How ’bout we stir up some Dugout Chatter on this late-November day? Your candid, immediate answers will be most appreciated.
Candy Slice or Jennifer Jason Leigh’s title character from the film Georgia?
I would imagine that even those who don’t like Dylan like the copycat Steeler’s Wheel hit “Stuck in the Middle with You”. Is there a copycat song that you like better than almost any song by the originator of that sound?
Excluding the likes of Paul McCartney and Geddy Lee, who are key singer/songwriters in their bands, who is your Most Valuable Bassist in a band? This excludes a great studio cat like James Jamerson and friend of RTH, Lee Sklar. The bassist can write and sing an occasional song, but I’m looking for band-oriented bassist credentials exclusively. You may ask yourself, Which band would suffer most from the loss of its bassist?
What cliched rock-crit modifier (eg, “classically trained”) could you do without having to ever read again?
Which album would you most like to see a documentary on the making of, with the producer/engineer and band members breaking down track by track at the mixing board?
Is there a pattern of 3 or 4 notes or chords – not the specific notes or chords but their intervals – that you’re a sucker for? For those with less musical lingo than even myself, an example would be the 3-chord structure that’s at the root of “Louie Louie” and “Wild Thing”. You don’t need to report this pattern in musical terms; in fact, we’d all have a better understanding if you provide an example from a part where it stands out in a song you love. Mad props to any Townsperson who takes a crack at this one!
1. Non-English lyric–pretty much simultaneously “Michelle, ma belle, sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble” (if that is correct) or “No llores mi querida, dios nos vigila” etc. from Dylan’s Romance in Durango.
2. Modern Day band descriptions–No reaction whatsoever.
3. Quaint phrase–Hmm. What does that mean? Like, “only trouble is, gee whiz, I’m dreaming my life away?”
4. Taylor and Kanye–What? I have a vague enough idea who Kanye is, does that count for something?
5. Apology song–I don’t know if it counts. It starts as an apology: “I didn’t mean to treat you so bad.” But “One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)” from Blonde on Blonde is a spectacularly great song, whatever it is. I think All Apologies is pretty good, too.
6. The first song I can remember actively disliking is “Wildfire” by Michael Martin Murphy which was really popular when I was in 1st grade or thereabouts. Maybe even earlier was that “My name is Michael, I’ve got a nickel” song–Playground in My Mind by Clint Holmes. Man, I still hate that.
YES, misterioso, your “gee whiz” phrase is exactly the type of phrase I had in mind. I was watching some old movie the other night in which a character actually said “gee whiz” and that’s what spurred the question.
“One of Us Must Know…” is a great song!
1. Non English lyric: I can only think of phrases, not actual lyrics. Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell” came to mind, as well as Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya”
2. Synth punk, maybe. The rest sound dreary.
3. Quaint phrase? Not sure, since it’s different from a cliche. “Oh boy!” comes to mind.
4. Taylor Swift doesn’t need an apology from Kanye West.
5. Apology song? “I Apologize” by Husker Du.
6. First song I disliked? Loggins and Messina, “Your Mama Don’t Dance”. Just awful.
Quick: What’s the first non-English language lyric in an English-language song that comes to mind?
I don’t know other languages, so this could be a mess, but in Hey Negrita there’s a line that I think goes, “Comma si chiama, what’s your game.” That’s a cool song.
Which modern-day band description (courtesy of Pitchfork) gets a reaction from you, be it positive or negative?
* Brooklyn synth-gazers
* Drone-psych warriors
* Leather-clad fuzz-pop
* Synth-punks
All of those bug me. All the new little niches critics use bug me because I think it does more to describe the Look of the bands than it does to describe the music.
Quick: What’s the first quaint phrase in a song lyric that comes to mind for you?
I’ve got sunshine, on a cloudy day
Should Taylor accept Kanye’s apology?
I don’t care. She should have called him an asshole when he did what he did.
What’s your favorite apology song?
Is Ain’t Too Proud To Beg and apology song? That’s my quick pick anyway.
What’s the earliest band or song you recall strongly disliking?
The Jackson 5
1. Michelle, already said. 2nd would be the French girl in Rod Stewart’s Tonight’s the Night.
2. I would listen to these 4 clips in this order:
Leather-clad fuzz-pop
Drone-psych warriors
Synth-punks
Brooklyn synth-gazers (Brooklyn as an adjective bugs me)
3. “Oh My Golly” from The Pixies Surfer Rosa (listened to that yesterday)
4. Do not care
5. So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry) by REM
6. Kiss (the band). I was the right age for these guys and when the older boys brought their Kiss Army gear around I just did not get it. It seemed ridiculous to me as a 13 yr old and it still does.
I guess I was more cliche than quaint, but I tried to do things fast and that’s what we get. So I guess I’ve got to go with, “who call the English teacher Daddy-O.”
That’s a good one to get stuck in your head all day!
k. wrote:
Not only would I listen to those bands in the same order you have stated, albeit with great reluctance, but your criticism of the use of Brooklyn as an adjective is spot on! The thing that first bugged me most about this description is the redundancy of having to describe synth players as musicians who “gaze.” How many synth players look like they have a pulse on stage? I’m not anti-synth, necessariy, but anti-what the synth does to stage presence.
k., that’s pretty insightful on Kiss. At 8, which I think is how old I was when Destroyer came out, it was the coolest thing that was ever likely to be, anywhere. By the time I was 10, it all seemed pretty stupid. At 13–only a complete loser would have still cared.
Bostonhistorian–Your Mama Don’t Dance is truly awful and has been since day one, you are so right. If you can get through this clip, in which Loggins and Messina approach Mike Love levels of pseudo-playful loathsomeness, without wanting to punch someone, then mister you’re a better man than I. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdtzuY1z5RI
Quick: What’s the first non-English language lyric in an English-language song that comes to mind?
Ob la di Ob la da. I don’t like it but that’s what popped into my head.
Modern-day band description
They all get an eye roll from me.
Quick: What’s the first quaint phrase in a song lyric that comes to mind for you?
Hey good lookin, what cha got cookin
Should Taylor accept Kanye’s apology?
Good Lord I hope so. In this day and age we should be focusing our attention on much more important things, like what that fugly Kardashian sister is going to wear to the premier of Transformers 5.
What’s your favorite apology song?
Not sure if it’s a straight apology song but This Close To You by Joe Henry
What’s the earliest band or song you recall strongly disliking?
Something from early to mid 70s AM radio, like Rock the Boat (which I now love) or Wildfire (which I still hate) or Piano Man (which I hate even more now than I did then).
What’s the first non-English language lyric in an English-language song that comes to mind?
“Michelle”…easy.
Which modern-day band description (courtesy of Pitchfork) gets a reaction from you, be it positive or negative?
I have decided that Pitchfork are a bucnh of 17-year-old punks and anything they say doesn’t deserve a thought or a shred of my attention. Sorry, Pitchfork.
What’s the first quaint phrase in a song lyric that comes to mind for you?
“I don’t know where, but she sends me there” is about as simple and sublime as it gets.
Should Taylor accept Kanye’s apology?
Sure, why not. Who cares? I don’t.
What’s your favorite apology song?
K. beat me to “So. Central Rain.”
What’s the earliest band or song you recall strongly disliking?
Still don’t care for them. The Supremes. They used to always ruin all the GREAT oldies music on the oldies station. Never cared for them.
TB
1. Ray Davies speaks a bit of French in a dopey latter-day Kinks song “Down all the Days.”
2. None of the above.
3. Probably something by The Divine Comedy. “You chased the sun around the Cote d’Azur/Until the light of youth became obscured.”
4. Yes. Part of me still thinks Kanye is embarking on a career-long Andy Kaufman-esque stunt that will put Joaquim Phoeniz to shame.
5. “Start Again” by Teenage Fanclub
6. “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This” freaked the hell out of me when I was a kid.
Quick: What’s the first non-English language lyric in an English-language song that comes to mind?
fhqwhgads-as in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-WTbGupxbk
Which modern-day band description (courtesy of Pitchfork) gets a reaction from you, be it positive or negative?
neo-folk revivalists
Quick: What’s the first quaint phrase in a song lyric that comes to mind for you?
wouldn’t it be nice if we were older…
Should Taylor accept Kanye’s apology?
yeah, they should appear in a Hennessey commercial together. I’m sure that’s who orchestrated that whole thing. product placement is where the $$$ is.
What’s your favorite apology song?
I’m Sorry-Tin Machine 2 (Hunt sayles sings!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YeH052svSc
What’s the earliest band or song you recall strongly disliking?
ah shuddup a you face-whoever the fuck sings that regional hit should be drowned.
Quick: What’s the first non-English language lyric in an English-language song that comes to mind?
Voulez-vous couchez avec moi ce soir?
Which modern-day band description (courtesy of Pitchfork) gets a reaction from you, be it positive or negative?
I think I’m more likely to be positive about the synth ones. I find I’m getting bored to death by skinny white boys with guitars.
Quick: What’s the first quaint phrase in a song lyric that comes to mind for you?
If the river was whiskey
I was a duck
I’d dive to the bottom
and I’d never come up
Should Taylor accept Kanye’s apology?
I think it works better if she just lets him continue to make an ass of himself with his apologies that are really just another attempt at self-aggrandizement.
What’s your favorite apology song?
I’m Sorry (But So Is Brenda Lee)
What’s the earliest band or song you recall strongly disliking?
Itsy Bitsy teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini started my lifelong hatred of novelty songs.
BigSteve, the other day, apropos of nothing, I had Itsy Bitsy teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini stuck in my head. It was bloody annoying.
When I was a little kid there was some novelty hits compilation that they sold on TV–I can still remember the snippets of some of the songs, like the aforementioned, as well as Flying Purple People Eaters, Monster Mash, Snoopy and the Red Baron, They’re Coming to Take Me Away, and God knows what else. Dreadful stuff.
Oats–“Start Again” by Teenage Fanclub, am I being unfair if I assume (never having heard it) that is a knock-off of Try Again by Big Star, which is a pretty good apology song, by the way?
I don’t think they sound at all alike, but judge for yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZsZx7uoTro
No, they don’t sound much alike.
1) Questo obrigado tanta mucho que can it eat carousel.
2) All negative. I’m so bored with Rock journalism.
3) Good Golly Miss Molly
4) No! Inappropriate behavior should be curtailed, and the apology doesn’t wipe the slate clean. He wants to apologize just to keep his own name in the news and benefit. He’s not actually sorry. Dr.(!) Laura Schlesinger (sp?) wanted to apologize for saying N-word, N-word, N-word over and over just to burnish her own image, not because she was even slightly contrite. Let’s stop the fake apology industry.
5) All Apologies, Nirvana
6) Don’t ask me memory type questions.
Congrats on getting Pitchfork to publish your in-depth review of that Suzi Quatro greatest hits collection, Mod.
That Loggins and Messina clip is absolutely horrific.
I think the gaze may refer to shoegaze style, not looking around. And have you seen this guy with a synth?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xggFzkyd288&feature=related
What stage presence! What an unholy racket!
As someone who used to play piano, I have long thought about the particular plights of keyboard players in rock. If you can’t afford to carry around big, old, expensive gear (baby grand, b3, vox or farfisa, moog even), it’s really hard to a) look cool and b) have cool-looking gear. Thoughts?
“Ça plane pour moi” popped into my head when I read the question, but that’s not an English language song. So, first thought is: “I’ve got a bitter cup of je ne sais quois / That’s right and I’m stirring it with a monkey’s paw” from “Genius” by Warren Zevon.
“Synth-punks” makes me slightly curious.
“Leather-clad fuzz-pop” makes me suspicious.
“Brooklyn synth-gazers” sounds like a snooze-fest.
“Drone-psych warriors” sounds like a combination of the above!
Quaint: Nothing comes to mind.
Taylor/Kanye: Could not care in the least.
Apology song: “Jealous Guy” ?
I developed an early strong dislike for the Grateful Dead. My grade school friend’s older hippie brothers were totally into them.
k., yes I got the shoegaze connection. That’s what I was referring to. I know that Emerson clip, but he’s attacking an organ. Big difference. It’s digital instruments, possibly of any sort, that lead to poor stage presence. I wonder if even digital effects boxes for guitarists are hazardous to movement and engagement with the audience:)
Oats: YES! A Farfisa or Vox isn’t that hard to lug around, and our organ player just scored a late-’70s/early-’80s Korg organ that sounds and looks great – and is as easy to move, I believe, as a synth. It’s a shame about synths. They can be serviceable for recording, but they look terrible onstage. How about seeing a well-known piano player reduced to playing one of those synth pianos? Ugh!
Foreign language lyric?
That would be Je T’aime monsieur. The lyrics of which are rather nonsensical – but somehow you get their drift. Could be all that heavy breathing.
Synth punks is the only term that doesn’t want to make me hurl, or as we say down under, chunder.
Quaint phrase?
“You can leave your hat on.”
Though also by Randy Newman:
“Would you like to come over for tea,
With the missus and me?
It’s a real nice way to spend the day
In Dayton, Ohio, in 1903.”
Quaint enough for yer?
Should Taylor accept?
Hell, yes. The dear girl has done so little else of gracious note that this might be a chance to show that she is more than grasping wannabe.
(My daughter is a big fan so I quite well acquainted with Swift’s work.)
Favourite apology song?
Bigmouth Strikes Again by The Smiths
“Sweetness, I was only joking when I said
I’d like to mash every tooth in your head…
Otherwise, Jealous Guy by John Lennon. And I don’t even mind hearing Bryan Ferry work it over.
First song I remember strongly disliking?
Anything and everything by Billy Idol. Hideous and fake and so, so dumb.
What’s the first non-English language lyric in an English-language song that comes to mind?
Eres Tu. Smash hit in early 70s.
Which modern-day band description (courtesy of Pitchfork) gets a reaction from you, be it positive or negative?
They’re all annoying so they all give me cramps.
Quick: What’s the first quaint phrase in a song lyric that comes to mind for you?
Whomp-bomp-a-luma-a-whomp-bam-boom!
Should Taylor accept Kanye’s apology?
F-no. Kanye’s a tool.
What’s your favorite apology song?
All Apologies – Nirvana
What’s the earliest band or song you recall strongly disliking?
Steely Dan. Although I’ve come to like some of their stuff, as a pre-teen and teenager, I could not take this pretentious crap and would either turn the dial or leave the room when they appeared.
Quick: What’s the first non-English language lyric in an English-language song that comes to mind?
“Vous etre belle, mama, girls and boys” — Prince, “Girls and Boys”
Which modern-day band description (courtesy of Pitchfork) gets a reaction from you, be it positive or negative?
* Brooklyn synth-gazers — UGH.
* Drone-psych warriors — GROAN.
* Leather-clad fuzz-pop — HMM.
* Synth-punks — YAWN.
Quick: What’s the first quaint phrase in a song lyric that comes to mind for you?
“I’ll take afternoon tea.” — “Afternoon Tea,” Kinks
Should Taylor accept Kanye’s apology?
Huh?
What’s your favorite apology song?
“I’m Sorry” by the Fabulous Thunderbirds may not be my fave, but it’s pretty straight-to-the-point: “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, for all the things I’ve done.”
What’s the earliest band or song you recall strongly disliking?
There were some songs on my Disney movie themes collection LP that were real needle-lifters. Put on “Bare Necessities” again — now that was a rocker!
1. What’s the first non-English language lyric:
“jamais toujours faim de toi” – well, it’s a mixed language song.
2. Which modern-day band description (courtesy of Pitchfork) gets a reaction from you, be it positive or negative?
Probably makes me dislike Pitchfork, or the writer, more than the band. Can I say all of them?
3 Quick: What’s the first quaint phrase in a song lyric that comes to mind for you?
I wanna hold your hand.
4. Should Taylor accept Kanye’s apology?
Taylor should admit Kanye was right, then she should go away.
5. What’s your favorite apology song?
Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes -I Miss You. Great “come back baby” kind of tune with a long, somewhat absurd spoken-word testimonial in the middle.
6. What’s the earliest band or song you recall strongly disliking?
I might also say it was outgrowing Kiss.
Speaking of foreign language tunes, what do you make of this Soviet prock song?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFDjl-ugDLI&feature=related
I’m entering in to the fray a bit late here. I agree with several of the earlier responses:
1. With BigSteve: “Voulez-vous couchez avec moi, ce soir.” Also: “Le Freak, C’est Chic” or “Je T’aime….Moi, Non Plus.”
2. More examples of rock spin, and brings to mind the quote: “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” Evocative, but more about marketing than anything else. I wonder which bands they paired with those terms? I wouldn’t mind hearing them and deciding if their label is in accord with mine…
3. No phrase comes to mind.
4. I agree with the previous commentary: “Kanye is a tool.”
5. “South Central Rain” is a great example of an apology song. I would also add the Go-Betweens’ “Apology Accepted,” and Vampire Weekend’s “I Stand Corrected.”
6. Yuck: “Beth” by Kiss. And “Freebird.” Double Yuck.
I’m in:
After “Michelle” is would be “Ce que je fait ce soir la?…” from “Psycho Killer”
As already answered, the “Brooklyn synth-gazers” one most gets my goat. “Drone-psych warriors” is my runner-up; it’s hilarious.
I had something in mind when I wrote the question, but now I can’t remember what it was… I think it was a Kinks song, so let’s say “You’re gonna look like skin and bones.”
I didn’t know this when I wrote this question, but did I read correctly that Taylor Swift performed some new song that forgives Kanye West? Do these people have no shame about playing publicity games?
“All Apologies” is a pretty great one that’s come to mind anytime I’ve seen this question.
The earliest song may have to be my least-favorite song from one of the first albums I ever owned and loved as a young boy, The Band’s “Unfaithful Servant.” To this day the song bores the snot out of me; it’s the only song I almost always skip. The earliest band that I knew I strongly disliked in a meaningful way came about 5 years later: KISS.