Jan 182021
Go ahead find something positive to say about this. I double-dog dare you!
I will start. At least for me, it was followed by a pro-shot (Apple FiIms) T. Rex concert at Wembley, 18 Mar 1972.
Go ahead find something positive to say about this. I double-dog dare you!
I will start. At least for me, it was followed by a pro-shot (Apple FiIms) T. Rex concert at Wembley, 18 Mar 1972.
I wish I could sing like that! You’d never get that kind of performance out of Jeff Tweedy!
A quick update: I tried reading David Byrne’s How Music Works. I thought, “What the hell, he’s a dick, but I like a lot of his songs. I’ll give it a shot.” After barely getting through the first couple of pages of the book, I quickly realized it was going to be one of his “This is a toothbrush. It is used to remove debris from teeth. It can be purchased at supermarkets and pharmacies” artsy fartsy nonsense projects. Instead, I wisely decided to read Craig Brown’s 150 Glimpses of the Beatles. It’s superb. He actually manages to come up with something a little different than what you’d normally expect from a Beatle book. And that’s saying a lot since there’s about 800 or so Beatle books out there.
And I know what you’re thinking. Another fucking Beatles book? Why? Simply put, because they’re the fucking Beatles!
One more thing, I picked up a super clean copy of the first Clash LP, US press, which also had the “Groovy Times” 7″. Absolutely tremendous. I would take their version of “I Fought the Law” over Bobby Fuller’s any day of the week. Both rule, but the Clash version is a fucking powerhouse. The revamping of the song is much like what the Stones’ did with Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away.” And along those lines…
I Fought the Law. Fuller or Clash?
Police on My Back: The Equals or Clash?
Not Fade Away: Buddy Holly or the Stones?
Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby: Carl Perkins or Beatles?
Bad Time? Grand Funk Railroad or Jayhawks?
I look forward to your responses.
The part I liked best is when it was too dark to see anything.
The sleeves on that guy, is there a name for them, provide a perfect alternative to the archetypal puffy shirt.
And EPG, you’re always so disappointing: a brief snark, another assertion of superior taste, and no specific attempt to back yourself up with substantive points.
Mr. Mod had posted the following, which was the reason I challenged you to read the book, not to just get it out of the library, crack it open and dismiss it out of hand.
“On vacation I started reading David Byrne’s How Music Works as well as excerpts from Frantz’s book. I’m firmly back in Byrne’s camp. That guy is on his own journey. He’s really organized in his thoughts. He can’t look back without giving things a new context.”
I read it a while ago, 10 or 15 years, and it was full of interesting things I had never even thought about such as the very specific economics of the cult artist career. Someone else on the list also had mentioned what an interesting read it was. I thought you might care to engage. Wrong.
Insert blistering EPG comment with nostalgic but frightening toilet training story here.
Hi Geo, always a treat to hear from you.
To be honest with you, I knew the book was going to be bad as soon as I picked it up from the library. Honestly, a padded cover? Was that really necessary? Again, I always give credit where credit is due. He’s written a lot of good songs, but he’s an incredible dick.
And by the way, Big Steve. That comment regarding the Dio performance was laugh out loud funny. I needed that.
Hi Al, CDs arrived today!!!! Greatly appreciated!
I appreciate that the person in charge of making sure that the stage set up was extremely symmetrical took their job very, very seriously. I also like that they appear to have gone out of their way to make sure that the drummer felt included by having an extra tall drum riser (although to be fair, Dio was apparently very small so it could just be a regular sized one.)
No political comment intended here; I include the link because, like Dio, it is hilarious in many ways
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91MHRuceqiI
It looks to me like heavy metal bands, while they pretty much all suck, are recycling. I’m pretty sure that was the bottom part of Iron Maiden’s Powerslave tour stage that I saw long ago when I didn’t think heavy metal sucked. It’s good to see that level of environmental awareness.
On another note, long ago I saw Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow when Dio was the singer. We had great seats on Ritchie’s side, so I was kind of excited because I liked that stuff. Blackmore broke a string on his guitar in the first song, pretty much threw it down and stomped off pouting. I guess his guitar tech filled in the rest of the show, because they just never really put any lights on him and he was just a guy in jeans and a T shirt where Blackmore was wearing more stage appropriate garb. Anyway, Dio left if all on the stage. He didn’t get whiny because Ritchie wasn’t there and he worked his ass off to make sure people were having a good time. So for that, I can’t really ever say bad things about Dio except I have long ago outgrown his music and when push comes to shove I think I need to admit I always had to try pretty hard with metal.
Oh, Bad Time by Grand Funk for sure, but The Jayhawks just prove how great a song that is.
I was going to say that there are some songs, like “Bad Time”, that are so good they’re just about impossible to fuck up, but then I remembered how the Dead managed to suck all the life out of every cover they’ve ever done: “Not Fade Away”, “Good Lovin'”, “Little Red Rooster”, “Let’s Spend the Night Together”…It’s embarrassing to admit I actually know that many Dead covers.
The key to all those songs is the rhythm. It’s one of the many things they’ve never understood nor their audience, who profess a love for dancing, though they have no real talent for it whatsoever. Then again, to become a good dancer, you need a band that’s gonna move you to do something interesting on the dance floor. The Dead is incapable of that.
I think Dead fans prefer to sway and spin, hence no need for rhythm. Then there’s that awesome headrush move, where you rip the bong, take two steps forward and then as your head leans to the right you follow your head and quickly sidestep into the fence or Port A Potty door. Dead music is perfect for that.
Man, that Rhea Perlman can sing!
I think this video is a great demonstration of how lossy audio sounds terrible! Listen to the low bitrate algorithm get completely befuddled by distorted guitars, loud snare drums and arena reverb, none of which are predictable according to the harmonic series. Also, did I mention the awesome Rhea Perlman? Another thing – those pants are clearly made of artificial material, but making them for a person so small is, in a way, somewhat eco-friendly. If they made those pants for Peter Garrett, the ocean temperature would go up a few degrees and then he’d write a song about it.
A variation on the theme but is there a rock cliche left unturned by the band on this video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgb-4Mwk11c
I’m pretty sure I caught a glimpse of the lead guitarist’s nipple at the 1:38 mark!
Seriously, I kind of liked that main guitar riff during the verses, and that guy Dio can sing the living shit out of whatever music is put in front of him.