Mr. Moderator

When not blogging Mr. Moderator enjoys baseball, cooking, and falconry.

Coattails Albums

May 142020

The recent mention of a Talking Heads reunion song and Jerry Harrison being the only band member beside David Byrne to appear in the video, got me wondering it was time to FINALLY revisit Harrison’s 1981 debut solo album, The Red and The Black.

Before stores had to close and we had to stay safely tucked away in our homes, I’d spent a few months eyeing a used copy of that album in my favorite local record store. I first heard The Red and The Black in the basement frat room of one of my most influential college friends, an upperclassman who had both the most kick-ass stereo and the tightest purple buds I’d ever seen. To this day, I’ve only experienced one better stereo system. It’s been ages since I’ve smoked pot, but I doubt not even attendees at the weed convention featuring Jefferson Starship have enjoyed better buds.

Favorite Reunions

Posted by Mr. Moderator

May 142020

Second to the “Vengeance Is Mine” episode of TJ Hooker, which reunited Kirk and Spock, what’s your favorite reunion in music history, from a single performance to an entire album?

All-Star Jam

Posted by Mr. Moderator

May 142020

This one goes out to Moon Martin, who died this week. Martin is one of those artists vaguely related to the New Wave era whose record including the original version of his composition “Bad Case of Loving You” I almost bought numerous times but ultimately didn’t buy for fear of being associated with the Robert Palmer hit. Sick, yes, but true. That was a good song, even as done by Palmer, who was right on the brink of becoming incredibly popular and annoying.

If You Can’t Say Anything Nice About…”Arrow Through Me”

Posted by Mr. Moderator

May 132020

We here in the Halls of Rock Town are sometimes taken to task for being overly negative, snarky, hyper-critical, and all too often, just downright rude. As part of our collective efforts to bring a bit of sunshine and light to the world wide web, we occasionally make an extra effort effort to find something good to say about, you know, stuff that is clearly godawful. To some people.

It is in that spirit that we embark on yet another effort to bring some positivity to our proceedings. Please spend some quality time with music written by the band above, then—if you can—please find something nice to say about them. You’ll feel a whole lot better, I promise you.

I look forward to your comments. Just remember, if you can’t say anything nice about this “Arrow Through Me” video…please don’t say anything at all.

Live Joy

Posted by Mr. Moderator

May 132020

I’ve been revisiting this 1966 performance by Little Richard the last 2 days. It’s got some great crowd shots, especially starting at 45 seconds in, while the camera focuses steadily and uncomfortably on a young man who looks like he’s tearing up in stunned joy at the proceedings. One minute in, he unleashes with a reaction before the camera cuts back to the stage and what has elicited this response. This is the joy that no digital performance of the future will elicit.

Surprisingly Previously Unexplored: Quadrophenia

Posted by Mr. Moderator

May 112020

In our first pandemic relief Dugout Chatter, Townsman chickenfrank proposed the following surprisingly previously unexplored topic for discussion:

One of my cable channels showed Quadrophenia recently. I was pleased to see that it really held up for me as a well-made movie. I played the original album later, and kept having mixed emotions as to whether the whole concept was brilliant or silly. Where does it fit among all their albums in terms of quality? Is it better than Tommy? Does it have too may forgettable songs? Is the remixed movie soundtrack better or worse, and even necessary? Just curious how others react to the 3 different available Quadrophenia products. I have a sneaky feeling this topic might have been beaten to death already on RTH, but too many years ago for me to remember!

Let’s have at it!

Let It Be 50!

Posted by Mr. Moderator

May 082020

On Facebook this morning I completed one of those 10 Most Influential Albums challenges. If you’re not on Facebook and/or not one of my Facebook friends, I won’t bore you with my 10 selections and brief comments on each. If you’re here in the Halls of Rock, you already know me too well. We go deeper than Top 10 lists, don’t we?

However, my 10th selection this morning was The Beatles‘ Let It Be. Just now a friend informed me that today is the 50th anniversary of that album’s release. I had no idea. That coincidence blew my mind. Happy 50th to one of my top 10 influential albums! If you are curious as to why this is the only Beatles album I selected, well, I didn’t want to cram up my list, but there’s more…after the jump!

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