Jun 152010
Anz6Of2iD_E]
What’s on your mind, fool?
Apr 112007
New York? Sure, New York sounds good.
30 Responses to “All-Star Jam”
-
I love this clip! I worked a midnight shift on New Year’s in 1983 and recorded my walk, subway, and bus ride home to Germantown on a boom box. When I got home, the roomates and bandmates and guests were making a festive breakfast, probably with LSD for dessert, and this “new music” new year’s show was on our tiny black and white TV. This here van Tieghem clip was part of it. He had played on Laurie Anderson’s first big record, and I thought this thing was a blast. I don’t know why, but with having made a street recording on the way home, and then seeing this, it seemed like the year was starting off to be different than the one before. (In retrospect, not so much, alas.) Thanks for sharing it here!
-
I also recall this or a similar video, and I too thought his works with Anderson, David Byrne, and his own solo album from that period were fresh and onto something. Man, it seems really old-fashioned now, yet I still enjoy seeing this and thinking about how I felt back then. We did some “field recordings” of our own, back then. One legendary boom box recording in Andy’s parents’ backyard was especially memorable.
Do any Philly-area public radio listeners enjoy hearing a clip from one of Van Tiegham’s solo album tracks like I do? I think they play it during breaks in Radio Times.
-
Great clip! Watched it all the way through and now I’m late for work!
-
Mr. Mod says:
One legendary boom box recording in Andy’s parents’ backyard was especially memorable.I say:
We did a whole hour or so of playing in the 19th century cemetery next door, and were sure that eerie, unexplained sounds would show up on the tape. None did, but it still lent a beautiful feel to the thing, playing while leaving space for hoped-for ghosts…He asks:
Do any Philly-area public radio listeners enjoy hearing a clip from one of Van Tiegham’s solo album tracks like I do? I think they play it during breaks in Radio Times.I say:
I was just at a play date with my boy at the home of the other stay-@-home-dad in the region, and he was playing this new Apple, or aPple, gizmo for your TV, where you can play any music or video content from your computer on your TV. iWaste? In any event, he was doing some iTunes, with a really cool cascade of photo albums on the screen, and the jingle for Radio Times came on. It’s from Paul Simon’s Graceland album. I don’t own it, but I didn’t think there were any tracks from that record that I hadn’t come to know ambiently over the years. My friend said it’s his fave track on the record, and when he first moved here from San Diego, he thought they were playing the song on the radio, and was bummed when she started talking over it. The show is also available elsewhere, though not universally, like FrrESHair. -
sorry guys. i’m glad you’re enjoying it, but i always thought this kind of thing was pretty pretentious.
yes, lots of things in our environments make nice noises when banged or clanged. i get that. but we’ve all known that ever since we were, what, five? why is this such a revelation? and i can see that he’s quite dexterous, too. but so are many of us.
my feelings on the makeshift use urban environments — and this includes industrial sized plastic drums and trashcans — for percussive expressions (whether wearing a fedora OR baggy pants) were best expressed by ben stiller in an appearance on late-nite w/ conan o-brien, in which he unveiled his new musical, “Clunk”, in which he, and other like minded comedians, made “music” with blenders, coffeemakers, mixers, and other kitchen appliances.
i can’t find the youtube, but rest assured, his mockery would speak well for me.
-
You’re right, General, that is a Paul Simon tune I’ve got in mind.
Good points, in opposition to our youthful memories, Art.
-
Christ, Mr. Ismine! Relax, as you’re always huffing at us here in RTH. No one said the guy discovered anything unheard-of. We’ve all seen countless random percussion bursts on cityscapes, from the Ed Sullivan Show, to Flip Wilson, to… well, no, actually this *was* the first such thing I had ever seen on television. But then when the Stones played on Don Kirshner, me and my fellow nine year-olds used to yell at the screen, “Get over yourselves! Who HASN’T put bass, drums, and guitar together to sing pop songs?! What’s NEW?!”
It’s no revelation. And if you *are* that dextrous, and you showed up on TV in 1983 doing this wearing a Wendy’s uniform, with or without irony or whatever you want, I would have watched it, seen the pretentiousness, and gotten past it to say, “Damn fine entertainment! This Ismine fellow is going somewhere.”
I will check the creds of any future topics before I share, to see if Ben Stiller has already mocked a similar concept at any time.
-
Having little to do with rock, but always an easy read for rockers, I’m sure you’ve heard that Vonnegut died. Favorite novel of his, if any? I was never a dedicated fan, but I remember liking Galapagos when I read long ago.
-
please be fair, slocum. i’m not “always” huffing here at you all rth, and you’ve done your share of huffing, too, no? in fact, when we last clashed, weren’t YOU the one who was harumphing over a stones performance while i was being even handed and claiming that, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t all that bad?
i weigh in with cynicism when i feel there ‘s a need for a balanced discussion. and to see you guys (some of whom, including you, are heroic to me), falling all over yourselves to praise this not-quite-music-not-quite-performance-art tripe is really making this an even drearier day than it already is.
banging on nyc with drumsticks IS novel, tv or no. i just don’t think it’s that great or compelling an idea, at least not as great as it’s always trumped up to be.
you hang your hat on this being “damn fine entertainment” but the thing is, i “get it” after 30 seconds, and this youtube goes on and on as if something else is going to happen. so i don’t think it qualifies on those grounds either, at least not for me.
continue to enjoy….i’ll stop whining.
-
Señor Saturn asks:
in fact, when we last clashed, weren’t YOU the one who was harumphing over a stones performance while i was being even handed and claiming that, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t all that bad?I answer:
Yes, exactly! I was grumping on about how they blew chunks, and you were telling me to lighten up and take it for what it’s worth and so on. So I was holding up the Powder-Encrusted Truthful Mirror.I guess I also simply have a higher opinion of the vid. I like the live video-cam sound, with all the weird phase effects of the metal poles and all as the camera (and mic) moves around. And the memory that this dawn recording was played at, maybe, 7 a.m. on new year’s lent it more poignancy. A real step up from the comics on south Broad at that hour, in some senses. So I don’t intend to “trump it up as great”, but merely as likable. I, too, get it after 30 seconds and am glad he goes on to finish his sentence.
-
I was a big Vonnegut fan in high school. Favorites are Slaughterhouse Five (obvious choice, yes, but it’s a beautifully sad book that resonates a little bit more each time I read it) and Hocus Pocus.
There’s a really good PBS dramatization of his short story Who Am I This Time? from the ’80s. Directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Chris Walken and Susan Sarandon. Music by John Cale. See, RTH-friendly!
-
Yes – it is a bit pretentious (maybe not so much back then?) and I “got it” after 30 seconds but I was glad to see it through.
I am reminded on my high school and it’s “Cable Access TV Station”. We got to make our own shows and on one occasion I “played” with my hands – bongo style – the 15 foot aluminum ladder in the studio (used to adjust the lights). I’m sure it was pretentious and maybe only amusing to me and my goofy friends, but it was fun(ny).
-
goofy offsets pretentious anyday of the week, sabatino! you’re the king of that.
slocum, i love you, really…encrusted mirror or whatever it is you think you’re holding up to me.
gotta go. the blue haired old ladies whom i teach about renaissance art on thursdays await!
-
Did anyone see the movie Breakfast of Champions? I like Slaughterhouse 5 and Cat’s Cradle too. I have a weird book that Lou Reed contributed a short story for called “The Naked i” that was printed in the 70s – it was a used bookstore find and has Carolos Fuentes and Ken Kesey shorts as well as a bunch of other author contributions…
-
Oats wrote:
…starring Chris Walken and Susan Sarandon.
Not “Sue” Sarandon?
-
I’m planning on teaching Player Piano in the Fall, my favorite novel of his.
-
Not “Sue” Sarandon?
BURN!
-
I’m sure you’ve heard that Vonnegut died.
So it goes.
-
Not “Sue” Sarandon?
BURN!Wait, I don’t get it.
Is someone suing Susan Sarandon? -
Sally, I was cutting on Oats for his reference to “Chris.” To tell the truth, I admired that reference. I’m into Bobby DeNiro, Marty Scorscese, and Bob Wagner.
-
rick shroeder…
i liked the vonnegut i read. he was a somethin’: funny, tragic, heartfelt, clever, sometimes all in the same sentence.
oh and by the way; slocum: stop being so grumpitty.
-
Ah-haaaah! It’s like a whole other language in here sometimes;) ha – i’m down with bobby deniro, vs robert. and scorcese doesn’t even have a first name to me, but that’s what makes you a powerful director – when you can get called by your last name alone. he’s like a team player – no one questions which scorcese – he’s THE scorcese! ha ha
-
no one pince-nez me on the spelling, okay?
-
yes,
but do you say skor-SAY-zee…
or do you like the pronunciation preferred by the public radio set (and which is of more recent vintage), skor-SESS-ee?
-
When talking with the “public radio set” I think I’m a botched english kind of gal, and I’d say:
“Martin”
😉 I’m kidding – most likely, “skor-SAY-zee”, to translate “you got a little tom-ah-toe or a crou-ton to go wit’ dat?!”
-
the latest poll is cracking me up – who added “an atmospheric snare”? funny! the “my thigh” was pretty good too – endless entertainment, i tell you.
-
“someone tell a joke!”
-
Yeah, who was the wiseass who wrote in “an atmospheric snare”? I’m putting my money on BigSteve.
NEWSFLASH: I just saw that Apocalypse Now Redux is playing on our new HDTV reception, and I tuned in just in time for one of my favorite scenes: Hopper talking to a bamboo-caged Sheen, including a still that has long been key to the RTH experience!!!
“What are they gonna say when he’s gone, man? Are they gonna say he was a kind man, he was a wise man?…”
-
It was not I. I do like my thigh though. I mean, I like “My thigh.”
-
I found out who it was! I’m not tellin’!!
NEWSFLASH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvxOVTSxodI
I really liked Radio 1990. Lisa Robinson was pretty cool. She used to be the moderator on the Rock bulletin boards on Prodigy, way back when. She hung out at the Stones board all the time, and she had some great stories.
I remember Lisa Robinson. I’d never seen that show, although I didn’t have cable until years after 1983. I’m assuming it was a cable show.
She used to write for Circus Magazine. Or was it Hit Parader? Might’ve been both.
Mystery Date coming later this afternoon, if time allows!
The Mystery Date has had to wait. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about it. Meanwhile, Andy Shernoff of The Dictators is playing a cool “storytelles” gig at Philadelphia’s M Room tomorrow night, June 18, at 7:00 pm. Stay tuned for details and a little RTH interview later tonight!!!
I’ve always been on the other side of the declaration that “Setting Sons” is the best Jam album. It’s not that I think it’s a bad album, but it just doesn’t connect with me the way “All Mod Cons” does. The songs maybe are more cohesive but less memorable. After just listening to it right now, I think I know why.
It’s probably their least soulful/beat oriented record – much more late 60’s Kinks than early Who or other mod-based influences. And I think that change of emphasis – however slight – is enough to make me like it a little less than the others.
“Sound Affects” get’s back on the mid-60’s Beatles feel.
Have a great Sunday
First off – I meant have a great Saturday see my earlier post)
And more importantly – Happy Birthday Mr Mod – get yourself a nice thin slice of Veal Loaf
Mike Love is the king of passive-aggressive statements to the press, yes?
http://www.spinner.com/2010/06/21/brian-wilson-rejoining-beach-boys/
Wow, Love packed some other choice quotes into that brief piece:
From the Beach Boys’ everlasting attempts at trying to keep pace with The Beatles:
From the Lou Reed playbook:
R.I.P. Pete Quaife
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/17386/121429