Aug 032008
d09LhR-R-eI]
Couple of house cleaning items for y’all.
Firstly, for you newer folks, All-Star Jam is a recurring thread intended as a place to comment on anything, start a discussion of your own… It’s what the kids call an “open thread.”
They’ve never really been used very much but thought we’d try again. Plus I needed a place to let any of you know that didn’t know already that MANNY’S COMIN’ TO L.A.!!!
Also, The Back Office has finally figured out how to extend the number of Latest Comments. Now set at 100, this is a great place to go to keep up with all of the recent comments on all of the threads at once. The Latest Comments link is located in the right sidebar just above the Poll.
Rock on.
Yeah, you think it’s a good thing now, but wait until he thinks he’s being disrespected. That shit gets tiresome quick.
Thanks, Townsman thebackoffice. I would’ve preferred to post my Strummer interview thing in an All-Star Jam setting, but there weren’t any to edit.
Here’s another tidbit worthy of an ASJ post:
BEATLES legends SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY and RINGO STARR have reportedly blocked the re-release of the notorious LET IT BE film.
The documentary, originally intended to show the Fab Four at work in the studio, instead illustrated the extreme tensions between the musicians as the band was on the verge of breaking up.
It famously included scenes of MCCartney and George Harrison bickering over the latter’s guitar-playing, and footage of an apparently disinterested John Lennon with his wife Yoko Ono.
Although the film was shown in cinemas in the early 1970s, and released on VHS in the 1980s, it has been out of circulation for more than 20 years.
And now the two surviving Beatles have allegedly blocked plans for a DVD release.
A source tells U.K. newspaper the Daily Express, “There has been talk of Let It Be finally being released but now there has been a change of heart.
“The Beatles are still a massive global brand and it’s felt it won’t be helped if the public sees the darker side of the story. Neither Paul nor Ringo would feel comfortable publicising a film showing The Beatles getting on each other’s nerves.”
Like it’s a big secret they hated each other towards the end? This kind of whitewash bullshit is way more depressing than anything in that movie. And they don’t want to publicize it? They could still just release it? Not everything they reissue needs to be accompanied by a marketing blitz.
Of course, this press release could be total fiction.
No worries. I had a talk with him and all’s cool.
RE: Manny. To quote Little Jackie: “Another man’s pleasure is another man’s chore.” Manny certainly came through on some pretty key moments, but certainly made for some pretty annoying side show distractions the rest of the season. I wonder when his first “sick day” will be for his new team.
On another note, has anyone bought Midnight Oil’s remastered 25th anniversary edition of Diesel and Dust?
The DVD extra of a documentary originally released in the 80’s which followed the Blackfella/Whitefella tour of Aboriginal settlements with the Warumpi Band is worth the price of admission, but the remaster sounds terrific.
It was not an album I thought necessarily needed a remaster, but I’m glad they did it. It makes me hope they’ll do the same for at least “Blue Sky Mining”
Forget Let It Be, when are they finally going to get around to releasing a “video collection” DVD with all of the promo clips they put out and the song performances from the movies? That would sell, right? I can’t believe they’ve never gotten around to that.
Glad to hear that the threshold for the Latest Comments page has gone up, it seemed like there were fewer comments on that page after the recent software upgrade, so this will be very helpful. A recent post made it look like Tags were going to start showing up on posts. I don’t know how useful others would find that, but I’d be amused by “How His Music Was Meant To Sound” and “Walter Becker’s Beard” tags to jump to their previous RTH appearances.
Just wanted to say that I took my 13 year old son to his first rock show the other night – The Foo Fighters at The Meadowlands (now Izod Center)
I must say, They put on quite a show. Within the first two songs, Dave Grohl had done a audience sing along, an audience clapping competetion, and gave a heads up to every chorus.
The opening band – Year Long Disaster were very good. I just looked at their website and the gutarist/singer is the son of Dave Davies! Supergrass came on 2nd and was OK. Nothing great.
The Beatles are brand not a band. How sad if this story is true.
Remember the “Real Love” single? The picture they used on the cover was from about 1965. They airbrushed the ciggies from the photo. I suppose they didn’t want to put out the image that The Beatles were once smokers! Perhaps in light of George’s bout with cancer, they were sensitive to the issue. At any rate, revising history doesn’t seem right either. Why didn’t they just choose a different photo?
I think this same photo was used for Capitol’s U.S. albums, vol. 2. Nutty.
Since I worked for Graceland, I began to sound like broken record concerning E.P.E.’s stance on the release of the 1977 CBS concert special. (Some say it is the last concert, although it’s not. It did air after his death.) The “company” was aware that E was very overweight and unhealthy. Not his finest hour. So, to protect that image, they refuse to release it. I sort of understand. Why would someone want to see fat, tired Elvis when you can have skinny, hot Elvis from ’68 or That’s The Way It Is?
It’s all about protecting the image. Teh Beatles weren’t smokers AND they always got along all the time.
TB
OK. So Manny’s debut wasn’t stellar. Bottom of the 9th, no outs Russel Martin on 2nd. D-Backs 2 : Dodgers 1.
Manny steps up. Crowd on feet. “Manny, Manny, Manny” Manny…hits into a double play.
People start leaving and don’t even bother to watch Jeff Kent pop out.
The worst part is local sports press is trying to coin the phrase “Manny-wood”. Nice visual.
Your softies, The Dodgers, will be sporting the most slovenly outfield in the history of the game whenever Manny and Fatboy Andruw Jones roam 2/3 of that huge outfield. How’s Manny going to handle all that real estate out there? The guy can hit, but I think the Dodgers are insane for trying to throw one more old, out-of-shape guy into what was a mix of budding young players. Manny, Andruw Jones, Juan Pierre, Jeff Kemp, Nomar… If they’re not on the DL they’re loafing or grumbling with each other. Ned Colletti should have had faith in the team’s young core. Boston got the best of that deal. Jason Bay is SOLID!
Oh, and if that Let It Be story is for real, McCartney and Starr are major pussies. For as great at The Beatles were and always will be, their story is made greater for any attention given to their rare warts and missteps. Failure can be as important as success.
I couldn’t agree more that we should have more faith in the kids. I bummed beyond belief that we bucked Blake DeWitt back to Vegas.
But we need a reliable big bat something awful. The outfield most fans are barking for is Manny, Kemp, Ethier. Still pretty young.
Someone should start a countdown clock for when Manny and Kent get into it.
Hey andyr: I’m curious if the Foo Fighters played any Nirvana songs?
Nope. No Nirvana. My son would have flipped if they had done any.
Andy, I’ve been meaning to ask, what does Grohl “gave a heads up to every chorus” mean?
Indeed. But I’d trade one visual image of Ramirez’s schlong for the literally dozens of lame-ass puns here involving the state nickname. Cause the new guy’s last name is Bay, see? And Massachusetts is called…get ready…THE BAY STATE! Geddit? It’s priceless! See, cause the guy’s name is Bay, and…oh, never mind.
Seriously, I need people to stop it with the Bay-related puns. There will be shootings. Or at least more sternly-worded blog posts.
He would say/sing “Here we go” or scream before every chorus so we (the crowd) could sing along with him.
Well, good luck w/Manny out there in LA. I hope he’ll do OK out there before he starts getting lunatic.
Being a newbie, I’m going through the posts on this site & I would like to make a comment re: The Byrds v. The Hollies. Although I do have to give the edge to the Byrds since they pioneered the folk-rock genre while the Hollies were a beat group in the shadow of the Beatles, I think that the Hollies were better in developing the songwriting talents of their members. I think it was a shame that Gene Clark was basically booted out of the group by the others because they were jealous of his fatter royalty checks. The Byrds would have been an even better band if he stayed w/them.
Townsman Diskojoe, I like what you have to say about the old Byrds vs Hollies thread and the Hollies’ ability to develop their songwriters! Good stuff. I still prefer the Hollies, but you add a new perspective to this age-old, in Rock Town Hall terms, question.
Thanks for the kind words, Mr. Mod. I can’t wait to hear your opinion of 22 Dreams.
Hey, for any Randy Newman fans, this weeks All Songs Considered has him as a guest DJ, which means he picks some songs and is interviewed by the show’s host Bob Boilen.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93183763
A fascinating op/ed piece in today’s Washington Post on the complicated relationship between radical Islam and the rise of Middle Eastern heavy metal:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/08/islamism_and_heavy_metal.html
Awesome. Also today NPR is streaming a full live performance of the entire new album recorded at Largo. I’m psyched; I’m going to try and pick up the album sometime today.
Yes, Randy Newman’s new album, Harps & Angels, is out today. I’m downloading it from Amazon as I type. I hope we don’t have to wait another nine years for his next one. That concert at the Largo even had him playing with a real live band behind him, and he never plays live with a band anymore.
And whoever listed Mr. Newman in the fat guys thread must be anorexic.
Yeah, I was wondering how Newman got lumped in with fat rockers. Even if he were fat, does the guy rock?
RTH CRIME WATCH
Mike Watt says an entire van full of Stooges gear was stolen yesterday. To see the detailed list of what’s gone astray, go here:
http://www.hootpage.com/stoogesstolenstuff/stoogesstolenstuff.html