Mr. Moderator posted a thread back in October about albums with no duds.
In that vein I would like to nominate The Kinks‘ Arthur. And I’m going to start with the assumption that there is only one song on this album that could be considered a dud,
She’s Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina.
If you think there are others, feel free to offer them up. Sadly you’ll just be making a fool of yourself, but you know, free-world and shit.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Four founding members of the rock band Velvet Revolver said on Tuesday they were splitting with the group’s troubled singer, Scott Weiland, citing his “increasingly erratic” behavior.
Dana Carvey's is still better.
more evidence that Nesmith was an untapped force in The Monkees
Indeed.
But he wasn’t completely untapped and in fact wrote many of my favorite Monkees tunes. Including:
Mary, Mary
The Girl I Knew Somewhere
You Told Me
Sunny Girlfriend
And of course the excellent:
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Beck consistently challenges my senses of cynicism and cool. Of art and homage. The dude is obviously talented. He can knock off any number of genres and maintain some odd sense of individuality and originality while, on paper at least, to be completely lacking both.
The above video is what I’m talkin’ about. Ridiculous and cynical as well as groovy, bitchin’ and postmodern cool. The seventies couple in the burnt orange sunset and Woodstock The Movie blocks is at once trite and maudlin and humorous as well as warm, nostalgic and romantic.
What got me started on this train was seeing a live performance on TV a few months back where he kicked some moves. Like his music and videos his stage moves were blueflame hot while at the same time being intentionally humiliating (white) mandancing? Was this super cool or super hilarious or what? This isn’t the best example but the best I could find. He busts most of his mojo at the end.
I have bemoaned for years, and Mr. Mod can attest (say Amen, brother), the loss of Nick Lowe‘s masterpieces, Labor of Lust and Pure Pop for Now People (originally Jesus of Cool in the UK) to the great digital abyss.
Last time I checked these discs were released in the ’90s and then vanished, showing up in used shops for as much as $89! Puh-leeze.
But you can bemoan a lot less as Yep Rock Records has just released Jesus of Cool (with the original track line-up) and “10 extra non-LP singles, EP sides and compilation cuts that lead up to Jesus.”
AND IT’S ON EMUSIC!!! Sweet. Here’s a bonus cut, originally released as part of the excellent Bowi ep.
Nick Lowe, “Shake That Rat”
RELATED SIDE ISSUE: Pure Pop for Now People and Jesus of Cool are two of my favorite album titles and they’re for the same album! Has any other album come even close to having two drastically different release titles that are both this bitchin’ and spot-on?
I don’t know what to make of this.
NEW YORK (Billboard) – Actress Scarlett Johansson says Tom Waits has given the thumbs-up to her debut album, which features covers of 10 tunes written by the notoriously persnickety musician.
“Anywhere I Lay My Head” will be released May 20 via Atco/Rhino. David Bowie, whom Johansson met a party just prior to beginning work on the album, lends his distinctive vocals to the tracks “Falling Down” and “Fannin’ Street,” while Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner and members of the band Celebration contribute throughout. The album was produced by Dave Sitek of the New York rock band TV On The Radio.
At the risk of having this large chunk of rock stride the pond and pummel me with his Flying V, I can’t help but think of Chris Spedding as “The Forest Gump of Rock.”
It seems unflattering, but I really don’t intend it that way. I’m not thinking of him as a borderline short-busser with high-water slacks. I’m thinking of him as a dude who has participated in an AMAZING amount of rock history and yet, other than weirdos like us, he’s fairly unknown. (At least in the US of A.)
Chris Spedding, “Motorbikin'”
I first read his name in college as I became enamored with Brian Eno’s Here Come the Warm Jets and saw his name on the back as playing on “Needle in the Camel’s Eye” and the “Paw Paw Negro Blow Torch”. I had no idea then and not much more of one until recently that this guy has done a wee bit more than that.
Early on Spedding, with his band Battered Ornaments, played THE Hyde Park concert in 1969 that featured the debut of the Brian Jones-less Rolling Stones. Bridge that with being the producer on The Sex Pistols demos and you start to get an idea of the breadth of experience here.
He has worked with so many amazing people that I’ll only list one for each letter of the alphabet (except x, y & z): Laurie Anderson, Ginger Baker, John Cale, Donovan, Drifters, David Essex, Bryan Ferry, Art Garfunkle, Nicky Hopkins, Kris Ife, Elton John, Dave Kubinec (featuring fifth Rutle Ollie Halsall), John Lodge, Paul McCartney, Harry Nilsson, Gilbert O’Sullivan, Pretenders, Dee Dee Ramone, Dusty Springfield, Johnny Thunders, Vibrators, Tom Waits.
His story is pretty damn cool and there’s some great stuff on his website chrisspedding.com and a 2006 biography, aptly titled Reluctant Guitar Hero, so I won’t belabor it. Rather I’ll just let the man speak for himself as he responds to our questions.
