Eoin Butler's hysterical (& hopefully at least 1/2 fictional) write-up on raising 2 small children at "Tripping Along the Ledge" (http://www.eoinbutler.com/), it occurs 2 me that I am WAY overdue 2 write something Mbarrassing about my kids.
(But 1st: How can a guy who reportedly just barely has a girlfriend -- & who apparently has trouble dressing & feeding himself -- possibly have 2 small children? ((On the other hand, look at me....)) Could he B making it all up? 4 his theoretical kids' sake, I almost hope so....)
NEway, children. I have 2 of them -- son Andy, 21; daughter Alicia, 18. My son created my old website 4 me & troubleshot it & worked-out the glitches 4 awhile -- he instructed me 2 write my ass off & get rich & famous. Am still working on that. (At least the getting-rich part. The writing-my-ass-off part is pretty-much handled.)
He's currently driving semi-trucks back&forth across the country (something I always thot it would B cool 2 do, I've always loved road-trips), from Cleveland 2 Compton & back, & recently got stuck in a snowstorm in his hometown, Cheyenne, Wyo.
My daughter is currently in her 1st yr at college, apparently keeping very busy & loving it, & I trust she still reads omnivorously -- possibly including this blog from time 2 time. (Hi, Leesh!)
My X & I had both kids while I was in the Air Force, & as a result they cost me a total of about $30 4 the 2 of them -- a pretty good deal. (Thanx, AF!) But the AF made up 4 it by sending me 2 some fairly Ghodawful places -- & not just Cheyenne, where Andy was born. Alicia was born at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, & as a result she has dual citizenship -- which means if she ever goes back 2 Turkey (Ghod knows why she would) she'll B immediately dragged in2 the Turkish Army. Probly a fate worse than death....
Butler writes about how the smallest things little kids do can scare U 2 death. There's 2 much truth 2 this. Right after Andy finally learned how 2 walk, we hadta start packing up 4 our move 2 Turkey. The day the movers came, when they took a break 4 lunch they left wide-open the front door of the mobile-home we were living in. B4 we could grab him, Andy RAN 4 that open door & took a dive off the front porch & landed face-1st on the concrete slab at the foot of the stairs, about a 3-foot drop.
I SCREAMED. Luckily, so did Andy. Cyndi my X told me 2 pull myself 2gether: "It's OK," she said. "He's CRYING. If he wasn't crying, THEN U could start freaking out."
She was right. Andy was OK. He had a coupla black eyes 4 awhile & a good-sized gash on his 4head, but he was OK. In fact, he was up & moving around again the next day. & a coupla days later while playing w/ the neighbor kids next door, he fell head-1st in2 a hole.... (These repeated blows 2 the head perhaps Xplain some of his Bhavior in later yrs....)
He spent mosta the next 2 yrs inside R apartment in Turkey cos there really wasn't NEwhere 2 play immediately outside R building. Instead, he spent his time getting potty-trained & learning how 2 talk.
(I don't know how 2 Xplain this w/o it sounding weird, so whatthehell: My X was a pretty good photographer ((even tho I was the guy GETTING PAID 2 take pictures)), & took some -- I PROMISE I'm not making this up -- AWARD-WINNING b&w photos of Andy On The Pot when he was around 2 yrs old. The strategic shadows & grainy photography perfectly evoke the griminess of Turkish life. & then there's Andy's Xpression, which probly won the award: Him staring straight in2 the camera & clearly saying: "Stop pointing that thing at me...." This Xperience probly scarred him 4 life. & I'm probly doing it again by writing about it here, cos I know he reads this stuff. ...He went thru a phase later on when he had 2 investigate the bathrooms everywhere we went: "Dad, do they have a potty here...?" Hi, Andy!)
It took Andy awhile 2 start talking. Intrestingly, in Turkey the lite switches R placed at a diffrent height on the wall than they R in America, & when I picked Andy up he was at Xactly the right height 2 turn the lite switches on&off. Which he liked 2 do 4 HRS. I guess he liked the sounds I made when he turned the lights off: "Off!" "On" didn't intrest him so much, but he loved "Off!" I think it was the 1st real word he ever said after "Dad" & "Mom."
Another scarring Xperience 4 him right after we arrived in Turkey was when a brass Turkish lamp we bought short-circuited & caught fire in the apartment -- there was no damage, but it scared the heck outta me, & Andy was just stunned. 4 awhile, everytime he saw a table lamp he'd point at it & his eyes'd get huge & he'd say "Bzzzzztttt!"
Later Xperiences were not quite so scarring -- emotionally. After we moved back 2 the U.S., Andy fell off his tricycle & hit his head (again) & it took 3 stitches 2 sew him up -- but B4 that the blood POURED out of his 4head. It looked WAY worse than it really was -- even really minor head wounds bleed A LOT.
Slightly later, Andy started spiking 104-degree fevers 4 no known reason, completely outta the blue. During 1 trip 2 the Emergency Room 4 1 of these flash-fevers, the docs Dcided the only way 2 bring his temperature down was 2 immerse him in a tub full of crushed ice.... His screams were INCREDIBLE; they woulda tore yr heart out. Thankfully, I've 4gotten most of that....
These R about all the major crises I remember, tho there were some other, way-minor crises: 4 some reason Andy later developed an aversion 2 chicken.... Right after we moved back 2 Wyoming, 1 nite when my X was cooking spaghetti 4 dinner, Andy came in2 the kitchen & was attracted by the cooking smells, peeked at the boiling noodles & the bubbling spaghetti sauce, squinched-up his nose & said: "Is there chicken in this?"
1 time when some1 came 2 visit, he got very friendly, got very close 2 her on the couch & said: "I like you. You're nice. ... Do you eat chicken at your house?"
...Later he developed an aversion 2 spaghetti sauce -- it made him throw up. Violently. But it turned out 2 B the BRAND of spaghetti sauce that turned his stomach. Long as we didn't use that brand, it was all good....
There have bn a few other crises along the way: Andy ran away/disappeared 1nce 4 awhile, something about stealing trading-cards at school -- he hung-out at the library 4 a few hrs B4 coming home, a trick his father pulled yrs earlier. That didn't keep me from panicking about it.
Parents will tell U that 1nce U've panicked about EVERYTHING w/ the 1st child, 1nce the 2nd child comes along, U tend 2 blow a lotta stuff off. & there's a lotta truth 2 this. By the time we had Alicia, stuff that woulda made us freak-out w/ Andy we sorta took in stride. Leesh 1nce fell off the couch & whacked the back of her head on the coffee table & it took 3 stitches 2 sew up her head, but it was just a normal day at home.
I 1nce saw my X drag Alicia in2 the shower after Leesh got furious about something & wouldn't stop screaming -- & the X ran cold water on her until she calmed down. Which didn't take long.
Since then, there's bn a running joke about how cool my daughter can act while she's seething underneath. She & her brother haven't always liked each other much. He has stomped on her toes & she has punched him in the eye -- & thankfully I wasn't around 4 NE of that. In my darker moments I think no guy better ever cross my daughter -- cos she will slit his throat. & she'll have a pulse of about 6 while she's doing it....
Dspite the crises outlined here, I think I was a pretty good father -- when I was around. I useta walk the kids 2&from school every day, & when we moved 2 Washington & their school was right outside our back door I'd usher the kids out the door & then watch from the 2nd floor of the house as they walked across the school's parking lot & in the school's side door.
Call me paranoid or over-protective if U want. I don't care. I figure my watchfulness mayB made up 4 all the times I was gone on nites & wknds Bcos of my job. There's nothing I wouldn't give 2 have those many nites & wknds back. Take my advice: If yr job is taking away time w/ yr kids -- find a new job.
My divorce took my kids away from me 4 the best part of 10 yrs. I knew they were in good hands, but that doesn't help me feel better about all the things I missed, all the times I wasn't there 4.
I'm proud of my children. I know they're good people, smart, friendly, compassionate, & not as distanced & guarded as I've Bcome in my Old Age. All things considered, they've turned out way better than I Dserve....
(But 1st: How can a guy who reportedly just barely has a girlfriend -- & who apparently has trouble dressing & feeding himself -- possibly have 2 small children? ((On the other hand, look at me....)) Could he B making it all up? 4 his theoretical kids' sake, I almost hope so....)
NEway, children. I have 2 of them -- son Andy, 21; daughter Alicia, 18. My son created my old website 4 me & troubleshot it & worked-out the glitches 4 awhile -- he instructed me 2 write my ass off & get rich & famous. Am still working on that. (At least the getting-rich part. The writing-my-ass-off part is pretty-much handled.)
He's currently driving semi-trucks back&forth across the country (something I always thot it would B cool 2 do, I've always loved road-trips), from Cleveland 2 Compton & back, & recently got stuck in a snowstorm in his hometown, Cheyenne, Wyo.
My daughter is currently in her 1st yr at college, apparently keeping very busy & loving it, & I trust she still reads omnivorously -- possibly including this blog from time 2 time. (Hi, Leesh!)
My X & I had both kids while I was in the Air Force, & as a result they cost me a total of about $30 4 the 2 of them -- a pretty good deal. (Thanx, AF!) But the AF made up 4 it by sending me 2 some fairly Ghodawful places -- & not just Cheyenne, where Andy was born. Alicia was born at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, & as a result she has dual citizenship -- which means if she ever goes back 2 Turkey (Ghod knows why she would) she'll B immediately dragged in2 the Turkish Army. Probly a fate worse than death....
Butler writes about how the smallest things little kids do can scare U 2 death. There's 2 much truth 2 this. Right after Andy finally learned how 2 walk, we hadta start packing up 4 our move 2 Turkey. The day the movers came, when they took a break 4 lunch they left wide-open the front door of the mobile-home we were living in. B4 we could grab him, Andy RAN 4 that open door & took a dive off the front porch & landed face-1st on the concrete slab at the foot of the stairs, about a 3-foot drop.
I SCREAMED. Luckily, so did Andy. Cyndi my X told me 2 pull myself 2gether: "It's OK," she said. "He's CRYING. If he wasn't crying, THEN U could start freaking out."
She was right. Andy was OK. He had a coupla black eyes 4 awhile & a good-sized gash on his 4head, but he was OK. In fact, he was up & moving around again the next day. & a coupla days later while playing w/ the neighbor kids next door, he fell head-1st in2 a hole.... (These repeated blows 2 the head perhaps Xplain some of his Bhavior in later yrs....)
He spent mosta the next 2 yrs inside R apartment in Turkey cos there really wasn't NEwhere 2 play immediately outside R building. Instead, he spent his time getting potty-trained & learning how 2 talk.
(I don't know how 2 Xplain this w/o it sounding weird, so whatthehell: My X was a pretty good photographer ((even tho I was the guy GETTING PAID 2 take pictures)), & took some -- I PROMISE I'm not making this up -- AWARD-WINNING b&w photos of Andy On The Pot when he was around 2 yrs old. The strategic shadows & grainy photography perfectly evoke the griminess of Turkish life. & then there's Andy's Xpression, which probly won the award: Him staring straight in2 the camera & clearly saying: "Stop pointing that thing at me...." This Xperience probly scarred him 4 life. & I'm probly doing it again by writing about it here, cos I know he reads this stuff. ...He went thru a phase later on when he had 2 investigate the bathrooms everywhere we went: "Dad, do they have a potty here...?" Hi, Andy!)
It took Andy awhile 2 start talking. Intrestingly, in Turkey the lite switches R placed at a diffrent height on the wall than they R in America, & when I picked Andy up he was at Xactly the right height 2 turn the lite switches on&off. Which he liked 2 do 4 HRS. I guess he liked the sounds I made when he turned the lights off: "Off!" "On" didn't intrest him so much, but he loved "Off!" I think it was the 1st real word he ever said after "Dad" & "Mom."
Another scarring Xperience 4 him right after we arrived in Turkey was when a brass Turkish lamp we bought short-circuited & caught fire in the apartment -- there was no damage, but it scared the heck outta me, & Andy was just stunned. 4 awhile, everytime he saw a table lamp he'd point at it & his eyes'd get huge & he'd say "Bzzzzztttt!"
Later Xperiences were not quite so scarring -- emotionally. After we moved back 2 the U.S., Andy fell off his tricycle & hit his head (again) & it took 3 stitches 2 sew him up -- but B4 that the blood POURED out of his 4head. It looked WAY worse than it really was -- even really minor head wounds bleed A LOT.
Slightly later, Andy started spiking 104-degree fevers 4 no known reason, completely outta the blue. During 1 trip 2 the Emergency Room 4 1 of these flash-fevers, the docs Dcided the only way 2 bring his temperature down was 2 immerse him in a tub full of crushed ice.... His screams were INCREDIBLE; they woulda tore yr heart out. Thankfully, I've 4gotten most of that....
These R about all the major crises I remember, tho there were some other, way-minor crises: 4 some reason Andy later developed an aversion 2 chicken.... Right after we moved back 2 Wyoming, 1 nite when my X was cooking spaghetti 4 dinner, Andy came in2 the kitchen & was attracted by the cooking smells, peeked at the boiling noodles & the bubbling spaghetti sauce, squinched-up his nose & said: "Is there chicken in this?"
1 time when some1 came 2 visit, he got very friendly, got very close 2 her on the couch & said: "I like you. You're nice. ... Do you eat chicken at your house?"
...Later he developed an aversion 2 spaghetti sauce -- it made him throw up. Violently. But it turned out 2 B the BRAND of spaghetti sauce that turned his stomach. Long as we didn't use that brand, it was all good....
There have bn a few other crises along the way: Andy ran away/disappeared 1nce 4 awhile, something about stealing trading-cards at school -- he hung-out at the library 4 a few hrs B4 coming home, a trick his father pulled yrs earlier. That didn't keep me from panicking about it.
Parents will tell U that 1nce U've panicked about EVERYTHING w/ the 1st child, 1nce the 2nd child comes along, U tend 2 blow a lotta stuff off. & there's a lotta truth 2 this. By the time we had Alicia, stuff that woulda made us freak-out w/ Andy we sorta took in stride. Leesh 1nce fell off the couch & whacked the back of her head on the coffee table & it took 3 stitches 2 sew up her head, but it was just a normal day at home.
I 1nce saw my X drag Alicia in2 the shower after Leesh got furious about something & wouldn't stop screaming -- & the X ran cold water on her until she calmed down. Which didn't take long.
Since then, there's bn a running joke about how cool my daughter can act while she's seething underneath. She & her brother haven't always liked each other much. He has stomped on her toes & she has punched him in the eye -- & thankfully I wasn't around 4 NE of that. In my darker moments I think no guy better ever cross my daughter -- cos she will slit his throat. & she'll have a pulse of about 6 while she's doing it....
Dspite the crises outlined here, I think I was a pretty good father -- when I was around. I useta walk the kids 2&from school every day, & when we moved 2 Washington & their school was right outside our back door I'd usher the kids out the door & then watch from the 2nd floor of the house as they walked across the school's parking lot & in the school's side door.
Call me paranoid or over-protective if U want. I don't care. I figure my watchfulness mayB made up 4 all the times I was gone on nites & wknds Bcos of my job. There's nothing I wouldn't give 2 have those many nites & wknds back. Take my advice: If yr job is taking away time w/ yr kids -- find a new job.
My divorce took my kids away from me 4 the best part of 10 yrs. I knew they were in good hands, but that doesn't help me feel better about all the things I missed, all the times I wasn't there 4.
I'm proud of my children. I know they're good people, smart, friendly, compassionate, & not as distanced & guarded as I've Bcome in my Old Age. All things considered, they've turned out way better than I Dserve....
Friday, November 20, 2009
My old Idaho home....
I've bn wanting 2 write some more about Boise, Idaho, where I mostly grew-up, & which is still "Home" even tho I haven't bn there Xcept 4 brief visits since 1982.
But I'm tempted 2 say that if U've Cn the movie NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, U already know everything about Idaho that I could tell U. That movie was shot in Preston in southeast Idaho, clear across the state from where I grew up -- but the houses look just like those in Meridian, where I went 2 highschool, & the foothills & mountains in the background look just like those around Boise. & the bright, dry, sun-bleached look of the scenes outside reminded me of home -- way diffrent from the lite here in Washington. & people really did look like that, talk like that & act like that back when I was in highschool (32+ yrs ago....).
I just thot it was cool that somebody FINALLY got some of the look & feel of Idaho down on film, similar 2 the way Edward Bryant got the mood of Wyoming down in his short-story "Strata"....
I still make jokes about Idaho Bing a Cultural Wasteland, & I really thot it was when I was in highschool & 4 the 5 yrs of dead-Nd retail jobs I held afterward B4 I left. But it was also a nice, safe, quiet place 2 grow up, a nice place 2 have a family, if a little boring. (Even if I couldn't wait 2 get the heck outta there.) & even in Boise, there Cmd very little sense of permanence -- the place was just a big 'ol Small Town up til about 1980. Population didn't top 35,000 til the late '70s, was about 50,000 around '82, & then it REALLY Xploded.
The last time I was there, about a yr & 1/2 ago B4 my Mom died, there were over 200,000 people in Boise, probly close 2 500,000 in the greater Boise Valley area -- it sure weren't no small town no more. Traffic was almost as bad as here in Washington, there were reportedly drive-by shootings & drug problems, & people Cmd about as stressed-out there as they do NEwhere these days -- not that I was really noticing that much, I had other things on my mind.
But it didn't useta B so fast-paced there.
I drove around the area quite a bit during my last visit, & tho things had built-up quite a bit in the 26 yrs I'd bn mostly away, I was still able 2 find my way around w/o getting disoriented, many things were still in Xactly the same place & hadn't changed much -- a lot of it hadn't changed hardly at all. There were just a lot more people. (When I tried 2 visit my old junior-high-school neighborhood here in Washington a few yrs back, everything was SO diffrent & I got so disoriented I hadta pull over & let my girlfriend Mary drive B4 I crashed in2 something....)
There were a LOT more people. The classic late-1950's-ish mobile home my parents lived in 1nce looked out on open pastures. It was now surrounded by condominiums. The open farmland that useta stretch 4 a few miles Btween Boise & Meridian was now completely full of stores & malls. Quiet little farm-community Meridian, which had 3,000 people in it when I graduated highschool in 1977, was now home 2 more than 30,000. The traffic was ... impressive.
I turned on the car radio 1/2 Xpecting 2 hear the same stations in the same 4mats I'd heard in 1982. Uh, no. Did get 2 Xpose my son & daughter 2 The Beatles' "A Day in the Life" on 1 of the local oldies stations, tho. My son, who's almost as big a music fanatic as me, had never heard it B4.
Visited a coupla used bookstores, tho they'd changed 2. Tried 2 look-up some old friends; no luck. Even went & sat in Boise's spacious, almost-2-manicured Ann Morrison Park & fed the ducks, just kinda thinking things over. But it was a COLD day in April, the wind was bitingly cold, more suitable 4 Washington or Wyoming, & I didn't stay long, Nded up going back & talking w/ my Dad, where I probly shoulda bn all along rather than wasting my time wandering aimlessly.
Everything changes. Outside of Boise things haven't changed much, but the city has sprawled 2 the west & southwest & built-up a bit. I never made it downtown 2 C if my favrite used book & record stores were still there, or whether downtown was even MTer than it was in '82.
Make no mistake: There wasn't much going on back there when I left 2 join the Air Force in Dec '82. The economy was just as bad as it is now, 300+ people would show up 2 interview 4 1 job advertised in the daily newspaper. I was unemployed 4 a yr B4 I joined the AF, something I swore I'd never do -- that's how bad it was.
It took me a long time 2 NOT B homesick -- getting stationed in Wyoming 4 yrs later helped a LOT, it was almost like Bing back home, tho a lot colder & windy-er.
Looking back, I think it was probly the small-town-ness I missed, the familiar surroundings, the closeness of family, the reliable changelessness of Home. All the things U take 4 granted.
...Like foggy inversions in the winter that go on 4 WKS. Boise lies along the bottom of a big valley, & in the winter sometimes the air over the city fills up with fog & smog until the weather changes 2 clear it out. When it gets really cold -- say under 32-degrees Fahrenheit 4 a wk or so, that foggy/smoggy layer starts 4ming. Sometimes it stays around 4ever....
The 1st time I remember Cing it was in the winter of '65/'66, when the fog was so thick I couldn't C 10 ft in front of me -- why my parents let me go out in it I'll never know. & it was supernaturally quiet out there. Walking down the middle of the street in front of my house, I couldn't hear a thing, there was no traffic out in this soup -- Xcept 4 some distant voices shrouded in the gloom ahead of me. After a few more steps I saw emerging from the fog my next-door neighbors, Gary & Shelley Davis, wandering thru the fog & singing the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride"....
The fog returned in Feb '76 when I was in highschool, & it hung around 4 a MONTH. In the middle of that foggy month, I remember riding 2 the local A&W drive-in w/ a car-full of my friends from the school Newspaper class, acting like stupid teenagers just released from school, Bing loud & silly, & when we got 2 the A&W they let us try out their chocolate milkshakes 4 free cos I'd just written in the school paper that the local Red Steer drive-in made better, thicker, chocolatey-er milkshakes than either McDonald's or A&W....
...I remember riding bicycles all over the city of Boise at age 14 w/my cousin Jim Steep, putting MILES on R bikes -- Xercise of the sort I doubt I'd even SURVIVE 2day (tho some part of me thinks it'd B fun 2 try -- not my legs tho, I bet). We knew every off-road trail a bike would fit down, & could get across the whole city in less than 15 mins -- not that speed was important, it was what we saw along the way (that other people DIDN'T C Bcos they were in cars) that was important.
We'd ride or push our bikes all the way up Highland View Drive, up in2 the foothills that overlooked the city -- up there where the rich people lived -- and then coast down, swooshing around curves & barrelling down hills & straights, always on the edge of crashing, reaching the mindbending speed of -- oh, mayB 15 or 20 miles an hr, coasting 4 MILES along those winding foothill roads.
We'd try the same trick by pushing R bikes up the dirt trails practically straight-up 2 the top of Camelback Hill, & try 2 ride back down w/o plunging over the handlebars head-1st.... & if we survived we could coast 4 blocks thru the tree-lined north-end-Boise streets....
I 1st discovered book & record stores in Boise, including the store I later worked at, + a few others. The guys at The Musicworks knew I was an EZ sale -- if they had something a little weird, they knew I'd take a chance at it, especially if it was British. London Records' rather skimpy BEST OF CARAVAN? As soon as I heard the driving "live" version of "For Richard," I grabbed it. THE ROCHES? Soon as I heard Robert Fripp's guitar & the girls' gorgeous haunting vocals on "Hammond Song," they had another sale. Moody Blues, Gryphon, Genesis, Camel, Pat Metheny, Sky, Group 87, Gentle Giant, Renaissance, Illusion, Barclay James Harvest, Mike Oldfield, Kevin Ayers & many more I 1st heard in Boise.
I kept the bookstores busy, 2 -- 1 used bookstore just a few blocks from my house I visited 2 or 3x a day now & then, Dpending on how much spare change I had -- this was back in the day (late '73/early '74) when U could buy 2nd-hand paperbacks 4 25 cents.... I bot & traded back in more stuff than I can even remember....
...I remember hanging-out at 1 of my favrite pizza places, The Brass Lamp on Vista Ave., & popping quarters in2 the well-stocked jukebox 2 hear great non-radio songs like Jethro Tull's "The Whistler" & Kansas's "Questions of My Childhood." & I remember how every1 in the place turned & stared at R table after my best friend Don Vincent put-on Dean Martin's "Everybody Loves Somebody" -- a real #1 classic from that magic music year 1964 -- but not Xactly a ROCK&ROLL classic, of course.... & Don laughed like an idiot.... 4 a min I thot we were gonna get lynched....
I learned how 2 drive in Boise. 1st car was a blue 1962 Buick Special w/ no brakes. Later cars got slightly better. Remember driving 2 my job at the record store in my jacked-up '72 Chevy Nova w/ the rumbly engine & the big wide tires in back, screaming along w/ Caravan blasting on the 8-track tape-player! (2 mo's later the transmission fell outta the Nova. So much 4 Bing cool....) 1nce had a '62 Chevy Impala SS that was so fast it scared me. Why can't I remember whatever happened 2 that car...?
I remember nighttime drives up in2 the foothills north of Boise, winding up & around the hills while songs like Abba's "SOS" & "Mamma Mia" & Steve Miller's "Rock 'N' Me" & Earth, Wind & Fire's "After the Love Has Gone" came outta the radio -- each 1 sounding way better, more perfect, more cosmic, as the sounds reverberated off the desolate foothills & up in2 the night....
I remember driving 1/2way up in2 those foothills 2 get a better view of a total lunar eclipse, & in addition Cing a meteor streak low across the night sky over Boise -- blindingly bright 4 mayB 5 seconds! & apparently my friends & I were the only people in the world who noticed it, Bcos I never saw NEthing about it in the newspapers or on TV....
Living in Boise shaped my life from the time I played w/ toy cars in the dirt thru the time I had my 1st highschool romance & my 1st post-highschool heartbreak. However I turned-out as an adult was 4med by living in Boise, where things were pretty laid-back & mostly unhurried & people were open, honest, trusting, friendly.
The last time I was there I couldn't really tell if the current residents R still like that. But it didn't Cm 2 much like it, on the surface. & I think that's sad.
In Reno, Nevada, their gateway 2 the city includes a sign that calls Reno "The biggest little town in the world." I think the Dscription works better 4 Boise. At least the Boise I remember....
But I'm tempted 2 say that if U've Cn the movie NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, U already know everything about Idaho that I could tell U. That movie was shot in Preston in southeast Idaho, clear across the state from where I grew up -- but the houses look just like those in Meridian, where I went 2 highschool, & the foothills & mountains in the background look just like those around Boise. & the bright, dry, sun-bleached look of the scenes outside reminded me of home -- way diffrent from the lite here in Washington. & people really did look like that, talk like that & act like that back when I was in highschool (32+ yrs ago....).
I just thot it was cool that somebody FINALLY got some of the look & feel of Idaho down on film, similar 2 the way Edward Bryant got the mood of Wyoming down in his short-story "Strata"....
I still make jokes about Idaho Bing a Cultural Wasteland, & I really thot it was when I was in highschool & 4 the 5 yrs of dead-Nd retail jobs I held afterward B4 I left. But it was also a nice, safe, quiet place 2 grow up, a nice place 2 have a family, if a little boring. (Even if I couldn't wait 2 get the heck outta there.) & even in Boise, there Cmd very little sense of permanence -- the place was just a big 'ol Small Town up til about 1980. Population didn't top 35,000 til the late '70s, was about 50,000 around '82, & then it REALLY Xploded.
The last time I was there, about a yr & 1/2 ago B4 my Mom died, there were over 200,000 people in Boise, probly close 2 500,000 in the greater Boise Valley area -- it sure weren't no small town no more. Traffic was almost as bad as here in Washington, there were reportedly drive-by shootings & drug problems, & people Cmd about as stressed-out there as they do NEwhere these days -- not that I was really noticing that much, I had other things on my mind.
But it didn't useta B so fast-paced there.
I drove around the area quite a bit during my last visit, & tho things had built-up quite a bit in the 26 yrs I'd bn mostly away, I was still able 2 find my way around w/o getting disoriented, many things were still in Xactly the same place & hadn't changed much -- a lot of it hadn't changed hardly at all. There were just a lot more people. (When I tried 2 visit my old junior-high-school neighborhood here in Washington a few yrs back, everything was SO diffrent & I got so disoriented I hadta pull over & let my girlfriend Mary drive B4 I crashed in2 something....)
There were a LOT more people. The classic late-1950's-ish mobile home my parents lived in 1nce looked out on open pastures. It was now surrounded by condominiums. The open farmland that useta stretch 4 a few miles Btween Boise & Meridian was now completely full of stores & malls. Quiet little farm-community Meridian, which had 3,000 people in it when I graduated highschool in 1977, was now home 2 more than 30,000. The traffic was ... impressive.
I turned on the car radio 1/2 Xpecting 2 hear the same stations in the same 4mats I'd heard in 1982. Uh, no. Did get 2 Xpose my son & daughter 2 The Beatles' "A Day in the Life" on 1 of the local oldies stations, tho. My son, who's almost as big a music fanatic as me, had never heard it B4.
Visited a coupla used bookstores, tho they'd changed 2. Tried 2 look-up some old friends; no luck. Even went & sat in Boise's spacious, almost-2-manicured Ann Morrison Park & fed the ducks, just kinda thinking things over. But it was a COLD day in April, the wind was bitingly cold, more suitable 4 Washington or Wyoming, & I didn't stay long, Nded up going back & talking w/ my Dad, where I probly shoulda bn all along rather than wasting my time wandering aimlessly.
Everything changes. Outside of Boise things haven't changed much, but the city has sprawled 2 the west & southwest & built-up a bit. I never made it downtown 2 C if my favrite used book & record stores were still there, or whether downtown was even MTer than it was in '82.
Make no mistake: There wasn't much going on back there when I left 2 join the Air Force in Dec '82. The economy was just as bad as it is now, 300+ people would show up 2 interview 4 1 job advertised in the daily newspaper. I was unemployed 4 a yr B4 I joined the AF, something I swore I'd never do -- that's how bad it was.
It took me a long time 2 NOT B homesick -- getting stationed in Wyoming 4 yrs later helped a LOT, it was almost like Bing back home, tho a lot colder & windy-er.
Looking back, I think it was probly the small-town-ness I missed, the familiar surroundings, the closeness of family, the reliable changelessness of Home. All the things U take 4 granted.
...Like foggy inversions in the winter that go on 4 WKS. Boise lies along the bottom of a big valley, & in the winter sometimes the air over the city fills up with fog & smog until the weather changes 2 clear it out. When it gets really cold -- say under 32-degrees Fahrenheit 4 a wk or so, that foggy/smoggy layer starts 4ming. Sometimes it stays around 4ever....
The 1st time I remember Cing it was in the winter of '65/'66, when the fog was so thick I couldn't C 10 ft in front of me -- why my parents let me go out in it I'll never know. & it was supernaturally quiet out there. Walking down the middle of the street in front of my house, I couldn't hear a thing, there was no traffic out in this soup -- Xcept 4 some distant voices shrouded in the gloom ahead of me. After a few more steps I saw emerging from the fog my next-door neighbors, Gary & Shelley Davis, wandering thru the fog & singing the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride"....
The fog returned in Feb '76 when I was in highschool, & it hung around 4 a MONTH. In the middle of that foggy month, I remember riding 2 the local A&W drive-in w/ a car-full of my friends from the school Newspaper class, acting like stupid teenagers just released from school, Bing loud & silly, & when we got 2 the A&W they let us try out their chocolate milkshakes 4 free cos I'd just written in the school paper that the local Red Steer drive-in made better, thicker, chocolatey-er milkshakes than either McDonald's or A&W....
...I remember riding bicycles all over the city of Boise at age 14 w/my cousin Jim Steep, putting MILES on R bikes -- Xercise of the sort I doubt I'd even SURVIVE 2day (tho some part of me thinks it'd B fun 2 try -- not my legs tho, I bet). We knew every off-road trail a bike would fit down, & could get across the whole city in less than 15 mins -- not that speed was important, it was what we saw along the way (that other people DIDN'T C Bcos they were in cars) that was important.
We'd ride or push our bikes all the way up Highland View Drive, up in2 the foothills that overlooked the city -- up there where the rich people lived -- and then coast down, swooshing around curves & barrelling down hills & straights, always on the edge of crashing, reaching the mindbending speed of -- oh, mayB 15 or 20 miles an hr, coasting 4 MILES along those winding foothill roads.
We'd try the same trick by pushing R bikes up the dirt trails practically straight-up 2 the top of Camelback Hill, & try 2 ride back down w/o plunging over the handlebars head-1st.... & if we survived we could coast 4 blocks thru the tree-lined north-end-Boise streets....
I 1st discovered book & record stores in Boise, including the store I later worked at, + a few others. The guys at The Musicworks knew I was an EZ sale -- if they had something a little weird, they knew I'd take a chance at it, especially if it was British. London Records' rather skimpy BEST OF CARAVAN? As soon as I heard the driving "live" version of "For Richard," I grabbed it. THE ROCHES? Soon as I heard Robert Fripp's guitar & the girls' gorgeous haunting vocals on "Hammond Song," they had another sale. Moody Blues, Gryphon, Genesis, Camel, Pat Metheny, Sky, Group 87, Gentle Giant, Renaissance, Illusion, Barclay James Harvest, Mike Oldfield, Kevin Ayers & many more I 1st heard in Boise.
I kept the bookstores busy, 2 -- 1 used bookstore just a few blocks from my house I visited 2 or 3x a day now & then, Dpending on how much spare change I had -- this was back in the day (late '73/early '74) when U could buy 2nd-hand paperbacks 4 25 cents.... I bot & traded back in more stuff than I can even remember....
...I remember hanging-out at 1 of my favrite pizza places, The Brass Lamp on Vista Ave., & popping quarters in2 the well-stocked jukebox 2 hear great non-radio songs like Jethro Tull's "The Whistler" & Kansas's "Questions of My Childhood." & I remember how every1 in the place turned & stared at R table after my best friend Don Vincent put-on Dean Martin's "Everybody Loves Somebody" -- a real #1 classic from that magic music year 1964 -- but not Xactly a ROCK&ROLL classic, of course.... & Don laughed like an idiot.... 4 a min I thot we were gonna get lynched....
I learned how 2 drive in Boise. 1st car was a blue 1962 Buick Special w/ no brakes. Later cars got slightly better. Remember driving 2 my job at the record store in my jacked-up '72 Chevy Nova w/ the rumbly engine & the big wide tires in back, screaming along w/ Caravan blasting on the 8-track tape-player! (2 mo's later the transmission fell outta the Nova. So much 4 Bing cool....) 1nce had a '62 Chevy Impala SS that was so fast it scared me. Why can't I remember whatever happened 2 that car...?
I remember nighttime drives up in2 the foothills north of Boise, winding up & around the hills while songs like Abba's "SOS" & "Mamma Mia" & Steve Miller's "Rock 'N' Me" & Earth, Wind & Fire's "After the Love Has Gone" came outta the radio -- each 1 sounding way better, more perfect, more cosmic, as the sounds reverberated off the desolate foothills & up in2 the night....
I remember driving 1/2way up in2 those foothills 2 get a better view of a total lunar eclipse, & in addition Cing a meteor streak low across the night sky over Boise -- blindingly bright 4 mayB 5 seconds! & apparently my friends & I were the only people in the world who noticed it, Bcos I never saw NEthing about it in the newspapers or on TV....
Living in Boise shaped my life from the time I played w/ toy cars in the dirt thru the time I had my 1st highschool romance & my 1st post-highschool heartbreak. However I turned-out as an adult was 4med by living in Boise, where things were pretty laid-back & mostly unhurried & people were open, honest, trusting, friendly.
The last time I was there I couldn't really tell if the current residents R still like that. But it didn't Cm 2 much like it, on the surface. & I think that's sad.
In Reno, Nevada, their gateway 2 the city includes a sign that calls Reno "The biggest little town in the world." I think the Dscription works better 4 Boise. At least the Boise I remember....
Guaranteed Great Music!
I've written about my Record Store Daze B4, at my old website, but I didn't write much about the people I worked w/, Xcept in the most general sorta way. Not sure why, didn't think about them much.
But I've bn wanting 2 write more about my record store Xperiences (really my Dream Job), & 2nite was a pretty good nite at work, & I started thinkin about some of those folks & laffing, & I haven't Cn NE of them since 1982. So here goes. I figure if I laff, mayB U'll laff.
(& if, by the wildest chance, NE of these folks R out there in Netland somewhere, I hereby apologize 4 writing about U, tho I'm pretty sure there won't B NEthing lawsuit-worthy here (skip 2 next post....)).
We were all raving music fans, of course. Or as raving as it was possible 4 us 2 B in the sheltered environment of Boise, Idaho, in the late 1970s. I was told after I was hired at The Musicworks that co-owner Steve Breen was looking 4 some1 w/ cashiering & customer-svc Xperience (which I had), but was actually hoping 2 find some1 who WASN'T 2 much of a music fan.
So I guess he messed-up when he hired me. All I remember about my job-interview was him asking me 2 name the members of The Band, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, & Van Morrison's & Bruce Springsteen's backing bands. I got summa the names wrong (BAD case of nerves) & thot I was sunk. Imagine my suprise when they called me the next day & asked if I'd B willing 2 work 4 hrs/day 2 days/wk. I woulda worked all wk long w/o pay if they'd wanted!
It didn't take long 2 spot the movers & shakers. They say U can't judge people by their musical taste, but....
R Manager, Gary Apter, reminded me looks-wise of science-fiction writer Spider Robinson: A little shaggy, glasses, fun but serious. & if it was weird & British, Gary knew about it. He was an absolute Ncyclopedia of facts about off-the-wall British acts. He was the 1st person 2 point me toward Caravan. He also knew what sold well & steadily, what 2 keep in stock, & what older stuff would sell quick. He also memorized catalog-numbers of albums; he knew w/o pausing 2 think that Pink Floyd's DARK SIDE OF THE MOON was Harvest/Capitol album # 11163. That's an EZ 1 -- he could rattle off 100's more from memory, all U hadta do was ask him. I never heard him miss 1. Yrs of working in record stores in California & Idaho did this 2 him....
Assistant mgr & later mgr of her own store Robin Royball was a big British pop fan -- 10CC, ELO, Moody Blues, Roxy Music, Fleetwood Mac, Barclay James Harvest, Cliff Richard, etc. She didn't much care 4 a lotta the arty stuff I was in2 (tho she got me hooked on Kate Bush by tossing me a homemade cassette of Kate's collected works up thru 1980), but if it was even a little "pop" she could go w/ it. She also had a weakness 4 pretty boys -- she hadda pretty big thing 4 Cheap Trick & was madly in lust w/ Tom Petty.
Asst mgr Rick Delyea was a white Inner City Kid from Baltimore w/ a wild sense of humor. At 1 point he suggested that we in 99.9%-white Idaho should stock-up on some of the more esoteric works of Parliafunkadelicment & Hamilton Bohannon. He guaranteed they were both gonna B monsters. & mayB they were -- in Baltimore. Rick usedta walk in 2 work acting like an avg customer off the street & ask me "Yo, U got NE Bohannon?" His favrite greeting was: "What it is, what it was, what it B like? What it is being, what it was being, what it shall be being?"
The guy who trained me was named David (I've 4got10 his last name), & if it was British & "sensitive," he knew about it. He was the 1st guy I ever heard mention British bands like Spandau Ballet, Ultravox (SYSTEMS OF ROMANCE was his all-time fave album) & Gary Numan. David's constant playing of Numan & The Headboys (& The Rollers' great ELEVATOR) 4ced me 2 take copies of all those albums home.
When Robin got her own store, Loren Clements was her asst. mgr. Loren was pretty laid-back, but he was a big backer of new-wave stuff. Loren's the guy who played the 1st Cars album over & over & OVER in the store until I finally caved-in & admitted there might B more than 1 good song on the album ("Just What I Needed"). Why did it take me so long 2 hear that great triple-whammy finish, "Bye Bye Love"/"Moving in Stereo"/"All Mixed Up"? (Loren, I now have that 1st album on CD....) ((I owe Robin & Loren a LOT -- they got 2 work w/ me during my last yr at MW, during which I was NOT A Happy Guy....))
...& there were others. We went thru a LOT of people -- the record store was everybody's Dream Job, but the turnover was pretty high. Some folks went on 2 better things or didn't Cm 2 fit in. A couple got PO'd when paychecks started bouncing.
Brad Peterson Cmd 2 always B smiling & happy -- but he was also our in-house Collection Agency. Whenever somebody bounced a check on us, Brad would call them, then make jokes after he got off the phone about how he was gonna havta go break somebody's legs.... Brad liked pretty-much NEthing commercial -- big Journey & Starship fan (so was I, back then).
We had another Brad who mainly worked mornings & put on Squeeze's ARGYBARGY album every chance he got....
Spike Ericson looked JUST LIKE Dan Fogelberg & was cast as JC in a local stage production of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. I don't remember Cing much of him after that....
Robb Campbell wasn't w/ the store 4 long after I was hired -- but if it was weird he knew about it. After he left MW, 1st he worked 4 a competing record store across town, then he hit the air as a DJ on the local area's 1st college radio station, KBSU-FM at Boise State University. Robb took his musical tastes w/ him -- tho he loved new wave stuff 2 (Fischer-Z, Flash and the Pan), listening 2 Robb on-air was the only time I've ever heard King Crimson's "Starless," Barclay James Harvest's "Spirit on the Water" & Steeleye Span's "Allison Gross" on the radio. & I bot all 3 albums after I heard those songs....
Robin Reineke was kinda big & pretty nice, & I guess she kinda sorta hadda crush on me. Which I Was Not Ready 4. + I was w/ some1 else at the time.... (I'm sorry, Robin....)
Sue Nelson, along w/ her friend & non-Mployee Sue Sword, were the 2 biggest Who fans ever -- at the time I was convinced they knew more about The 'Oo than NE1 xcept the band themselves. Obscure trax? They knew about 'em. Outtakes? Got 'em. Bootlegs? Well.... We tried 2 convince Sue Nelson that there was more 2 music than Pete, Roger, John & Keith, but she rightly countered that after starting w/ them, what else did she needta hear?
A rather large, chunky guy w/ a gruff sorta voice earned the nickname "Wall of Voodoo" -- probly Bcos he was the only person we knew who bot the 1st album by the band that later sang "Mexican Radio." The Wall was an absolute heavy-metal FANATIC. If it was loud, he knew about it. & he'd tell U XACTLY what he thot. Which made him a key member of R team, cos most of us didn't know R heavy metal that well. A normal Ncounter w/ The Wall would go something like this:
"Hey, Wall, is the new AC/DC NE good?"
"It's fuckin' GREAT, man!"
What else did U needta know?
& if he wasn't around, we'd pass on his recommendations:
"How 'bout these Iron Maiden guys?"
"The Wall raves about 'em."
Def Leppard? Ask The Wall. Judas Priest? The Wall approves. Scorpions? AbsaFuckin'lutely. Van Halen? U betcha. Black Sabbath? Well, they were better when Ozzy was with em....
We were ALL BIG music fans. There were no putdowns of other people's tastes (Mgr Robin 4bade me 2 tell customers that the Cars' album PANORAMA sucked -- she suggested I say "If U like them, U'll like it...."), tho we all liked 2 play "Stump The Band" & trivia games w/ each other while working.
We all hated The Knack, we all loved Blondie, most of us thot The Ramones were great (some of my co-workers got a chance 2 go C The Ramones 4 FREE when they played Boise, & I PASSED?! But I took-up the offer of free Blue Oyster Cult tickets....), & most of us were sucked-in by Punk or New Wave.
Including me. I'd bn strictly a non-radio prog-rock guy B4 starting at The Musicworks -- played Caravan in my car tape-player & screamed along w/ it 2 & from work. But after starting at the record store I quickly bot & took home Shoes, The Records, The Police, The Pretenders, U2, Squeeze, Split Enz, The Headboys, Gary Numan & many others. Course I kept buying my fave weird stuff 2: Sky, Moodies, Group 87, Steve Tibbetts, Pat Metheny....
It was my Dream Job, at age 19. & I'd still B there if my paychecks hadn't started bouncing. Course awhile after that, the shops closed up. & I went on 2 more Dream Jobs later, & they went on 4 20 yrs....
(Oh, U're wondering about this post's title? "Guaranteed Great Music" was a deal The Musicworks offered when a record company really wanted 2 push a new artist -- we'd sell their album 4 $4.44, even $3.99 sometimes. A pretty good deal back then, when albums were selling 4 $5.99 2 $6.99. I only remember the deal Bing offered a few x -- w/ Judie Tzuke & Red Rider & Duncan Browne, & even The Knack 4 the 1st couple wks of their 1st album's release, B4 it caught-on & sold a coupla million copies....)
But I've bn wanting 2 write more about my record store Xperiences (really my Dream Job), & 2nite was a pretty good nite at work, & I started thinkin about some of those folks & laffing, & I haven't Cn NE of them since 1982. So here goes. I figure if I laff, mayB U'll laff.
(& if, by the wildest chance, NE of these folks R out there in Netland somewhere, I hereby apologize 4 writing about U, tho I'm pretty sure there won't B NEthing lawsuit-worthy here (skip 2 next post....)).
We were all raving music fans, of course. Or as raving as it was possible 4 us 2 B in the sheltered environment of Boise, Idaho, in the late 1970s. I was told after I was hired at The Musicworks that co-owner Steve Breen was looking 4 some1 w/ cashiering & customer-svc Xperience (which I had), but was actually hoping 2 find some1 who WASN'T 2 much of a music fan.
So I guess he messed-up when he hired me. All I remember about my job-interview was him asking me 2 name the members of The Band, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, & Van Morrison's & Bruce Springsteen's backing bands. I got summa the names wrong (BAD case of nerves) & thot I was sunk. Imagine my suprise when they called me the next day & asked if I'd B willing 2 work 4 hrs/day 2 days/wk. I woulda worked all wk long w/o pay if they'd wanted!
It didn't take long 2 spot the movers & shakers. They say U can't judge people by their musical taste, but....
R Manager, Gary Apter, reminded me looks-wise of science-fiction writer Spider Robinson: A little shaggy, glasses, fun but serious. & if it was weird & British, Gary knew about it. He was an absolute Ncyclopedia of facts about off-the-wall British acts. He was the 1st person 2 point me toward Caravan. He also knew what sold well & steadily, what 2 keep in stock, & what older stuff would sell quick. He also memorized catalog-numbers of albums; he knew w/o pausing 2 think that Pink Floyd's DARK SIDE OF THE MOON was Harvest/Capitol album # 11163. That's an EZ 1 -- he could rattle off 100's more from memory, all U hadta do was ask him. I never heard him miss 1. Yrs of working in record stores in California & Idaho did this 2 him....
Assistant mgr & later mgr of her own store Robin Royball was a big British pop fan -- 10CC, ELO, Moody Blues, Roxy Music, Fleetwood Mac, Barclay James Harvest, Cliff Richard, etc. She didn't much care 4 a lotta the arty stuff I was in2 (tho she got me hooked on Kate Bush by tossing me a homemade cassette of Kate's collected works up thru 1980), but if it was even a little "pop" she could go w/ it. She also had a weakness 4 pretty boys -- she hadda pretty big thing 4 Cheap Trick & was madly in lust w/ Tom Petty.
Asst mgr Rick Delyea was a white Inner City Kid from Baltimore w/ a wild sense of humor. At 1 point he suggested that we in 99.9%-white Idaho should stock-up on some of the more esoteric works of Parliafunkadelicment & Hamilton Bohannon. He guaranteed they were both gonna B monsters. & mayB they were -- in Baltimore. Rick usedta walk in 2 work acting like an avg customer off the street & ask me "Yo, U got NE Bohannon?" His favrite greeting was: "What it is, what it was, what it B like? What it is being, what it was being, what it shall be being?"
The guy who trained me was named David (I've 4got10 his last name), & if it was British & "sensitive," he knew about it. He was the 1st guy I ever heard mention British bands like Spandau Ballet, Ultravox (SYSTEMS OF ROMANCE was his all-time fave album) & Gary Numan. David's constant playing of Numan & The Headboys (& The Rollers' great ELEVATOR) 4ced me 2 take copies of all those albums home.
When Robin got her own store, Loren Clements was her asst. mgr. Loren was pretty laid-back, but he was a big backer of new-wave stuff. Loren's the guy who played the 1st Cars album over & over & OVER in the store until I finally caved-in & admitted there might B more than 1 good song on the album ("Just What I Needed"). Why did it take me so long 2 hear that great triple-whammy finish, "Bye Bye Love"/"Moving in Stereo"/"All Mixed Up"? (Loren, I now have that 1st album on CD....) ((I owe Robin & Loren a LOT -- they got 2 work w/ me during my last yr at MW, during which I was NOT A Happy Guy....))
...& there were others. We went thru a LOT of people -- the record store was everybody's Dream Job, but the turnover was pretty high. Some folks went on 2 better things or didn't Cm 2 fit in. A couple got PO'd when paychecks started bouncing.
Brad Peterson Cmd 2 always B smiling & happy -- but he was also our in-house Collection Agency. Whenever somebody bounced a check on us, Brad would call them, then make jokes after he got off the phone about how he was gonna havta go break somebody's legs.... Brad liked pretty-much NEthing commercial -- big Journey & Starship fan (so was I, back then).
We had another Brad who mainly worked mornings & put on Squeeze's ARGYBARGY album every chance he got....
Spike Ericson looked JUST LIKE Dan Fogelberg & was cast as JC in a local stage production of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. I don't remember Cing much of him after that....
Robb Campbell wasn't w/ the store 4 long after I was hired -- but if it was weird he knew about it. After he left MW, 1st he worked 4 a competing record store across town, then he hit the air as a DJ on the local area's 1st college radio station, KBSU-FM at Boise State University. Robb took his musical tastes w/ him -- tho he loved new wave stuff 2 (Fischer-Z, Flash and the Pan), listening 2 Robb on-air was the only time I've ever heard King Crimson's "Starless," Barclay James Harvest's "Spirit on the Water" & Steeleye Span's "Allison Gross" on the radio. & I bot all 3 albums after I heard those songs....
Robin Reineke was kinda big & pretty nice, & I guess she kinda sorta hadda crush on me. Which I Was Not Ready 4. + I was w/ some1 else at the time.... (I'm sorry, Robin....)
Sue Nelson, along w/ her friend & non-Mployee Sue Sword, were the 2 biggest Who fans ever -- at the time I was convinced they knew more about The 'Oo than NE1 xcept the band themselves. Obscure trax? They knew about 'em. Outtakes? Got 'em. Bootlegs? Well.... We tried 2 convince Sue Nelson that there was more 2 music than Pete, Roger, John & Keith, but she rightly countered that after starting w/ them, what else did she needta hear?
A rather large, chunky guy w/ a gruff sorta voice earned the nickname "Wall of Voodoo" -- probly Bcos he was the only person we knew who bot the 1st album by the band that later sang "Mexican Radio." The Wall was an absolute heavy-metal FANATIC. If it was loud, he knew about it. & he'd tell U XACTLY what he thot. Which made him a key member of R team, cos most of us didn't know R heavy metal that well. A normal Ncounter w/ The Wall would go something like this:
"Hey, Wall, is the new AC/DC NE good?"
"It's fuckin' GREAT, man!"
What else did U needta know?
& if he wasn't around, we'd pass on his recommendations:
"How 'bout these Iron Maiden guys?"
"The Wall raves about 'em."
Def Leppard? Ask The Wall. Judas Priest? The Wall approves. Scorpions? AbsaFuckin'lutely. Van Halen? U betcha. Black Sabbath? Well, they were better when Ozzy was with em....
We were ALL BIG music fans. There were no putdowns of other people's tastes (Mgr Robin 4bade me 2 tell customers that the Cars' album PANORAMA sucked -- she suggested I say "If U like them, U'll like it...."), tho we all liked 2 play "Stump The Band" & trivia games w/ each other while working.
We all hated The Knack, we all loved Blondie, most of us thot The Ramones were great (some of my co-workers got a chance 2 go C The Ramones 4 FREE when they played Boise, & I PASSED?! But I took-up the offer of free Blue Oyster Cult tickets....), & most of us were sucked-in by Punk or New Wave.
Including me. I'd bn strictly a non-radio prog-rock guy B4 starting at The Musicworks -- played Caravan in my car tape-player & screamed along w/ it 2 & from work. But after starting at the record store I quickly bot & took home Shoes, The Records, The Police, The Pretenders, U2, Squeeze, Split Enz, The Headboys, Gary Numan & many others. Course I kept buying my fave weird stuff 2: Sky, Moodies, Group 87, Steve Tibbetts, Pat Metheny....
It was my Dream Job, at age 19. & I'd still B there if my paychecks hadn't started bouncing. Course awhile after that, the shops closed up. & I went on 2 more Dream Jobs later, & they went on 4 20 yrs....
(Oh, U're wondering about this post's title? "Guaranteed Great Music" was a deal The Musicworks offered when a record company really wanted 2 push a new artist -- we'd sell their album 4 $4.44, even $3.99 sometimes. A pretty good deal back then, when albums were selling 4 $5.99 2 $6.99. I only remember the deal Bing offered a few x -- w/ Judie Tzuke & Red Rider & Duncan Browne, & even The Knack 4 the 1st couple wks of their 1st album's release, B4 it caught-on & sold a coupla million copies....)
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Keep reading the tabloids!
Uh, the British music tabloids, that is. I'm sure some of them must still B out there, probly replaced by others I've never even Cn. I'm thinking mainly of NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS, MELODY MAKER, SOUNDS, RECORD MIRROR, MUSIC WEEK (more a dry business/retailers' paper, like a British version of BILLBOARD).
I tripped over these & learned there was a British "music press" in the summer of 1978, when the record store I later Nded-up working in GAVE AWAY a HUGE stack of these weekly newspapers after they'd bn unable 2 sell them over the previous yr.
& I dug thru this huge pile & took home a copy of every issue I could carry, then sank in2 them 4 the next few wks. & the store's Mployees, who I later Nded up working w/, thot I was crazy.
I'd just discovered ROLLING STONE a coupla yrs earlier, knew them by reputation B4 I ever actually saw an issue on-sale NEwhere (this was Boise, Idaho, in the 1970's), & did my historical research by buying a copy of their paperback ROLLING STONE RECORD REVIEW VOLUME II, full of classic reviews & brilliant writing. The 1st copy of RS I ever read I found at my local library, & was immediately hooked when I found reviews of Yes's YESTERDAYS & RELAYER in the same issue (if I'm remembering correctly). This made up 4 the fact that the guy on the cover was some1 I'd never heard-of -- some long-haired reggae singer named Bob Marley....
(Little did I realize that by the time I started reading RS "seriously" in the summer of '77, they were already on the downhill slide 2 the sorta flashy mainstreamized out-of-touch joke they'd Bcome in the '80s & '90s. Tho I've subscribed a few x & 1nce upon a time some of my fave writers were included in its pgs, I got VERY little outta my last subscription a few yrs back & I haven't looked at a copy of RS since Syd Barrett died.)
But the British tabloids were something diffrent. They weren't above the scene, commenting on it -- they were IN it, involved, Xcited, passionate, sometimes angry. They were wide-awake & alive, trying 2 Xpress their Xcitement. This translated loud&clear 2 me in Idaho, 10,000 miles & a yr away from when the papers were published.
The papers I took home ran from summer '77 2 summer '78, & mosta the weeklies were Xcited about the rise of Punk Rock -- which I Didn't Get 4 a long time. (Possibly not until I read Jon Savage's ENGLAND'S DREAMING a yr or so ago.) But not ALL of them were Xcited. While following the Sex Pistols & the Clash, the Jam, Buzzcocks, Stranglers & others -- & practically worshipping the Ramones & Lou Reed -- there were other things going on 2: Kate Bush appeared & topped the British charts w/ her 1st single & album (the Brits either loved her or hated her; nobody was unDcided); Pink Floyd released their angry ANIMALS; & the tabs got very worked-up over Foreigner's DOUBLE VISION (I know Foreigner had their uses, but I Xpected this more from American critics & fans; 1 writer gave DV 5 stars & called it "GREATEST ALBUM EVER!!!!!" in a headline), & AC/DC, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath....
Tho summa my British faves were still kickin around -- Genesis, Camel, Caravan, Gentle Giant, the Floyd, Hawkwind, Gong, National Health, Illusion, etc. -- they didn't get much space in the papers cos of the new musical revolution that was just starting over there, & 4 awhile I couldn't C why. Why bother w/ this punk crap when Genesis was headlining at Knebworth & Reading? The Moody Blues released their 1st album in 6 yrs -- where was the front-pg on that? (The fact that the album sucked mighta had an impact.) & why was Virgin Records signing the Pistols & all that reggae stuff when they already had Mike Oldfield, David Bedford, Henry Cow, Gong....
Finally it dawned on me: As usual, I was about 2-2-5 yrs 2 late 4 the Xcitement I wanted 2 read about, which was the heyday of prog-rock. All that was on its way out now, mayB kicking & screaming (U.K., & a diffrent, changed, "matured" Roxy Music was still around), but surely on the way out NEhow.
& the writers in the British tabloids were Njoying the change, reveling in it -- at last, some real Xcitement! Something new!
It's funny that I don't remember that much of the actual WRITING, just the atmosphere that came across so clearly. I don't remember that many of the writers -- outside of American Lester Bangs, who did a multi-part series about following the Clash around from gig 2 gig, which almost made sense. (Lester could make NE1 sound good -- he did a long write-up 1nce Dpicting Captain Beefheart talking 2 furniture & conversing w/ paint, & even that made me wanna go out & buy the 1st Beefheart album I could find.)
I remember writing by Nick Kent, Charles Shaar Murray, Nick Logan, John Tobler, Tony Tyler & a few others. Tho Tony Parsons & Julie Burchill were supposedly cranking-out heinous diatribes in the pgs of NME during this period, I musta missed them. & I missed all of Chrissie Hynde's work -- she was off somewhere 4ming the Pretenders. (I finally read some of Julie Burchill's work in those big, flashy annual ROCK YEARBOOKS that Al Clark & Ian Cranna & others edited during the '80s -- pieces she did on The Decline & Fall of Boy George, & some of the mid-'80s "pop tarts," gave me an impression: kinda cranky, but pretty witty.)
It's not the writers so much as the atmosphere that sticks w/ me: a buncha folks reaching up from a grimy newspaper pg 2 shout: HERE'S A BAND U GOTTA C! HERE'S SOME MUSIC U'VE GOTTA HEAR! The passion & immediacy of it all. & it got amplified & repeated every wk.
ROLLING STONE was always 2 distanced 4 that kind of immediacy, & they did nothing but get more distanced. 2 bad 2, cos a lotta my fave writers worked there: Hunter Thompson, Tim Cahill, Dave Marsh, Greil Marcus, Charles M. Young, Daisann McLane (best article ever about Fleetwood Mac during the TUSK tour), David Felton (w/ the best article ever about Brian Wilson emerging from his bedroom after 10 yrs), Ben Fong-Torres.... All gone from there now. & tho I'll still pick up 1 of RS's occasional best-of or retrospective issues, I haven't thot 2 look 4 them at a bookstore or onna magazine rack inna long time. & the last time I checked, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY was doing a better job covering current music/books/movies than RS, & in more depth....
The only mag 2 ever gather a roster of writers as good as RS was MUSICIAN magazine in the late-'70s & thru the '80s, when they had Charles M. Young, Matt Resnicoff, Vic Garbarini, Dave DiMartino, Chuck Eddy, Jill Blardinelli, Mark Coleman, Rafi Zabor, Chip Stern & others writing 4 them -- only then their approach was "Here's some great music U may have overlooked" -- right up my street, obviously. & they were all freakin hilarious, which is always good.
& like RS, they let everybody get away....
(I might not B so nostalgic about British music tabloids if I had actually kept COPIES of NE of them, but somehow in my many moves over the yrs the Ntire pile got trashed -- I don't even know when I threw them out, but I kept NOTHING. Since then I've kept everything I like. I have copies of ROLLING STONE dating back 2 1976 & copies of MUSICIAN dating back 2 '78, but nothing from the 100+ lbs of British weeklies I had piled-up. This stuff is irreplaceable. NE of my friends overseas got NE connections on Fleet Street...?)
I tripped over these & learned there was a British "music press" in the summer of 1978, when the record store I later Nded-up working in GAVE AWAY a HUGE stack of these weekly newspapers after they'd bn unable 2 sell them over the previous yr.
& I dug thru this huge pile & took home a copy of every issue I could carry, then sank in2 them 4 the next few wks. & the store's Mployees, who I later Nded up working w/, thot I was crazy.
I'd just discovered ROLLING STONE a coupla yrs earlier, knew them by reputation B4 I ever actually saw an issue on-sale NEwhere (this was Boise, Idaho, in the 1970's), & did my historical research by buying a copy of their paperback ROLLING STONE RECORD REVIEW VOLUME II, full of classic reviews & brilliant writing. The 1st copy of RS I ever read I found at my local library, & was immediately hooked when I found reviews of Yes's YESTERDAYS & RELAYER in the same issue (if I'm remembering correctly). This made up 4 the fact that the guy on the cover was some1 I'd never heard-of -- some long-haired reggae singer named Bob Marley....
(Little did I realize that by the time I started reading RS "seriously" in the summer of '77, they were already on the downhill slide 2 the sorta flashy mainstreamized out-of-touch joke they'd Bcome in the '80s & '90s. Tho I've subscribed a few x & 1nce upon a time some of my fave writers were included in its pgs, I got VERY little outta my last subscription a few yrs back & I haven't looked at a copy of RS since Syd Barrett died.)
But the British tabloids were something diffrent. They weren't above the scene, commenting on it -- they were IN it, involved, Xcited, passionate, sometimes angry. They were wide-awake & alive, trying 2 Xpress their Xcitement. This translated loud&clear 2 me in Idaho, 10,000 miles & a yr away from when the papers were published.
The papers I took home ran from summer '77 2 summer '78, & mosta the weeklies were Xcited about the rise of Punk Rock -- which I Didn't Get 4 a long time. (Possibly not until I read Jon Savage's ENGLAND'S DREAMING a yr or so ago.) But not ALL of them were Xcited. While following the Sex Pistols & the Clash, the Jam, Buzzcocks, Stranglers & others -- & practically worshipping the Ramones & Lou Reed -- there were other things going on 2: Kate Bush appeared & topped the British charts w/ her 1st single & album (the Brits either loved her or hated her; nobody was unDcided); Pink Floyd released their angry ANIMALS; & the tabs got very worked-up over Foreigner's DOUBLE VISION (I know Foreigner had their uses, but I Xpected this more from American critics & fans; 1 writer gave DV 5 stars & called it "GREATEST ALBUM EVER!!!!!" in a headline), & AC/DC, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath....
Tho summa my British faves were still kickin around -- Genesis, Camel, Caravan, Gentle Giant, the Floyd, Hawkwind, Gong, National Health, Illusion, etc. -- they didn't get much space in the papers cos of the new musical revolution that was just starting over there, & 4 awhile I couldn't C why. Why bother w/ this punk crap when Genesis was headlining at Knebworth & Reading? The Moody Blues released their 1st album in 6 yrs -- where was the front-pg on that? (The fact that the album sucked mighta had an impact.) & why was Virgin Records signing the Pistols & all that reggae stuff when they already had Mike Oldfield, David Bedford, Henry Cow, Gong....
Finally it dawned on me: As usual, I was about 2-2-5 yrs 2 late 4 the Xcitement I wanted 2 read about, which was the heyday of prog-rock. All that was on its way out now, mayB kicking & screaming (U.K., & a diffrent, changed, "matured" Roxy Music was still around), but surely on the way out NEhow.
& the writers in the British tabloids were Njoying the change, reveling in it -- at last, some real Xcitement! Something new!
It's funny that I don't remember that much of the actual WRITING, just the atmosphere that came across so clearly. I don't remember that many of the writers -- outside of American Lester Bangs, who did a multi-part series about following the Clash around from gig 2 gig, which almost made sense. (Lester could make NE1 sound good -- he did a long write-up 1nce Dpicting Captain Beefheart talking 2 furniture & conversing w/ paint, & even that made me wanna go out & buy the 1st Beefheart album I could find.)
I remember writing by Nick Kent, Charles Shaar Murray, Nick Logan, John Tobler, Tony Tyler & a few others. Tho Tony Parsons & Julie Burchill were supposedly cranking-out heinous diatribes in the pgs of NME during this period, I musta missed them. & I missed all of Chrissie Hynde's work -- she was off somewhere 4ming the Pretenders. (I finally read some of Julie Burchill's work in those big, flashy annual ROCK YEARBOOKS that Al Clark & Ian Cranna & others edited during the '80s -- pieces she did on The Decline & Fall of Boy George, & some of the mid-'80s "pop tarts," gave me an impression: kinda cranky, but pretty witty.)
It's not the writers so much as the atmosphere that sticks w/ me: a buncha folks reaching up from a grimy newspaper pg 2 shout: HERE'S A BAND U GOTTA C! HERE'S SOME MUSIC U'VE GOTTA HEAR! The passion & immediacy of it all. & it got amplified & repeated every wk.
ROLLING STONE was always 2 distanced 4 that kind of immediacy, & they did nothing but get more distanced. 2 bad 2, cos a lotta my fave writers worked there: Hunter Thompson, Tim Cahill, Dave Marsh, Greil Marcus, Charles M. Young, Daisann McLane (best article ever about Fleetwood Mac during the TUSK tour), David Felton (w/ the best article ever about Brian Wilson emerging from his bedroom after 10 yrs), Ben Fong-Torres.... All gone from there now. & tho I'll still pick up 1 of RS's occasional best-of or retrospective issues, I haven't thot 2 look 4 them at a bookstore or onna magazine rack inna long time. & the last time I checked, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY was doing a better job covering current music/books/movies than RS, & in more depth....
The only mag 2 ever gather a roster of writers as good as RS was MUSICIAN magazine in the late-'70s & thru the '80s, when they had Charles M. Young, Matt Resnicoff, Vic Garbarini, Dave DiMartino, Chuck Eddy, Jill Blardinelli, Mark Coleman, Rafi Zabor, Chip Stern & others writing 4 them -- only then their approach was "Here's some great music U may have overlooked" -- right up my street, obviously. & they were all freakin hilarious, which is always good.
& like RS, they let everybody get away....
(I might not B so nostalgic about British music tabloids if I had actually kept COPIES of NE of them, but somehow in my many moves over the yrs the Ntire pile got trashed -- I don't even know when I threw them out, but I kept NOTHING. Since then I've kept everything I like. I have copies of ROLLING STONE dating back 2 1976 & copies of MUSICIAN dating back 2 '78, but nothing from the 100+ lbs of British weeklies I had piled-up. This stuff is irreplaceable. NE of my friends overseas got NE connections on Fleet Street...?)
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Return of the Great Lost Singles!
I thot I was done w/ these, but apparently they Rn't done w/ me yet. Bsides, some quick research shows me there R quite a few items I've missed that have bn shamefully overlooked. (Further research shows me that sevral items I had onna list 2 B used in this post have already bn written-up at my old site, so I won't bore U with them here.) Summa this stuff may also have bn touched-on in reviews of the albums they Nded up on, but I'll try not 2 B 2 redundant. Now, on w/ the show!
* Renaissance: "Northern Lights" (1978) -- Probly 1 of the sweetest, folkiest things they ever did, under 4 mins, w/ great hooky choruses & lotsa group vocal harmonies. Made the Top 10 in Britain at the height of punk -- bet the Brits were shocked! Sire issued it as a single in America where it sank w/o a trace -- probly 2 square & sweet 2 ever get played here.
* The Turtles: "We'll Meet Again" (1969?) -- The B-side of some later Turtles single, this mournful '40s-era # (Vera Lynn's original runs at the Nd of the paranoid '60s atomic-war flick DR. STRANGELOVE) is here trans4med by Flo & Eddie & the boys in2 a bouncy, joyous farewell. They've sure got no regrets, & U'll B singing along w/ it after the 1st chorus. Shoulda bn a HUGE hit. (& their version of Judee Sill's "Lady-O" is a freakin 4got10 classic 2....)
* Yes: "Wonderous Stories" (1977) -- 1 of the best trax off GOING FOR THE ONE, & a radio-friendly 3 mins 2 boot, like every Yes single Btween "Roundabout" & "Owner of a Lonely Heart," it sank w/o a trace. (Xamples: The brutal 4-min edit of the original 10-min "America"; "Into the Lens (I Am a Camera)"; they even released part of "Gates of Delirium" as a single....) An accessible bit of Yes's softer, more lyrical side w/ nice keybs & gtr & Xcellent vocal harmonies, I thot this was enuf like "Your Move" 2 actually get some airplay. & I was wrong. Did better in England, I've read.... (& from earlier in their career, "Looking Around" & "Sweet Dreams" were both Great Lost Singles. Even "Time and a Word"....)
* Pretenders: "Kid" (1979), *"Message of Love" (1981), *"Talk of the Town" (1981) -- Always loved these guys. "Kid" was the track that pulled me in2 their 1st album (WAY more compelling than "Brass in Pocket"), w/ Chrissie Hynde's heartbroken vocals & James Honeyman-Scott's great retro-'60s guitar. "Message of Love" had the driving gtr & Hynde's strong vocals, & the lyrics were no slouch either -- mayB the high point Xcept 4 the opening gtr riff was that soaring-thru-the-clouds Nding w/ Chrissie repeating "Talk to me Darlin...." "Talk of the Town" was a gorgeous bittersweet lovesong, brutally cut short on PRETENDERS II.
* Carolyne Mas: "Stillsane," *"Sadie Says" (both 1980) -- Marketed as sorta a female Bruce Springsteen, Mas had some talent, & these 2 punchy trax led-off her 1st album, copies of which I haven't Cn in YRS....
* Shoes: "Too Late"/"Now and Then" (1980) -- Gorgeous breathy lovesongs w/ strong gtr from their album PRESENT TENSE (which has at least 3 other classics on it: "In My Arms Again," "Every Girl," "Tomorrow Night"). Elektra couldn't give copies of the album away, the single got zero airplay, & when MTV FINALLY started playing videos of these guys a yr later, by then their albums had probly bn melted-down 2 make Cars records....
* The Records: "Teenarama," *"Starry Eyes" (both 1979) -- 1nce had the picture-sleeves these singles came in, but foolishly traded them away when I bot their 1st album. "Teenarama" is hilarious & catchy but ... the subject would B considered a bit risky these days: Hanging around w/ an underage girl 4 a week, 2 Xperience "all that melodrama," the rotten sugar-filled diet ("You're so skinny, you're so sweet"), etc. Right. Tell that 2 yr probation officer, boys. Speaking of legalities, "Starry Eyes" is another sweet, catchy # about mgmt/career legal woes, & the boys make it sound more fun than I'll bet it was 2 Xperience. Very nice gtr work here. Will Birch & John Wicks were pretty great songwriters.
* Public Image Ltd.: "Rise" (1986?) -- Well, I liked it. After "God Save the Queen," the best thing Johnny Rotten/Lydon ever did, I think, but I'm sure no Xpert. Here surrounded by studio pros, Lydon's anger Cms 2 kinda make sense.
* Spider: "Shady Lady" (1980), "New Romance (It's a Mystery)" (#39/80) -- Peter Coleman's punchy production helps add Xcitement, keyboardist/main songwriter Holly Knight knew her hooks even then, & Amanda Blue's vocal whoops were kinda cool. "New Romance" got some airplay 4 a few wks. The marvelous "Shady Lady" was the B-side of a stiffed single that was 2 boring & normal 2 get much airplay. I liked these guys & thot they hadda future. But no. Holly Knight grew up 2 B a "song doctor."
* New England: "Don't Ever Wanna Lose 'Ya," *"Hello Hello Hello" (both 1979) -- LOTSA keyboards, lotsa gtr, singer/songwriter/gtrist John Fannon's kinda thin voice, & Paul Stanley's punchy production -- another band I thot hadda shot. "Don't Ever Wanna Lose 'Ya" is pure melodrama, nearly 5 mins worth. "Hello" is a cool album-opener that lays-out their tricks. They released 3 albums but had no hits....
* Justin Hayward & John Lodge: "When You Wake Up" (1975) -- The B-side of their overrated & 4gettable "Blue Guitar" single, this # closed their BLUE JAYS album & Dserved 2: a gorgeous, chiming anthem the whole world could sing along w/ & sway back&4th in time 2....
* Jethro Tull: "The Whistler" (1977) -- 1st heard this in 1 of my fave pizza hangouts in the summer of '77; great gtr, snappy choruses, great hooks. Why wasn't this a hit? It was sure WAY better than "Bungle in the Jungle"....
* Stories: "Love is in Motion" (1974) -- Probly the sweetest song on their Xcellent ABOUT US album, got LOTSA airplay on Boise, Idaho's KFXD-AM 580, but somehow couldn't break thru like their previous hit "Brother Louie" did. Why not? Could it have bn Ian Lloyd's voice? I think it's pretty cool, the harmonies R gorgeous, & Michael Brown's keyboards R perfect. But....
* Pete Townshend: "Slit Skirts" (1982) -- A Pete Classic. Wasn't a hit Bcos avg radio audiences back then didn't care about some guy's mid-life crisis? 2 bad. Note: The video version features killer gtr that isn't in the version on his CHINESE EYES album....
+ Kansas: "Reason to Be" (1980) -- Kansas meets Styx, sorta, & U can still stand 2 listen 2 it. Buried at the Nd of their album MONOLITH, this got almost no airplay, & yet it's almost a perfect, simple miniature, sorta low-key & modest. Course, I liked them a lotta the time.... This isn't even on their best-of's.... (I'm also a sucker 4 "Back Door," another low-key # buried at the Nd of Kansas's AUDIO VISIONS album....)
* ELO: "Twilight" & *"The Way Life's Meant to Be" (both 1980), +"Confusion" (1979) -- "Twilight" is the ear-opener that led-off TIME -- I thot it was the best ELO single in 2 yrs, & it peaked at #40. "The Way Life's Meant to Be" is an almost-perfect Jeff Lynne ballad, which failed 2 make NE known chart. "Confusion" is ELO's more-usual messing-about from this period, but I've always hadda soft spot 4 it.
* The Move: "Tonite" (1972) -- Speaking of which.... I think this is some of Roy Wood's best work, w/ great fun vocals & a hilarious chorus ("I'll be over tonite/If you say you might...."). Made the Top 20 in England....
* Alan Parsons Project: "The Gold Bug" (1980) -- The B-side of "Time," this is worth it just 4 the sax, which is likely played by 4mer King Crimson & Camel member Mel Collins. There's also some nice keyboards. The only version of this I've got is on THE INSTRUMENTAL WORKS, which oddly does not include musician's credits....
* Kenny Loggins: "Conviction of the Heart" (1991) -- I was a sucker 4 a few of his singles ("Don't Fight It," "Welcome to Heartlight," "I'm Alright"), but this is amazing. It's hard not 2 agree w/ the sentiments Xpressed, & tho the steadily-building arrangement & the choir might Cm a little obvious, this packs a real punch. But then I love my musical drama....
* Steve Winwood: "Still in the Game" (1983) -- Gorgeous song about taking chances, w/ help on the choruses from Steve's then-wife -- her vocal support really makes this song work, I think. She's not credited on the album.
* Gordon Lightfoot: "Summer Side of Life," "Ten Degrees and Getting Colder" (both 1971) -- Have I mentioned that I love this guy? Could also add "Seven Islands Suite," "Beautiful," "The Circle is Small," "High and Dry," "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" & a few others. "Summer Side of Life" Cms 2 B about the importance of love getting U thru tough times. "Ten Degrees" is a sentimental folksong that is almost perfect in its brevity & has 2 lines that Always Get Me: "I don't remember when/I had a better friend."
Until I find some more....
* Renaissance: "Northern Lights" (1978) -- Probly 1 of the sweetest, folkiest things they ever did, under 4 mins, w/ great hooky choruses & lotsa group vocal harmonies. Made the Top 10 in Britain at the height of punk -- bet the Brits were shocked! Sire issued it as a single in America where it sank w/o a trace -- probly 2 square & sweet 2 ever get played here.
* The Turtles: "We'll Meet Again" (1969?) -- The B-side of some later Turtles single, this mournful '40s-era # (Vera Lynn's original runs at the Nd of the paranoid '60s atomic-war flick DR. STRANGELOVE) is here trans4med by Flo & Eddie & the boys in2 a bouncy, joyous farewell. They've sure got no regrets, & U'll B singing along w/ it after the 1st chorus. Shoulda bn a HUGE hit. (& their version of Judee Sill's "Lady-O" is a freakin 4got10 classic 2....)
* Yes: "Wonderous Stories" (1977) -- 1 of the best trax off GOING FOR THE ONE, & a radio-friendly 3 mins 2 boot, like every Yes single Btween "Roundabout" & "Owner of a Lonely Heart," it sank w/o a trace. (Xamples: The brutal 4-min edit of the original 10-min "America"; "Into the Lens (I Am a Camera)"; they even released part of "Gates of Delirium" as a single....) An accessible bit of Yes's softer, more lyrical side w/ nice keybs & gtr & Xcellent vocal harmonies, I thot this was enuf like "Your Move" 2 actually get some airplay. & I was wrong. Did better in England, I've read.... (& from earlier in their career, "Looking Around" & "Sweet Dreams" were both Great Lost Singles. Even "Time and a Word"....)
* Pretenders: "Kid" (1979), *"Message of Love" (1981), *"Talk of the Town" (1981) -- Always loved these guys. "Kid" was the track that pulled me in2 their 1st album (WAY more compelling than "Brass in Pocket"), w/ Chrissie Hynde's heartbroken vocals & James Honeyman-Scott's great retro-'60s guitar. "Message of Love" had the driving gtr & Hynde's strong vocals, & the lyrics were no slouch either -- mayB the high point Xcept 4 the opening gtr riff was that soaring-thru-the-clouds Nding w/ Chrissie repeating "Talk to me Darlin...." "Talk of the Town" was a gorgeous bittersweet lovesong, brutally cut short on PRETENDERS II.
* Carolyne Mas: "Stillsane," *"Sadie Says" (both 1980) -- Marketed as sorta a female Bruce Springsteen, Mas had some talent, & these 2 punchy trax led-off her 1st album, copies of which I haven't Cn in YRS....
* Shoes: "Too Late"/"Now and Then" (1980) -- Gorgeous breathy lovesongs w/ strong gtr from their album PRESENT TENSE (which has at least 3 other classics on it: "In My Arms Again," "Every Girl," "Tomorrow Night"). Elektra couldn't give copies of the album away, the single got zero airplay, & when MTV FINALLY started playing videos of these guys a yr later, by then their albums had probly bn melted-down 2 make Cars records....
* The Records: "Teenarama," *"Starry Eyes" (both 1979) -- 1nce had the picture-sleeves these singles came in, but foolishly traded them away when I bot their 1st album. "Teenarama" is hilarious & catchy but ... the subject would B considered a bit risky these days: Hanging around w/ an underage girl 4 a week, 2 Xperience "all that melodrama," the rotten sugar-filled diet ("You're so skinny, you're so sweet"), etc. Right. Tell that 2 yr probation officer, boys. Speaking of legalities, "Starry Eyes" is another sweet, catchy # about mgmt/career legal woes, & the boys make it sound more fun than I'll bet it was 2 Xperience. Very nice gtr work here. Will Birch & John Wicks were pretty great songwriters.
* Public Image Ltd.: "Rise" (1986?) -- Well, I liked it. After "God Save the Queen," the best thing Johnny Rotten/Lydon ever did, I think, but I'm sure no Xpert. Here surrounded by studio pros, Lydon's anger Cms 2 kinda make sense.
* Spider: "Shady Lady" (1980), "New Romance (It's a Mystery)" (#39/80) -- Peter Coleman's punchy production helps add Xcitement, keyboardist/main songwriter Holly Knight knew her hooks even then, & Amanda Blue's vocal whoops were kinda cool. "New Romance" got some airplay 4 a few wks. The marvelous "Shady Lady" was the B-side of a stiffed single that was 2 boring & normal 2 get much airplay. I liked these guys & thot they hadda future. But no. Holly Knight grew up 2 B a "song doctor."
* New England: "Don't Ever Wanna Lose 'Ya," *"Hello Hello Hello" (both 1979) -- LOTSA keyboards, lotsa gtr, singer/songwriter/gtrist John Fannon's kinda thin voice, & Paul Stanley's punchy production -- another band I thot hadda shot. "Don't Ever Wanna Lose 'Ya" is pure melodrama, nearly 5 mins worth. "Hello" is a cool album-opener that lays-out their tricks. They released 3 albums but had no hits....
* Justin Hayward & John Lodge: "When You Wake Up" (1975) -- The B-side of their overrated & 4gettable "Blue Guitar" single, this # closed their BLUE JAYS album & Dserved 2: a gorgeous, chiming anthem the whole world could sing along w/ & sway back&4th in time 2....
* Jethro Tull: "The Whistler" (1977) -- 1st heard this in 1 of my fave pizza hangouts in the summer of '77; great gtr, snappy choruses, great hooks. Why wasn't this a hit? It was sure WAY better than "Bungle in the Jungle"....
* Stories: "Love is in Motion" (1974) -- Probly the sweetest song on their Xcellent ABOUT US album, got LOTSA airplay on Boise, Idaho's KFXD-AM 580, but somehow couldn't break thru like their previous hit "Brother Louie" did. Why not? Could it have bn Ian Lloyd's voice? I think it's pretty cool, the harmonies R gorgeous, & Michael Brown's keyboards R perfect. But....
* Pete Townshend: "Slit Skirts" (1982) -- A Pete Classic. Wasn't a hit Bcos avg radio audiences back then didn't care about some guy's mid-life crisis? 2 bad. Note: The video version features killer gtr that isn't in the version on his CHINESE EYES album....
+ Kansas: "Reason to Be" (1980) -- Kansas meets Styx, sorta, & U can still stand 2 listen 2 it. Buried at the Nd of their album MONOLITH, this got almost no airplay, & yet it's almost a perfect, simple miniature, sorta low-key & modest. Course, I liked them a lotta the time.... This isn't even on their best-of's.... (I'm also a sucker 4 "Back Door," another low-key # buried at the Nd of Kansas's AUDIO VISIONS album....)
* ELO: "Twilight" & *"The Way Life's Meant to Be" (both 1980), +"Confusion" (1979) -- "Twilight" is the ear-opener that led-off TIME -- I thot it was the best ELO single in 2 yrs, & it peaked at #40. "The Way Life's Meant to Be" is an almost-perfect Jeff Lynne ballad, which failed 2 make NE known chart. "Confusion" is ELO's more-usual messing-about from this period, but I've always hadda soft spot 4 it.
* The Move: "Tonite" (1972) -- Speaking of which.... I think this is some of Roy Wood's best work, w/ great fun vocals & a hilarious chorus ("I'll be over tonite/If you say you might...."). Made the Top 20 in England....
* Alan Parsons Project: "The Gold Bug" (1980) -- The B-side of "Time," this is worth it just 4 the sax, which is likely played by 4mer King Crimson & Camel member Mel Collins. There's also some nice keyboards. The only version of this I've got is on THE INSTRUMENTAL WORKS, which oddly does not include musician's credits....
* Kenny Loggins: "Conviction of the Heart" (1991) -- I was a sucker 4 a few of his singles ("Don't Fight It," "Welcome to Heartlight," "I'm Alright"), but this is amazing. It's hard not 2 agree w/ the sentiments Xpressed, & tho the steadily-building arrangement & the choir might Cm a little obvious, this packs a real punch. But then I love my musical drama....
* Steve Winwood: "Still in the Game" (1983) -- Gorgeous song about taking chances, w/ help on the choruses from Steve's then-wife -- her vocal support really makes this song work, I think. She's not credited on the album.
* Gordon Lightfoot: "Summer Side of Life," "Ten Degrees and Getting Colder" (both 1971) -- Have I mentioned that I love this guy? Could also add "Seven Islands Suite," "Beautiful," "The Circle is Small," "High and Dry," "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" & a few others. "Summer Side of Life" Cms 2 B about the importance of love getting U thru tough times. "Ten Degrees" is a sentimental folksong that is almost perfect in its brevity & has 2 lines that Always Get Me: "I don't remember when/I had a better friend."
Until I find some more....
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Musical 1st impressions....
As 1 of my heroes, SF writer & critic Algis Budrys, 1nce wrote: "Criticism is not susceptible to the democratic process. Thank you for your kind attention, and now let's get on with it."
Some of the items in this list go back almost a yr, but here's my 1st impressions after a few hrs of listening....
The Strawbs: HALCYON DAYS best-of (1997) -- *Grumble, grumble* Mildly disappointing at 1st. "Where is This Dream of Your Youth?" -- the best thing they ever did -- isn't included. Leader/singer/songwriter Dave Cousins' angry & bitter "New World" isn't included; Tony Hooper's retro, lite, silly "Oh Me, Oh My" isn't here. The version of "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus" included here ISN'T the electric "live" version (which I've only bn able 2 find on an Italian-import cassette!). "I'll Carry On Beside You," which shoulda bn a hit -- isn't here.
Then there's John Tobler's rather Dfensive liner notes which point-out in the opening sentence(!) that the Strawbs' biggest success in the U.K. & U.S. came after keyboard whiz Rick Wakeman left the band 2 join Yes.... No reason 2 B Dfensive; Wakeman did some great work w/ these guys & a little bit of it's here -- like his busy-busy keybs on "The Hangman and the Papist" -- the best part of that song, really. & RW's successors, Blue Weaver & John Hawken, did some Xcellent, flamboyant keyboard work 2....
Still, bitchbitchbitch. There R 1/2 a dozen diffrent "Best of Strawbs" repackages out there (dating back 2 about '74), & none of them R perfect. Could it B these guys did so much Good Stuff U can't fit it all on a coupla CD's? Don't know yet, but....
The big + here is that all this stuff SOUNDS GREAT. It ain't all up my street -- the early folkie "Oh, How She Changed" is just 2 wimpy & soggy. In the liner notes, Cousins hits on what I think is key 4 this band -- their development of "the big sound that the Americans loved." Hate 2 sound like such a stereotype, but these guys R at their absolute best when they go over-the-top -- like in the crashing melodrama of the doomy "Down by the Sea," & Cousins' hysterical vocals & the pushy keyboards in "Hero and Heroine" (pretty-much the definition of "bombastic"). "Round and Round" also has some of this pushy delirium, B4 coming 2 some disquieting lines at the Nd: "It's just the revolution that I despise...." "New World" is a better, more shocking look at Cousins' disgust w/ Modern Life. (It's on their partly-listenable GRAVE NEW WORLD album.)
There's some bonuses -- "Keep the Devil Outside" is an Xcellent folk-rocky outtake; "Backside," a B-side released as performed by "Ciggy Barlust and the Whales From Venus," is a sorta David Bowie satire that's relaxed & funny -- other than the singalong "Part of the Union" (& "Oh Me, Oh My"), it's about the only place in their career where the Strawbs cracked a joke -- they shoulda let their hair down like this more often. Even "Tell Me What You See in Me," a 1991 remake of a song off their 1st album, sounds great -- even tho the song itself is kinda dull.
But the stuff they left off bugs me. "Where is This Dream of Your Youth?" is 9 mins long, but not 2 long 2 have fit here -- there's other stuff included that's LONGER -- & it has some of Wakeman's wildest playing EVER, & the resta the band is in a fiery mood 2. (U can find it on their otherwise-avg 1970 "live" set JUST A COLLECTION OF ANTIQUES AND CURIOS.)
Still, they didn't ask me 2 assemble this. I know what I like -- the big, melodramatic stuff. & I hope I find more....
Badfinger: WISH YOU WERE HERE (1974) -- The best things here R the long medleys that frame the 2nd 1/2 of this album. "In the Meantime/Some Other Time" makes such a perfect, dramatic epitaph 4 this talented band that I'm suprised they didn't close the album w/ it. The closer, "Meanwhile Back at the Ranch/Should I Smoke?" at least Xpresses some hope 4 the future.... (6 mo's later, leader/songwriter/gtrist Pete Ham hung himself, leaving Bhind a pregnant wife.) Whether U interpret these medleys as metaphors 4 the financial & management hassles that plagued the band at this time, or as Dscriptions of troubled love affairs, they can B read either way. & Chris Thomas's production & Anne O'Dell's string arrangements up the drama level big-time.
Some of the other trax R ... kinda dull. Ham's "Know One Knows" might take more listenings, & Joey Molland's "Love Time" was so dull I hadta skip it 1/2way thru. But Molland sure sounded like McCartney, didn't he? Especially on "Some Other Time".... I'll B listening more, hoping 4 more drama....
5 Man Electrical Band: BEST OF (2009) -- "Absolutely Right" still sounds perfect from start 2 finish, "Signs" is still its angry, classic self. But summa this is stuck permanently in 1972. "Julianna" especially suffers from a sloppy, overly-busy arrangement & annoying falsetto vocals. & the "family" vocal-impersonations in "Werewolf" don't do it NE favors, either. C, my musical taste has 2 improved since I was 13....
Lobo: BEST OF (1993) -- I already had mosta this stuff & grew-up w/ the hits. But after 35+ yrs of looking 4 "California Kid and Reemo" (it was never on an album B4 this), I now find I can't actually listen 2 it -- it's 2 wimpy & mushy, even tho there R some nice things in it. I put-on the nursery-rhyme-catchy "A Simple Man," which still works just fine & shoulda bn a bigger hit -- & then "I'd Love You to Want Me" sucked me in B4 I could stop myself. The way the backing vocals join-in on the choruses -- 4 me, there's still a little magic here. But then the liner notes almost told me more than I wanted 2 know: Lobo was a loner w/ a shaky marriage who couldn't handle fame & turned 2 drinking 2 prop himself up? R ALL rock&roll success stories the same?
At the risk of alienating some of my new friends overseas....:
Television Personalities: MY DARK PLACES (2006) -- Wow. I'm reminded of Syd Barrett. Didn't his solo albums sound something like this? After reading about some of leader/singer/songwriter Dan Treacy's struggles (jail, homelessness, mental breakdown?), I Xpected the lyrics might B pretty in10se. I didn't Xpect the stark, simple production, some of the rudimentary playing (the piano playing all-on-1-key in "Special Chair"), the nursery-rhyme "All the Young Children on Crack," or the childlike girl back-up singer. Some of the lyrics R kinda funny ("Ex-Girlfriend Club," "I'm Not Your Typical Boy"), & I'll B listening more, but.... This was a pop band?
Animal Collective: MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION (2009) -- Kinda nice mix of group vocals & electronics in a watery sorta wash.... I haven't found NEwhere 2 grab-on yet & I think this may take a few listenings 4 me. So far, pleasant but kinda formless. But I'll B getting back 2 it....
Love: THE DEFINITIVE ROCK COLLECTION (2006) -- Multi-racial '60s LA band unlucky enuf 2 B on the same label as The Doors. Early stuff is sorta noisy gtr rock, later stuff psychedelicizes but loses the tuneage. The middle-period stuff from their album FOREVER CHANGES is fairly amazing, especially the pretty fake-flamenco "Alone Again Or," the bouncy "Maybe the People Would Be The Times, or Between Clark and Hilldale," & the brilliant, moving "You Set the Scene," which has LONG bn a fave of mine, & the only song of theirs I'd heard B4 buying this.
Some of it's just weird: "Your Mind and We Belong Together" starts as a gorgeous love song, then turns a corner in2 psychedelic gtr noise -- but it works! Still not sure about "7 And 7 Is," Cms sorta like punk-gtr noise (which U might like more than me). But their version of Burt Bacharach's "My Little Red Book" is a grabber -- I started singing along with the choruses the 1st time I heard it! I KNOW those lyrics! WHO hadda hit w/ this song?!
Gentle Giant: LIVE/PLAYING THE FOOL (1977) -- The live version of "Funny Ways" is worth the price of the album. Creepy. At 1st I related 2 it totally. Then I started wondering if mayB the narrator's sposta B a sociopath. Chilling. ...Oh, there's some other good stuff here 2, including a 15-min medley of themes from their album OCTOPUS. No live version of "Think of Me with Kindness," un4tun8ly....
Weather Report: 8:30/LIVE (1980) -- The "Bahia/Boogie Woogie Waltz" medley is AMAZING. 2 me it's a depiction of a harried NYC commuter running 2 the subway train as his wife shouts honey-do's out the window Bhind him, then there's the stressful trip 2 his destination -- & at the Nd, the train crashes & sprawls across the concert stage -- in slow motion. There's some other OK stuff here, but nothing else that's NEwhere near as amazing.
Updates & more soon....
Some of the items in this list go back almost a yr, but here's my 1st impressions after a few hrs of listening....
The Strawbs: HALCYON DAYS best-of (1997) -- *Grumble, grumble* Mildly disappointing at 1st. "Where is This Dream of Your Youth?" -- the best thing they ever did -- isn't included. Leader/singer/songwriter Dave Cousins' angry & bitter "New World" isn't included; Tony Hooper's retro, lite, silly "Oh Me, Oh My" isn't here. The version of "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus" included here ISN'T the electric "live" version (which I've only bn able 2 find on an Italian-import cassette!). "I'll Carry On Beside You," which shoulda bn a hit -- isn't here.
Then there's John Tobler's rather Dfensive liner notes which point-out in the opening sentence(!) that the Strawbs' biggest success in the U.K. & U.S. came after keyboard whiz Rick Wakeman left the band 2 join Yes.... No reason 2 B Dfensive; Wakeman did some great work w/ these guys & a little bit of it's here -- like his busy-busy keybs on "The Hangman and the Papist" -- the best part of that song, really. & RW's successors, Blue Weaver & John Hawken, did some Xcellent, flamboyant keyboard work 2....
Still, bitchbitchbitch. There R 1/2 a dozen diffrent "Best of Strawbs" repackages out there (dating back 2 about '74), & none of them R perfect. Could it B these guys did so much Good Stuff U can't fit it all on a coupla CD's? Don't know yet, but....
The big + here is that all this stuff SOUNDS GREAT. It ain't all up my street -- the early folkie "Oh, How She Changed" is just 2 wimpy & soggy. In the liner notes, Cousins hits on what I think is key 4 this band -- their development of "the big sound that the Americans loved." Hate 2 sound like such a stereotype, but these guys R at their absolute best when they go over-the-top -- like in the crashing melodrama of the doomy "Down by the Sea," & Cousins' hysterical vocals & the pushy keyboards in "Hero and Heroine" (pretty-much the definition of "bombastic"). "Round and Round" also has some of this pushy delirium, B4 coming 2 some disquieting lines at the Nd: "It's just the revolution that I despise...." "New World" is a better, more shocking look at Cousins' disgust w/ Modern Life. (It's on their partly-listenable GRAVE NEW WORLD album.)
There's some bonuses -- "Keep the Devil Outside" is an Xcellent folk-rocky outtake; "Backside," a B-side released as performed by "Ciggy Barlust and the Whales From Venus," is a sorta David Bowie satire that's relaxed & funny -- other than the singalong "Part of the Union" (& "Oh Me, Oh My"), it's about the only place in their career where the Strawbs cracked a joke -- they shoulda let their hair down like this more often. Even "Tell Me What You See in Me," a 1991 remake of a song off their 1st album, sounds great -- even tho the song itself is kinda dull.
But the stuff they left off bugs me. "Where is This Dream of Your Youth?" is 9 mins long, but not 2 long 2 have fit here -- there's other stuff included that's LONGER -- & it has some of Wakeman's wildest playing EVER, & the resta the band is in a fiery mood 2. (U can find it on their otherwise-avg 1970 "live" set JUST A COLLECTION OF ANTIQUES AND CURIOS.)
Still, they didn't ask me 2 assemble this. I know what I like -- the big, melodramatic stuff. & I hope I find more....
Badfinger: WISH YOU WERE HERE (1974) -- The best things here R the long medleys that frame the 2nd 1/2 of this album. "In the Meantime/Some Other Time" makes such a perfect, dramatic epitaph 4 this talented band that I'm suprised they didn't close the album w/ it. The closer, "Meanwhile Back at the Ranch/Should I Smoke?" at least Xpresses some hope 4 the future.... (6 mo's later, leader/songwriter/gtrist Pete Ham hung himself, leaving Bhind a pregnant wife.) Whether U interpret these medleys as metaphors 4 the financial & management hassles that plagued the band at this time, or as Dscriptions of troubled love affairs, they can B read either way. & Chris Thomas's production & Anne O'Dell's string arrangements up the drama level big-time.
Some of the other trax R ... kinda dull. Ham's "Know One Knows" might take more listenings, & Joey Molland's "Love Time" was so dull I hadta skip it 1/2way thru. But Molland sure sounded like McCartney, didn't he? Especially on "Some Other Time".... I'll B listening more, hoping 4 more drama....
5 Man Electrical Band: BEST OF (2009) -- "Absolutely Right" still sounds perfect from start 2 finish, "Signs" is still its angry, classic self. But summa this is stuck permanently in 1972. "Julianna" especially suffers from a sloppy, overly-busy arrangement & annoying falsetto vocals. & the "family" vocal-impersonations in "Werewolf" don't do it NE favors, either. C, my musical taste has 2 improved since I was 13....
Lobo: BEST OF (1993) -- I already had mosta this stuff & grew-up w/ the hits. But after 35+ yrs of looking 4 "California Kid and Reemo" (it was never on an album B4 this), I now find I can't actually listen 2 it -- it's 2 wimpy & mushy, even tho there R some nice things in it. I put-on the nursery-rhyme-catchy "A Simple Man," which still works just fine & shoulda bn a bigger hit -- & then "I'd Love You to Want Me" sucked me in B4 I could stop myself. The way the backing vocals join-in on the choruses -- 4 me, there's still a little magic here. But then the liner notes almost told me more than I wanted 2 know: Lobo was a loner w/ a shaky marriage who couldn't handle fame & turned 2 drinking 2 prop himself up? R ALL rock&roll success stories the same?
At the risk of alienating some of my new friends overseas....:
Television Personalities: MY DARK PLACES (2006) -- Wow. I'm reminded of Syd Barrett. Didn't his solo albums sound something like this? After reading about some of leader/singer/songwriter Dan Treacy's struggles (jail, homelessness, mental breakdown?), I Xpected the lyrics might B pretty in10se. I didn't Xpect the stark, simple production, some of the rudimentary playing (the piano playing all-on-1-key in "Special Chair"), the nursery-rhyme "All the Young Children on Crack," or the childlike girl back-up singer. Some of the lyrics R kinda funny ("Ex-Girlfriend Club," "I'm Not Your Typical Boy"), & I'll B listening more, but.... This was a pop band?
Animal Collective: MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION (2009) -- Kinda nice mix of group vocals & electronics in a watery sorta wash.... I haven't found NEwhere 2 grab-on yet & I think this may take a few listenings 4 me. So far, pleasant but kinda formless. But I'll B getting back 2 it....
Love: THE DEFINITIVE ROCK COLLECTION (2006) -- Multi-racial '60s LA band unlucky enuf 2 B on the same label as The Doors. Early stuff is sorta noisy gtr rock, later stuff psychedelicizes but loses the tuneage. The middle-period stuff from their album FOREVER CHANGES is fairly amazing, especially the pretty fake-flamenco "Alone Again Or," the bouncy "Maybe the People Would Be The Times, or Between Clark and Hilldale," & the brilliant, moving "You Set the Scene," which has LONG bn a fave of mine, & the only song of theirs I'd heard B4 buying this.
Some of it's just weird: "Your Mind and We Belong Together" starts as a gorgeous love song, then turns a corner in2 psychedelic gtr noise -- but it works! Still not sure about "7 And 7 Is," Cms sorta like punk-gtr noise (which U might like more than me). But their version of Burt Bacharach's "My Little Red Book" is a grabber -- I started singing along with the choruses the 1st time I heard it! I KNOW those lyrics! WHO hadda hit w/ this song?!
Gentle Giant: LIVE/PLAYING THE FOOL (1977) -- The live version of "Funny Ways" is worth the price of the album. Creepy. At 1st I related 2 it totally. Then I started wondering if mayB the narrator's sposta B a sociopath. Chilling. ...Oh, there's some other good stuff here 2, including a 15-min medley of themes from their album OCTOPUS. No live version of "Think of Me with Kindness," un4tun8ly....
Weather Report: 8:30/LIVE (1980) -- The "Bahia/Boogie Woogie Waltz" medley is AMAZING. 2 me it's a depiction of a harried NYC commuter running 2 the subway train as his wife shouts honey-do's out the window Bhind him, then there's the stressful trip 2 his destination -- & at the Nd, the train crashes & sprawls across the concert stage -- in slow motion. There's some other OK stuff here, but nothing else that's NEwhere near as amazing.
Updates & more soon....
Friday, November 13, 2009
Bloggers Anonymous
I useta B a books & music addict. Now I'm an Internet addict.
I'm addicted 2 music- & book-review blogs & websites. It's 2 bad that I haven't found that many of them. But there's about 1/2-a-dozen that I check-in w/ every day, just 2 C what's going on, C if they've posted NEthing new, C how they're getting thru their day.
If they wanna toss in some personal stuff about how they spent their day or their wknd, what happened 2 them during their last trip down 2 the boozer, or how the job's makin them crazy like usual, that's great 2 -- but mainly what hooks me R their views on music or books.
I wish there were more. I wish more people would Xpress their opinions.
Mosta the music blogs & sites I've stumbled-over just post stuff 2 download. Some of them don't even COMMENT about what they're posting. I just assume if they post it, they must like it or at least think some1 else out there will want 2 hear it.
I've found mayB 3 Dcent book-review sites ever. I know a lotta people still read, but book reviews don't Xactly hook the attn like a chance 2 download the latest track by the newest hot young thing -- B4 radio even gets it! Or mayB some old song U thot everybody 4got about AGES ago....
Ghod knows there's something 4 all tastes out there. There's a few folks around my age who R blogging or running sites, but I wish there were more. Or mayB I just don't share the current bunch's intrests. 1 site, www.laylasclassicrock.blogspot.com/, mainly posts news-briefs about classic rockers. This is cool. & she does post links 2 lotsa other Classic Rock-related sites. But there Rn't NE reviews, so....
Whenever I'm on-line I always check-in at Asleep On the Compost Heap (http://onavery.blogspot.com/) -- it's a daily thing. Not only does Gardenhead have Good Musical Taste, he also writes some very funny stuff, even when he's just recounting his Xperiences while walking the dog at 6 am. Sometimes it's just fun 2 check-in & C what's going on in the village of Kells over in Ireland. + G is a LOT more up-2-date on good new bands than I am....
I WOULD check-in daily at There Will Be Blog (http://adamprincebilly.wordpress.com/), if Adam would get back 2 posting more regularly. He's bn awfully quiet 4 the past month or so.... (There's no law saying we all HAVE 2 write & post every day. Some people write 2 MUCH. & I'm probly 1 of em....)
I've bn checking-in w/ Rastronomicals at http://lahistoriadelamusicarock.blogspot.com/, now that he's come back 2 life recently after taking a vacation. If U haven't checked-out Rastro's work U should do so. I don't always know the music he writes about, but he is always well-in4med & thotful, & some of his write-ups R F'in hilarious....
I check-in 1nce every wk or so at Mark Prindle's record-review site (http://www.markprindle.com/), 2 read his "What's New?" & C what outrageous new reviews of Hot New Bands The Kids Dig he's posted recently. Mark is the illegitimate father of mosta us weirdos who try 2 review music on-line, his website is HUGE (100's of artists reviewed, interviews 2), & I've got a few silly comments scattered here & there, the 1st I ever submitted NEwhere on-line (over 10 yrs ago)....
I also check-in every coupla days at RS Crabb's MySpace blog (http://blogs.myspace.com/townedger) 2 C what this wk's Crabb Top 10 includes, or 2 C what Crabby's ranting & raving about as he works his way thru another day out there in Iowa. Could U imagine? I grew-up in Idaho & the last time I was back there it was STILL a cultural wasteland. Not sure I could handle Iowa. I spent a lifetime during 6 yrs in Wyoming....
About the best active book-review site I know-of right now is the blog at Bookslut (http://www.bookslut.com/blog/). They update daily, they're hilarious, I love their Attitude & their punchy/edgy humor. & if there's a hilarious controversy somewhere in publishing, they'll point U toward it....
U may have noticed that none of these sites R Xactly CNN. After 20 yrs of Bing a reporter, at times I think "Who needs the Real World?" Most days a good music- or book-review site (or even a personal blog) can tell me everything I needta know. Or even stuff I didn't know I needed 2 know .... (?)
...I'm still looking 4 more. There R other review-sites I visit now & then (I wrote-up a TON of them at my old website, TAD's Weird-Ass Music and Books), but once I read thru their back-catalog stuff I get impatient 4 their new stuff....
I don't ask 4 much. All I want is a website/blog that'll point me toward great music old & new, great overlooked reading of all kinds, add some neat personal stuff now & then, make me laff & cry, make & serve my coffee while I lounge here at the computer, & make me feel like I'm connecting w/ some people out there who actually HAVE brains & a sense of humor. I deal w/ enuf of the OTHER kind of people every day....
Sheesh, my OWN blog can't even do all that.
But I'll B working on it. Cos my dirty little secret that U out there have probly already figured-out is that I'd rather write than read or listen....
It's 2 bad this technology wasn't available 20 or 30 yrs ago. My whole life mighta turned-out diffrent. (Course I haven't got10 rich & famous doing this. Yet....)
After 20+ yrs of stressing-out 2 much EVERY SINGLE DAY, I still need some1 2 talk w/, some1 2 pass-on all my useless in4mation 2. & this Cms 2 B the 4mat I've chosen. I ain't done yet....
During the 2 mo's I was cut-off from blogging I felt lost, w/o a purpose or a Mission in Life, adrift, Dpressed. True, I read 1/2 a dozen novels. & I've only read a coupla books since I got back on-line.
This has Bcome so much a part of my life that I've stopped keeping a journal -- it was the same boring stuff over&over NEway. Most of what I'm thinking these days, & practically NEthing the slightest bit "creative," Nds up here.
MayB I'd finish writing that rock-group novel if I wasn't on-line. But I kinda doubt it. & I don't mind. I don't really think it's that much of a loss. MayB this is what I was meant 2 B doing all along. Having something (some formatted writing project) 2 look 4ward-2 keeps me going....
Don't NEbody out there B tryin 2 pull NE Interventions on me -- Bcos I will NOT go 2 Rehab....
(....PS -- Twice this wk I've put new (2 me) music on the CD player 2 B listened-2 & reviewed here, & I got interrupted by my roommates both times. I'll try again 2morrow. & I'll have new music-reviews posted here soon. I promise. No, really. I mean it this time....)
I'm addicted 2 music- & book-review blogs & websites. It's 2 bad that I haven't found that many of them. But there's about 1/2-a-dozen that I check-in w/ every day, just 2 C what's going on, C if they've posted NEthing new, C how they're getting thru their day.
If they wanna toss in some personal stuff about how they spent their day or their wknd, what happened 2 them during their last trip down 2 the boozer, or how the job's makin them crazy like usual, that's great 2 -- but mainly what hooks me R their views on music or books.
I wish there were more. I wish more people would Xpress their opinions.
Mosta the music blogs & sites I've stumbled-over just post stuff 2 download. Some of them don't even COMMENT about what they're posting. I just assume if they post it, they must like it or at least think some1 else out there will want 2 hear it.
I've found mayB 3 Dcent book-review sites ever. I know a lotta people still read, but book reviews don't Xactly hook the attn like a chance 2 download the latest track by the newest hot young thing -- B4 radio even gets it! Or mayB some old song U thot everybody 4got about AGES ago....
Ghod knows there's something 4 all tastes out there. There's a few folks around my age who R blogging or running sites, but I wish there were more. Or mayB I just don't share the current bunch's intrests. 1 site, www.laylasclassicrock.blogspot.com/, mainly posts news-briefs about classic rockers. This is cool. & she does post links 2 lotsa other Classic Rock-related sites. But there Rn't NE reviews, so....
Whenever I'm on-line I always check-in at Asleep On the Compost Heap (http://onavery.blogspot.com/) -- it's a daily thing. Not only does Gardenhead have Good Musical Taste, he also writes some very funny stuff, even when he's just recounting his Xperiences while walking the dog at 6 am. Sometimes it's just fun 2 check-in & C what's going on in the village of Kells over in Ireland. + G is a LOT more up-2-date on good new bands than I am....
I WOULD check-in daily at There Will Be Blog (http://adamprincebilly.wordpress.com/), if Adam would get back 2 posting more regularly. He's bn awfully quiet 4 the past month or so.... (There's no law saying we all HAVE 2 write & post every day. Some people write 2 MUCH. & I'm probly 1 of em....)
I've bn checking-in w/ Rastronomicals at http://lahistoriadelamusicarock.blogspot.com/, now that he's come back 2 life recently after taking a vacation. If U haven't checked-out Rastro's work U should do so. I don't always know the music he writes about, but he is always well-in4med & thotful, & some of his write-ups R F'in hilarious....
I check-in 1nce every wk or so at Mark Prindle's record-review site (http://www.markprindle.com/), 2 read his "What's New?" & C what outrageous new reviews of Hot New Bands The Kids Dig he's posted recently. Mark is the illegitimate father of mosta us weirdos who try 2 review music on-line, his website is HUGE (100's of artists reviewed, interviews 2), & I've got a few silly comments scattered here & there, the 1st I ever submitted NEwhere on-line (over 10 yrs ago)....
I also check-in every coupla days at RS Crabb's MySpace blog (http://blogs.myspace.com/townedger) 2 C what this wk's Crabb Top 10 includes, or 2 C what Crabby's ranting & raving about as he works his way thru another day out there in Iowa. Could U imagine? I grew-up in Idaho & the last time I was back there it was STILL a cultural wasteland. Not sure I could handle Iowa. I spent a lifetime during 6 yrs in Wyoming....
About the best active book-review site I know-of right now is the blog at Bookslut (http://www.bookslut.com/blog/). They update daily, they're hilarious, I love their Attitude & their punchy/edgy humor. & if there's a hilarious controversy somewhere in publishing, they'll point U toward it....
U may have noticed that none of these sites R Xactly CNN. After 20 yrs of Bing a reporter, at times I think "Who needs the Real World?" Most days a good music- or book-review site (or even a personal blog) can tell me everything I needta know. Or even stuff I didn't know I needed 2 know .... (?)
...I'm still looking 4 more. There R other review-sites I visit now & then (I wrote-up a TON of them at my old website, TAD's Weird-Ass Music and Books), but once I read thru their back-catalog stuff I get impatient 4 their new stuff....
I don't ask 4 much. All I want is a website/blog that'll point me toward great music old & new, great overlooked reading of all kinds, add some neat personal stuff now & then, make me laff & cry, make & serve my coffee while I lounge here at the computer, & make me feel like I'm connecting w/ some people out there who actually HAVE brains & a sense of humor. I deal w/ enuf of the OTHER kind of people every day....
Sheesh, my OWN blog can't even do all that.
But I'll B working on it. Cos my dirty little secret that U out there have probly already figured-out is that I'd rather write than read or listen....
It's 2 bad this technology wasn't available 20 or 30 yrs ago. My whole life mighta turned-out diffrent. (Course I haven't got10 rich & famous doing this. Yet....)
After 20+ yrs of stressing-out 2 much EVERY SINGLE DAY, I still need some1 2 talk w/, some1 2 pass-on all my useless in4mation 2. & this Cms 2 B the 4mat I've chosen. I ain't done yet....
During the 2 mo's I was cut-off from blogging I felt lost, w/o a purpose or a Mission in Life, adrift, Dpressed. True, I read 1/2 a dozen novels. & I've only read a coupla books since I got back on-line.
This has Bcome so much a part of my life that I've stopped keeping a journal -- it was the same boring stuff over&over NEway. Most of what I'm thinking these days, & practically NEthing the slightest bit "creative," Nds up here.
MayB I'd finish writing that rock-group novel if I wasn't on-line. But I kinda doubt it. & I don't mind. I don't really think it's that much of a loss. MayB this is what I was meant 2 B doing all along. Having something (some formatted writing project) 2 look 4ward-2 keeps me going....
Don't NEbody out there B tryin 2 pull NE Interventions on me -- Bcos I will NOT go 2 Rehab....
(....PS -- Twice this wk I've put new (2 me) music on the CD player 2 B listened-2 & reviewed here, & I got interrupted by my roommates both times. I'll try again 2morrow. & I'll have new music-reviews posted here soon. I promise. No, really. I mean it this time....)
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Why "F" is the new "How 'ya doin'?"
I work in a convenience-store/gas-station where the atmosphere is ... shall we say, informal. Not 2 say "chaotic." Not that I'd Xpect NE1 2 walk in wearing a suit & tie, or formal dress. & every time some1 comes-in all dressed-up I assume there's a dance going-on somewhere or some1 got married.
Things R usually pretty down-2-Earth & direct, especially on wknds when mosta R customers really let their hair down. On a recent Fri nite, some of the louder customer conversations started me wondering if we could mayB reduce the # of words in the English language, since there's 1 word that works so clearly & directly 2 illustrate SO MANY situations. 1 conversation went almost Xactly like this (lightly censored 4 reading by NE1, tho I'm tempted 2 just spell it all out):
(LOUDLY) "F, man! How the F are ya?"
"F, man, I haven't seen you in F'in forever! How the F you been, bro?"
"F'd like usual, man. Same old S...."
"You still F'in workin at that same F'd-up place?"
"F, no, man! They F'in laid me off last F'in winter! It's the F'in economy!"
"It's gone right down the F'in toilet!"
"You're F'in tellin me?!"
"So what ya doin right now, man?"
"F'in gettin drunk, man!"
"(laughs)"
"I F'in figure why not? With the F'in economy down the S'er, every nite's a party nite, right, F'er?"
"MFer.... So you still livin with that same F'd-up blonde?"
"F ... yeah."
"How's that F'in workin?"
"It's F'd, like always!"
"Dude, WTF? What's F'in wrong, isn't she takin her F'in meds anymore?"
"F'in A, of COURSE she's takin her F'in meds -- but they make her F'in WORSE!"
"That is F'd up, man...."
"Look, F'er, I gotta get F'in goin or she's gonna start F'in callin me & then she'll have all the F'in knives out when I F'in get home...."
"Oh, F. OK, man. Look, I'll F'in call you, OK?"
"Yeah, you F'in do that. Or just F'in come by the F'in house. I mean, she gets a little F'in squirrely sometimes, but usually it's pretty F'in cool around there."
"OK. Well, I'll F'in see ya, F'er."
"Sounds F'in cool, bro. You got my F'in number?"
Just a few mins later a girl of mayB 13 barged thru the front door, oblivious 2 every1 around her, while she screamed in2 her cellphone: "Well, you just F'in tell them to F'in F Off!"
...Now, don't get me wrong here. I support vivid, clear, direct communication, whether it's in writing or face-2-face. I don't swear 2 much myself, tho I've gotten worse in the past few yrs. But 4 awhile that Fri nite at work I thot I was in the middle of some uncensored SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE skit, something w/ a title like "The F-Bomb Family" -- where everybody yells constantly & every other word is a variation on the F....
George Carlin useta say something about how F was the most flexible word in the English language -- that it can B used 2 Xpress anger, suprise, awe, agreement, disbelief, even pride. & I hear it used in all those ways & more on my avg Fri nites....
Things R usually pretty down-2-Earth & direct, especially on wknds when mosta R customers really let their hair down. On a recent Fri nite, some of the louder customer conversations started me wondering if we could mayB reduce the # of words in the English language, since there's 1 word that works so clearly & directly 2 illustrate SO MANY situations. 1 conversation went almost Xactly like this (lightly censored 4 reading by NE1, tho I'm tempted 2 just spell it all out):
(LOUDLY) "F, man! How the F are ya?"
"F, man, I haven't seen you in F'in forever! How the F you been, bro?"
"F'd like usual, man. Same old S...."
"You still F'in workin at that same F'd-up place?"
"F, no, man! They F'in laid me off last F'in winter! It's the F'in economy!"
"It's gone right down the F'in toilet!"
"You're F'in tellin me?!"
"So what ya doin right now, man?"
"F'in gettin drunk, man!"
"(laughs)"
"I F'in figure why not? With the F'in economy down the S'er, every nite's a party nite, right, F'er?"
"MFer.... So you still livin with that same F'd-up blonde?"
"F ... yeah."
"How's that F'in workin?"
"It's F'd, like always!"
"Dude, WTF? What's F'in wrong, isn't she takin her F'in meds anymore?"
"F'in A, of COURSE she's takin her F'in meds -- but they make her F'in WORSE!"
"That is F'd up, man...."
"Look, F'er, I gotta get F'in goin or she's gonna start F'in callin me & then she'll have all the F'in knives out when I F'in get home...."
"Oh, F. OK, man. Look, I'll F'in call you, OK?"
"Yeah, you F'in do that. Or just F'in come by the F'in house. I mean, she gets a little F'in squirrely sometimes, but usually it's pretty F'in cool around there."
"OK. Well, I'll F'in see ya, F'er."
"Sounds F'in cool, bro. You got my F'in number?"
Just a few mins later a girl of mayB 13 barged thru the front door, oblivious 2 every1 around her, while she screamed in2 her cellphone: "Well, you just F'in tell them to F'in F Off!"
...Now, don't get me wrong here. I support vivid, clear, direct communication, whether it's in writing or face-2-face. I don't swear 2 much myself, tho I've gotten worse in the past few yrs. But 4 awhile that Fri nite at work I thot I was in the middle of some uncensored SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE skit, something w/ a title like "The F-Bomb Family" -- where everybody yells constantly & every other word is a variation on the F....
George Carlin useta say something about how F was the most flexible word in the English language -- that it can B used 2 Xpress anger, suprise, awe, agreement, disbelief, even pride. & I hear it used in all those ways & more on my avg Fri nites....
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tell me why....
(Another look at Ian MacDonald's REVOLUTION IN THE HEAD, a song-by-song analysis of the Beatles' recorded works....)
The updated version of MacDonald's REVOLUTION (2007) isn't that diffrent from the 1994 original, tho it does add trax & info from the Beatles' ANTHOLOGY packages & LIVE AT THE BBC.
I remain impressed w/ the writing & the fact that MacDonald got SO MUCH out of a chronological journey thru the Beatles' recorded output, almost as if no1 had ever written about this stuff B4 -- tho MacDonald includes a fairly long bibliography showing that LOTS of writers have hadda bash at this material. (He didn't include Bob Spitz's massive, Ndless, unrevealing bio THE BEATLES, tho it may have bn published after MacDonald suicided in 2003 -- my memry may B failing me here.) The only other overview that comes NEwhere close 2 what MacDonald achieved here is Tim Riley's dry-but-still-in4mative TELL ME WHY (1988). If yr a Beatles fan, yr gonna hava good time.
A short Dscription: Basically what MacDonald did here was write mini-essays on nearly 200 Beatles songs in order of their completion, including narratives on how the songs sound, their impact on both the record charts & on popular culture, who played what on which, Bhind-the-scenes Dtails on how the songs came 2 B written & recorded, the album/single & date of their original release, & much more. He even includes Dscriptions of a few tracks we'll probly never hear....
Tho there's no question that MacDonald was a Beatles fan, he was amazingly open-minded about both their strengths & weaknesses, was unafraid 2 point-out "lazy," "slovenly" work (much of the immediately-post-SGT. PEPPER era), & never holds back when they nail something -- "A Day in the Life," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Tomorrow Never Knows," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "I Am the Walrus" & others get long, Dtailed write-ups.
It's in the Bhind-the-scenes Dtails & the long discussions of how the Fabs achieved their more complicated effects that MacDonald really scores. These discussions R never boring, & summa this stuff will make U laff out-loud.
Still 1 of my favrite parts of the book is where MacDonald Xplains why producer George Martin assigned Paul 2 sing the vocal leading in2 the harmonica middle-break on "Love Me Do" -- Bcos John, who had previously bn singing the vocal B4 moving 2 the harmonica, "had been singing 'Love me waaah!' -- which was deemed uncommercial." ... On "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" Lennon asked Martin 4 "a 'fairground' production, wherein one could smell the sawdust -- which, while not in the narrowest sense a musical specification, was by Lennon's standards a clear and reasonable request. He once asked Martin to make one of his songs sound like an orange."
I even Njoyed the long preface that attempts 2 show the 4's massive impact on pop culture -- we may all know this stuff, but MacDonald was around while it was happening, & while I didn't necessarily need Sixties' philosophy re-Xplained 2 me, I can C where some younger readers might need some additional context. & MacDonald's views R always intresting 2 read.
4 me, the best things in the book R his critical judgements. Ghod knows I don't always agree w/ him, but part of what makes this book great is that MacDonald never holds back on his opinions. He can even B a little harsh, which can B a lotta fun 2 read.
A few (thousand) Xamples: He calls the contents of ABBEY ROAD "erratic and often hollow"; feels that 1/2 the songs on the WHITE ALBUM "are poor by earlier standards"; calls the HELP! album "flimsy" (the original British version now on CD ain't that bad); feels "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is "poorly thought out, succeeding more as a glamourous production"; calls Harrison's "Piggies" "an embarrassing blot on his discography"; McCartney's "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is a "ghastly miscalculation ... by far his worst lapse of taste"; "Birthday" "quickly wears thin"; calls George's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" "plodding" & sez it "quickly becomes tiresome"; calls "Paperback Writer" contrived; "Nowhere Man" is "dirge-like"; calls Paul's "I Will" "close to muzak, were the craftsmanship not so cunning"; finds Lennon's "Across the Universe" "boring"; "Here, There and Everywhere" is "chintzy and rather cloying"; Lennon's "It's Only Love" is "a twee make-weight"; Paul's "The Night Before" & John's "I'll Cry Instead" R "slight"; "Tell Me Why" is "filler"; the masterful "Ticket to Ride" is "bitter, dissonant, with a dragging beat"; "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" is the Fabs' "first original to outstay its welcome"; he doesn't think much of "Here Comes the Sun," "Helter Skelter" or "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)"; "Everybody's Trying to be My Baby" is "lame"; "Mr. Moonlight" is "gross"; he even thinks "Revolution 9" is a significant pop-culture event, if not a significant piece of music.
(George took quite a beating in that list, which is odd Bcos MacDonald greatly admires Harrison's "thoughtfulness," dry wit & cynicism. MacDonald also thinks much more of McCartney's composing & instrumental abilities than many other critics. & Lennon's quirks R subjected 2 much in-depth analysis.)
MacDonald also boosts a few songs he feels R unfairly overlooked: Harrison's "Old Brown Shoe" is "an archetypal B-side from an era when B-sides were worth flipping a single over for"; "Mr. Kite!" is "ingenious ... irresistible"; Paul's "For No One" is "formally, one of McCartney's most perfect pieces"; "From Me to You" (which has always bored me) was "a brilliant consolidation of their emerging sound." & there R other raves.
I'll admit my own biases: I'd hoped 4 longer write-ups on a lotta my faves -- "There's a Place," "Tell Me Why," "Anytime at All," "And Your Bird Can Sing," the dreamy "Dear Prudence," the underrated "Wait," "Back in the USSR," "For No One," "It's Only Love," "Got to Get You Into My Life," "Eight Days a Week," "The Night Before," "I Need You," "You Never Give Me Your Money/Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End," "Things We Said Today," etc.
But I'll bet if U pick up this book U'll turn 2 1 of yr faves 2 C what MacDonald thinks -- & then U won't want 2 put the book down.... U could get lost in here 4 yrs. There R still parts I haven't finished reading, still songs I've never heard that I'd like 2 know more about. & this is THE place 2 go if U want 2 know more....
The updated version of MacDonald's REVOLUTION (2007) isn't that diffrent from the 1994 original, tho it does add trax & info from the Beatles' ANTHOLOGY packages & LIVE AT THE BBC.
I remain impressed w/ the writing & the fact that MacDonald got SO MUCH out of a chronological journey thru the Beatles' recorded output, almost as if no1 had ever written about this stuff B4 -- tho MacDonald includes a fairly long bibliography showing that LOTS of writers have hadda bash at this material. (He didn't include Bob Spitz's massive, Ndless, unrevealing bio THE BEATLES, tho it may have bn published after MacDonald suicided in 2003 -- my memry may B failing me here.) The only other overview that comes NEwhere close 2 what MacDonald achieved here is Tim Riley's dry-but-still-in4mative TELL ME WHY (1988). If yr a Beatles fan, yr gonna hava good time.
A short Dscription: Basically what MacDonald did here was write mini-essays on nearly 200 Beatles songs in order of their completion, including narratives on how the songs sound, their impact on both the record charts & on popular culture, who played what on which, Bhind-the-scenes Dtails on how the songs came 2 B written & recorded, the album/single & date of their original release, & much more. He even includes Dscriptions of a few tracks we'll probly never hear....
Tho there's no question that MacDonald was a Beatles fan, he was amazingly open-minded about both their strengths & weaknesses, was unafraid 2 point-out "lazy," "slovenly" work (much of the immediately-post-SGT. PEPPER era), & never holds back when they nail something -- "A Day in the Life," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Tomorrow Never Knows," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "I Am the Walrus" & others get long, Dtailed write-ups.
It's in the Bhind-the-scenes Dtails & the long discussions of how the Fabs achieved their more complicated effects that MacDonald really scores. These discussions R never boring, & summa this stuff will make U laff out-loud.
Still 1 of my favrite parts of the book is where MacDonald Xplains why producer George Martin assigned Paul 2 sing the vocal leading in2 the harmonica middle-break on "Love Me Do" -- Bcos John, who had previously bn singing the vocal B4 moving 2 the harmonica, "had been singing 'Love me waaah!' -- which was deemed uncommercial." ... On "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" Lennon asked Martin 4 "a 'fairground' production, wherein one could smell the sawdust -- which, while not in the narrowest sense a musical specification, was by Lennon's standards a clear and reasonable request. He once asked Martin to make one of his songs sound like an orange."
I even Njoyed the long preface that attempts 2 show the 4's massive impact on pop culture -- we may all know this stuff, but MacDonald was around while it was happening, & while I didn't necessarily need Sixties' philosophy re-Xplained 2 me, I can C where some younger readers might need some additional context. & MacDonald's views R always intresting 2 read.
4 me, the best things in the book R his critical judgements. Ghod knows I don't always agree w/ him, but part of what makes this book great is that MacDonald never holds back on his opinions. He can even B a little harsh, which can B a lotta fun 2 read.
A few (thousand) Xamples: He calls the contents of ABBEY ROAD "erratic and often hollow"; feels that 1/2 the songs on the WHITE ALBUM "are poor by earlier standards"; calls the HELP! album "flimsy" (the original British version now on CD ain't that bad); feels "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is "poorly thought out, succeeding more as a glamourous production"; calls Harrison's "Piggies" "an embarrassing blot on his discography"; McCartney's "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is a "ghastly miscalculation ... by far his worst lapse of taste"; "Birthday" "quickly wears thin"; calls George's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" "plodding" & sez it "quickly becomes tiresome"; calls "Paperback Writer" contrived; "Nowhere Man" is "dirge-like"; calls Paul's "I Will" "close to muzak, were the craftsmanship not so cunning"; finds Lennon's "Across the Universe" "boring"; "Here, There and Everywhere" is "chintzy and rather cloying"; Lennon's "It's Only Love" is "a twee make-weight"; Paul's "The Night Before" & John's "I'll Cry Instead" R "slight"; "Tell Me Why" is "filler"; the masterful "Ticket to Ride" is "bitter, dissonant, with a dragging beat"; "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" is the Fabs' "first original to outstay its welcome"; he doesn't think much of "Here Comes the Sun," "Helter Skelter" or "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)"; "Everybody's Trying to be My Baby" is "lame"; "Mr. Moonlight" is "gross"; he even thinks "Revolution 9" is a significant pop-culture event, if not a significant piece of music.
(George took quite a beating in that list, which is odd Bcos MacDonald greatly admires Harrison's "thoughtfulness," dry wit & cynicism. MacDonald also thinks much more of McCartney's composing & instrumental abilities than many other critics. & Lennon's quirks R subjected 2 much in-depth analysis.)
MacDonald also boosts a few songs he feels R unfairly overlooked: Harrison's "Old Brown Shoe" is "an archetypal B-side from an era when B-sides were worth flipping a single over for"; "Mr. Kite!" is "ingenious ... irresistible"; Paul's "For No One" is "formally, one of McCartney's most perfect pieces"; "From Me to You" (which has always bored me) was "a brilliant consolidation of their emerging sound." & there R other raves.
I'll admit my own biases: I'd hoped 4 longer write-ups on a lotta my faves -- "There's a Place," "Tell Me Why," "Anytime at All," "And Your Bird Can Sing," the dreamy "Dear Prudence," the underrated "Wait," "Back in the USSR," "For No One," "It's Only Love," "Got to Get You Into My Life," "Eight Days a Week," "The Night Before," "I Need You," "You Never Give Me Your Money/Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End," "Things We Said Today," etc.
But I'll bet if U pick up this book U'll turn 2 1 of yr faves 2 C what MacDonald thinks -- & then U won't want 2 put the book down.... U could get lost in here 4 yrs. There R still parts I haven't finished reading, still songs I've never heard that I'd like 2 know more about. & this is THE place 2 go if U want 2 know more....
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