Oct 222020
Is it time for an All-Star Jam?
This video could be one of those “list all the things wrong with this video” and it surely would break the record for thread with the most posts. And it would also determine which Townsman has the most fortitude to make it through 54 minutes of this; I had to bail after about 4 minutes. For a band known for vocals and harmonies, none of them can carry a tune here and harmonies are non-existent.
Hard to understand why Mike Love‘s look never caught on.
Please fellow denizens of Rock Town Hall, what are you listening to that can wipe this memory from my mind?
Exhibit #7384579 in the category of Fuck Mike Love. Jesus, what an insufferable douchenozzle.
What next , Elvis Costello finds Jesus?
https://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/elvis-costello-says-that-cd-is-a-medium-that-has-seen-its-day/
For the umpteenth reissue of his back catalog, suddenly Elvis says that CDs are lousy and the Armed Forces reissue will be vinyl only. I’ve bought enough EC reissues so I’m not buying it no matter what the format but what is this pandering, marketing bull?
As somebody says in the comments section, really it’s because you can’t charge $300 for a box set of CDs.
I actually have seen this several times since I burnt this on DVD along w/a 1980 4th of July DC gig. It was on my 7th birthday & my parents were too cheap to send me to Paris to see this live 😀 It did have a live version of one of my favorite Beach Boys songs, “I Can Hear Music”. Fun fact: the supporting act on this European tour was Paul Revere & the Raiders. Another fun fact: the next stop after this was Prague, Czechoslovakia, one year after the Prague Spring. They were warmly received.
As for what I’m listening to, that would include the new & last Pretty Things album, which is acoustic blues (the sticker on the cover lists Phil May’s life span from 1944-1920). I also found a copy of the Blue & Lonesome album by the Stones @ one of my fave record stores in Gloucester, MA for only $4.50 still sealed. It wasn’t too bad. I also found a copy of Bob Dylan’s Masterpieces, which has the full band version of “George Jackson”, was satisfied an itch of mine.
Finally, Mike Love does look rather….strange. The other Beach Boys were a bit behind them w/those white suits & scarves.
I always thought Mike Love’s hats were embarrassing, but somehow he looks even douchier in this hatless video. This may be one of the last times his head would be seen in concert.
Carl’s vocals on “I Can Hear Music” are spectacular.
It may be a good day for me to blast the first Undertones album. And spin “Gloria.” Man, I love those guys.
https://www.songwritingmagazine.co.uk/how-i-wrote/teenage-kicks-undertones
Brian Eno’s Discreet Music hit the spot for me over the course of a couple of stressful days. I play that thing in any mood and it’s like good vibrations rain on me.
Popol Vuh’s Letzte Tage album has also received multiple spins this week.
Other than that, Nixon’s Head has an EP of new music coming into “sight,” so to speak. I like what I’m hearing.
I found this Glenn Gould video to be fascinating. He is really a trip. Jang in at least until you see him show an excerpt from a Mozart defender.
https://www.openculture.com/2020/10/glenn-gould-explains-why-mozart-was-a-bad-composer-in-a-controversial-public-tv-show-1968.html
Hang in…sorry
First, Gould’s performance of the Mozart sonata answers the question of what would it be like if Jerry Lee Lewis played Mozart. That was amazing!
Second, wow, was he reading or was that from memory or extemporaneous? I was thinking it was like someone riffing on William F. Buckley. Or maybe Professor Irwin Corey. Or Dan Ackroyd saying “Jane, you ignorant slut!” Or maybe all of them.
Third, the defender was a hoot.
By the way, he plays a great piano; I think it’s a Steinway (Marx Brothers? Joe E. Lewis?)
Well, after fifteen minutes of that I’m definitely ready for something else. Wow, that was bad, and I’m more than partial to a bit of a Beach Boys most of the time. While reeling at just how had that was, it occurred to me I may never have seen a BB live film before, I think I expected it to look like that, but was still unprepared for just how awful Love was even then.
Al Jardine and Bruce Johnston were doing most of the heavy lifting as far as I could see there, although Carl sounded like he might get there after a few more songs. The last time I saw someone adopting the Mike Love look from that show was Viv Stanshall doing Rawlinson End a couple of years before he died, a vastly entertaining night out. Mr Love appears to be getting ready to go surfing without a board, possibly expecting to walk on the waves.
Mr. Mod,
Is it me or do I detect a resemblance between this Popol Vuh and another of your obscure favorites, Glenn Branca?
You also may want to check out the Notekillers. They were a first wave Philly punk band (in the broad sense) that mine a similar mineral vein as these two.
geo
Geo, good call on the resemblance between Popol Vuh and Branca! I hadn’t thought of that, but yes, they each mine a sort of melodramatic doom and gloom that, nevertheless, manages to ascend and give a sense of, well, not hope, but triumphant fatalism.
Hoping to get more time for the Hall later today and this week!
Now that the Dodgers have won the World Series, I really hate that I’m going to have to hear that Randy Newman song “I Love L.A.”. There have to be good rock songs about cities, right? Chuck Berry’s Memphis is great, but isn’t really about the city, but as a title I would accept it. Have we done one of these before?
Ok, Kansas City, maybe.
Yes. The L.A. song stinks. Yes, Kansas City is a great song. I wonder if many songs with cities in the name actually describe the city itself. Usually not. I love Dirty Water. That guitar riff is gold. Doesn’t really describe Boston beyond the dirty water of the Charles. Still, it’s a good underdog theme for an underdog city.
“LA Woman” captures something about LA.
New York New York. I originally thought of the the Bryan Adams song, which I like, but then the Sinatra song popped into my head. The Sinatra song is great (although in fairness, not really rock, unless you count Sid Vicious’ piss poor take on it) and really captures some of the allure of that city. NYC by Steve Earle is also great and describes a scenario that starts off the same as the Sinatra song, but has a more realistic ending.
The best example I can think of is the Jimmie Dale Gilmore song Dallas, usually know by its first line “Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?” It’s probably best know in the version on Joe Ely’s album Musta Notta Gotta Lotta
Jesse Winchester’s Biloxi (from his self-titled first album) is also a great one.