KingEd

I SUMMON PHIL SPECTOR to Log Onto Rock Town Hall and Air His Complaints!

Posted by KingEd

Mar 072007

Phil,

I summon you to log onto Rock Town Hall and come air your beefs about The Ronettes’ induction to the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame with a potentially sympathetic audience. I’m sure Mr. Mod supports this invitation.

“My first objection to The Ronettes is that they did not record! Of all the recordings they made, only the lead singer appeared. The group behind her, as you no doubt know, consisted of any number of hundreds of singers I used for that purpose.

“Secondly, I do not think they made the contribution required of some to be in the HALL OF FAME, nor do they have the body of work that would qualify them for induction.”

Way to go, Phil! Create the Frankenstein of Girl Groups and then try to tear it down when your creation gets the credit. He’s probably right in his criticisms of their selection, you know. God bless the little bastard!

A Taste of Honey Through the Eyes of a Mature, Sensual Being

Posted by KingEd

Feb 092007

The Best New Artist of 1978, A Taste of Honey, is considered by many to be the most shameful winner in GRAMMYS history. The band won the award based on its smash disco hit, “Boogie Oogie Oogie”, but the real critical beef here is not the band’s hit song but, rather, the fact that GRAMMY voters had the nerve to overlook Elvis Costello.
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GRAMMY Awards the Worst of the Best!

Posted by KingEd

Feb 082007

In 15 minutes of extensive research on the subject of GRAMMY Awards won by the greatest of rock’s greats, I was reminded that The Beatles won a GRAMMY as recently as 1996, for “Free As a Bird”, a patched together completion of a mid-70s John Lennon home demo, as envisioned by Jeff Lynne and John’s surviving bandmates. Unlike most of rock’s undeniable greats, at least The Beatles had been honored for work they – and history – can take pride in, including “A Hard Day’s Night” (Best Performance By A Vocal Group), an Album of the Year for Sgt. Pepper’s…, and an extremely rare, well-deserved Best New Artist in 1964.

Success would continue for the solo Beatles, except for poor Ringo.

Along with a Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus for “Band on the Run”, Paul McCartney and Wings won a Best Instrumental GRAMMY for the legendary “Rockestra Theme”.
In 1981, John Lennon would have to settle for splitting an award with Yoko Ono for Double Fantasy.
George Harrison took home Album of the Year for The Concert for Bangla Desh and also won an instrumental award for a track from his last album. Always the great collaborator of the Fabs, he also took home a piece of GRAMMY love for his work on the first Travelin’ Wilburys album.

Not even a stinking technical award for The Beach Boys, The Who, Led Zeppelin…
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Sloan “Now Playing”: You Too Can Hear the End of It

Posted by KingEd

Jan 262007

Phawker is now playing Sloan‘s latest, Never Hear the End of It. (Note: You’ll need to accept cookies for the Phawker radio to work.) A review by your’s truly accompanies the streaming audio.

The Beatles Conversation, With Love

Posted by KingEd

Jan 252007

By now the godforsaken term mash-up has probably lost its currency, but The Beatles’ Love album recently was foisted on me by a well-intentioned friend. I’ve been trying to “enjoy it for what it is,” as my friend encouraged me to do, but it’s bumming me out.

The album opens with the unaccompanied backing vocals to “Because”, as if George and Giles Martin felt the need to show the world that the lads could harmonize as well as The Beach Boys. Snooze. The most interesting thing about this “mash-up,” I soon discovered, is that you can hear birds tweeting in the background. Suddenly I felt like Gene Hackman in The Conversation.
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