This video is appalling on multiple levels.
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The pointlessly rural setting, the various Look crimes – the beret, the overalls, the visor, the aviator shades, the peroxide – the objectification of women’s body parts, the exploitation of poor people, Rod’s preening and prancing… I could go on.
This style of Stonesy rock is what Rod had been successfully purveying with the Faces, but here it’s been perfected to death. It’s now drained of whatever vitality it once had and turned into a coked-out rock star nightmare. I hate everything about it.
But.
I absolutely LOVE that guitar riff that comes in after Rod shrieks “I love ya, honay!” (first appearance at about 1:23). A two-chord riff with one repeat, it’s perfect in its simplicity, even it is a bit too Les-Paul-through-a-Marshall-amp. It just works.
Of course it’s immediately undercut by that dull, thudding drum fill from whichever Appice brother that is, but this little hint that Rod still knows what he’s doing confuses me. Does it almost redeem the song, or does it make the whole thing even more embarrassing by highlighting all that he’s thrown away?
Anyway, do you have a song or an album you basically despise which still has some feature or aspect you grudgingly love?
This video has one of my all-time favorite, gotta-wait-for-it trainwreck moments: the totally incompetet, near-stumbling duckwalk down the tran tracks.
It also provides another rock blaxploitation gimmick to discuss: filming overall-clad, shotgun-shack negroes dancing to classic rock music. This kind of thing, of course, lends instant credibility to one’s washed-up white rock grooves. Popularized by John Cougar Mellencamp, perfected by the Black Crowes.
Of course in 1987 the corny pop of George Michael was unhip to embrace but I remember really digging the country/rockabilly guitar solo in the middle of the ex-Whamster’s hit “Faith”.
-db
The chord change between the first and second halves of the chorus in the Allman Brothers’ “Ramblin’ Man.” Gives me chills for some reason, and if I knew more about music theory it would maybe turn out to be a Kentonic un-Southernism.
I can’t count the number of times the song has come on the radio, someone (read: girlfriend) groans or goes to change the station, and I go “No, wait…shhhh, listen to this part.” After it passes I ask, “Didja hear that? So awesome!” and invariably the response is “What are you talking about?” “OK, hold on. It’s coming up again.” “Whatever, dude,” and they put in a CD.
As for ‘Hot Legs’, that guitar break is alright but this Rod period is singularly responsible for me lumping him in with BLOOZE RAWK and coloring him irrelevant. Maybe “Cougar Rock” is more apt. Furthermore, I think the moustache is what distinguishes the Appice brothers, the one “with” being Carmine.
bigsteve, writes “Of course it’s immediately undercut by that dull, thudding drum fill from whichever Appice brother that is,”
I write: “of course,” as if this is an objective truth. dude, i *like* that drum fill. to each his own.
BigSteve continues: “but this little hint that Rod still knows what he’s doing confuses me.”
I write: isn’t it likeliest that rod had absolutely nothing to do with that guitar riff? he seems like the kinda guy who would just let his band figure things out.
basically, though, i think you’ve nailed it. this is the ultimate love / hate type song.
hvb, as far as the video goes…
the iconography of classic rock beret wearing merits mention. bob welch? skunk baxter? sam kennison? anyone else?
so does the STP suit. did STP have a deal with Classic Rock Incorporated or something?
high on my list of love/ hate stuff: i *love* the deadbeat, hungover vibe of most steely dan songs, but i hate their kind-of-music-you’d-hear-in-the-dentist-office-lobby slickness. i really can’t stand it.
oh…i forgot. that BASS BREAK in “hot legs” is the worst part of that song for me. good lord….
I need to think about this topic for a bit, but every time I see this video on VH1 Classic, I like to think of it as containing footage from the failed pilot for The Rod Stewart Show. The tour bus breaks down in a Podunk town down south, and Rod and the band entertain the locals. The womenfolk have never met a real live rock star before, and are slayed by the irresistible charms of Vinnie/Carmine Appice. Future episodes would have involved Rod opening a General Store; Carmine/Vinnie cuckolding several husbands; and, in one special episode, a guest appearance by Ron Wood!
Besides myself (who has been known to don a beret or two in his day), Phil Keaggy is another of the “beret brethren”.
TB
Peter Wolf also occasionally donned the beret.
Though he’d probably deny it, Townsman kcills used to sport an artsy beret back in the Bob’s Revenge days.
van vliet wore a beret, right?
it’s not easy to pull off. the guy in the rod video can’t come close.
some old guys can pull it off.
monk?
Kim Wilson used to wear a beret in the Fabulous Thunderbirds videos. There is or was a guy who works in my building in Center City who wears a beret and has a sizable moustache, so everytime I see him walking around, the guitar riff from Tuff Enuff goes through my head.
I think the track suit and patriotic sunvisor combo is being overlooked in the Rod video.
Agree with sat about the bass break. And the way the bass player tries to “rock out” while playing it is especially sad.
I do enjoy how disinterested the kids standing behind the beret guy are when he reaches the end of the train tracks. I was also glad to see that Rod (just barely) avoids stepping on the dog with about a minute left in the video.
I hate everything about the Black Eyed Peas and all their offshoots…
BUT
The bridge/breakdown/middle 8/whatever of Fergie’s London Bridges is awe inspiring.
It’s just this stupid doo wop thing but it hits me every time.
Berets?
Don Was and my Dad.
art fags.
There’s a picture on the back of one of Chuck Berry’s Chess records that shows Chuck wearing a beret, but Dizzy Gillespie could really rock one as a young man.
It’s not the beret in itself. It has a noble history as a hip signifier in a previous era. It’s wearing it with that multi-zippered jumpsuit unzipped to the navel that icks it up.
I college I wore one constantly, though it was wasn’t felt but knitted for me by a girlfriend. And I wore it tilted backwards not sideways in an attempt at homage to Zoot Horn Rollo and The Mascara Snake Looks on the inside cover shot of Trout Mask Replica.
I wonder where this video was shot. The extras seem to be a mixture of ethnicities I can’t place.
Btw Richard Thompson is almost always seen with a beret these days, and it’s cool. It helps if the wearer is cool, obviously.
The Vanilla Sludge thread isn’t displaying properly, so saturn can’t let us know which drum fills by one or the other Appice is actually likes on The Beat Goes On. And on and on.
BigSteve, I’ve been thinking about this. I thought about it while we played at a little private shindig tonight. Just now, reading Sat’s mention of Steely Dan, a band I don’t pretend to like that much, it came to me: I like the coda of “Hey 19.” I HATE the rest of the song, but I’ll sit through it when it comes on the radio just to hear that little jingle for the “high life” (“…the fine Columbian…”). I think it’s purposefully attempting to be funny, and it succeeds.
Big Steve said: Zoot Horn Rollo.
EVERYBODY DRINK!
Phils manager Charlie Manual was pictured in The Philadelphia Inquirer today wearing a beret!
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/gallery/20090208_A_portrait_of_Charlie_Manuel.html
Is that a beret or is that a jeff cap? In the first photo, it definitely looks like a beret, but in the other two, it looks like Chollie’s got a jeff cap on. Maybe it’s a modular hat.
“Kim Wilson used to wear a beret in the Fabulous Thunderbirds videos.”
Kim Wilson also tried to pioneer a sort of 50s man-turban revival. I thought it was a fantastic look but, alas, it never caught on.
I see what you mean, Alexmagic. I’m going to choose to believe the first image is the true one. Chollie in a beret is priceless.
I forgot about Kim Wilson’s turban.
As for BigSteve’s main question, as I’ve said before, I’d be happy to wipe the vocals off all AC/DC records and see if we couldn’t start anew with a singer who didn’t sound like a 14-year-old idiot.
Easy, my ultimate guilty pleasure, Head East’s “Never Been Any Reason.” Hate the vocals, hate hate hate hate hate hate the lyrics, but LOVE the synthesizer to death.
I hate the movie Velvet Goldmine, but I love the soundtrack.
I’m hardly a fan of Jethro Tull, and I can’t stand the album Minstrel in the Gallery, but I love the title track. It’s got those big, chunky riffs and Ian Anderson is actually singing like he’s got a pair. I even heard it on a Muzak thing in a store once and it was pretty good (for Muzak). I liked the song so much I bought the album. Big mistake. That album is a turd.
I also can’t stand Prince. Not even a little bit. But I heard a song called Mountains I think, and there’s a little piano thing in the background that I like a lot. Not enough to buy it, but enough to not barf.
Chicago, “Saturday in the Park”:
During a description of perhaps the most downer of a 4th of July ever, the singer abruptly pleads, in a call and response with himself, “Can you dig it? Yes I can!” This never fails to crack me up.
CSN – I hate the vocals in “Suite Judy Blue Eyes” but LOVE the bass (and the lead guitar) sound
Hey 2K,
Did you ever hear the Prince song that’s based completely on the Guitar riff from Midnight Rambler. I think it’s on Crystal Ball, one of the giant unreleased material dumps. I like it, but then, I like Prince a lot.
geo, I’d like to check it out if you can find a way to post it. I haven’t liked Prince at all, but I like Midnight Rambler a lot, so this could be at least interesting.
Geo, you know I’m a huge pimp for Prince, and I have Crystal Ball. But for the life of me, I can’t think of what song you’re describing.
Now, look, on to more important matters. Did that chick in your band ever sing a song about PUFFINS?
BigSteve wrote: The Vanilla Sludge thread isn’t displaying properly, so saturn can’t let us know which drum fills by one or the other Appice is actually likes on The Beat Goes On. And on and on.
I write: aww…BigSteve, did i hurt your feelings when I pointed out that your distaste for the Appice fill isn’t universally shared by all? I’m sorry, buddy.
I’m an Appice Freak!
of “saturday in the park, “dr. john wrote:
“During a description of perhaps the most downer of a 4th of July ever, the singer abruptly pleads, in a call and response with himself, “Can you dig it? Yes I can!” This never fails to crack me up.”
i ask you: what is such a bummer about a fourth of july that includes…
“People dancing, people laughing
A man selling ice cream
Singing italian songs”
or this…
“People talking, really smiling
A man playing guitar
Singing for us all”
not a huge fan of the song either, but that 4th of july sounds alright to me.
I dunno, it seemed to me kind of dull. Especially compared with the 4th of July as experienced in Lawrence, KS. Good times!
it was those “italian songs,” wasn’t it?