He was a Great man.
More.
Popular music discussion blog Rock Town Hall has awarded one of its very own Townspeople, andyr, its second annual Rock Badge of Courage for his live vocal performance of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” at a recent show by the Narberth, Pennsylvania–based cover band extraordinaire Narband.
You may recall our initial Rock Badge of Courage recipient, Bruce Springsteen, for his performance of “Born in the USA.” The Rock Badge of Courage is the highest artistic decoration awarded by Rock Town Hall, even higher than induction in the Hall’s Foyer of Fame. It is bestowed on musicians who distinguish themselves “conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her artistic cred above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against The Man, apathetic bandmates, or any other enemy of The Power & Glory of Rock.” Springsteen’s award required little explanation, but andyr’s may require some context.
I’ve counted andyr as a “close personal friend” for 40 years. Not once, in all those years and countless musical discussions and experiences has he ever expressed even the slightest admiration for anything related to Pink Floyd. Trust me, he’s a cool guy and typically has great taste in music, but he doesn’t even care for the Syd Barrett stuff or the song “Wish You Were Here.” He even finds the good in stuff a lot of us might think is crap, provided it has cool drum and bass parts, but he may be the only music lover I know who hasn’t at least acknowledged that “Floyd has some cool album covers.” Even E. Pluribus Gergely would grant the band a cool album cover or two. The man has been steadfast in his refusal to enjoy a single thing about Pink Floyd.
Then, no more than 2 months ago, a musical mission was hatched that would test andyr’s rock courage like no test before. He and Townsman Sethro, another one of my longtime bandmates and close personal friends, were asked to join Narband, led by another Townsman, ace guitarist Buddy Whelan and a mutual friend of Whelan and our Rock Badge of Courage recipient who lacks, as far as I know, an RTH handle. Andyr was a little anxious but excited to cram for 2 sets’ worth of mostly Classic Rock and early ’80s new wave hits—especially with his trusty drummer buddy at his back—but one song on the proposed set list caused beads of sweat to form on his brow even as he discussed it with us at rehearsal one night: Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.”
“Guess I’m a lone rhinoceros no more,” says Adrian.
The same goes for you!
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There are certain songs, like ’em or loathe ’em, that have the ability to transport you back to the time when they were popular. For me, even though, as Elton John says, “I was just a kid,” and a kid who felt obliged to hate disco reflexively, one of those songs is the timeless “More More More” by Andrea True Connection. Thus, when I read last week that she had died, I felt a real pang of sadness. Like most everyone else at this point, I think, I knew the basics of her story–porn actress turned disco diva turned one-hit wonder–but reading about her life and her aspirations was more poignant than I would have expected. Anyway, there you have it.
I also want to know if anyone else (or everyone else) associates this song with the similarly memorable “Fly Robin Fly” by Silver Connection. My assumption is that they must have been hits simultaneously, but I haven’t checked on that.
You may recall an earlier discussion of the fascinating Ken Russell film Tommy. The controversial director has died at 84. While I find most of his films head-scratchingly badly amusing, his exaggerated, well-lit, creepily sexually charged film bios of music figures probably was highly influential on 1980s music video directors. As we reflect on his well-documented and discussed work on The Who’s rock opera Tommy and review some of his other likely influential works, let’s keep in mind some of the “drop-the-cat” video moments in the heyday of rock music videos that may not have been possible without Russell’s unique vision. And let’s keep in mind this quote from the director, which speaks for the spirit driving even his most laughable efforts—not to mention our own:
“I believe in what I’m doing wholeheartedly, passionately, and what’s more, I simply go about my business,” he wrote. “I suppose such a thing can be annoying to some people.”
I’ve never seen Lisztomania, but I wish I could say I had. I don’t know if I’d have the patience for it today, but I really should have jumped on the opportunity to watch Roger Daltrey acting in another movie. The following scene is just a taste of what I’ve been missing all these years: