Rock Town Hall • Rock Music Discussion

Avoidance, or Beating Around the Bush

Jul 312020

I’ve been musing over Kate Bush all day, and not for the same reasons I used to. I was kind of on board with her for the first three albums, her stock was high if only for the memory of my grandma screaming and falling off her chair when she saw her on Top of the Pops doing “Wuthering Heights.” Priceless. A mate always bought the albums as soon as they were released and taped them for me, I found them recently and realised I had only listened to them up to Hounds of Love. I’ve no idea what stopped me at the time, we agreed about almost everything musically, it was as if I was in some way scared of hearing them, which makes as little sense now as it did then.

I’d be interested to hear whether any others gathered here have music which you actually own but have avoided listening to for reasons you’re unable to put a finger on, or is it just me?

Once and for All…What’s the Best CD of the “CD Era”?

Posted by cherguevara

Jul 292020

What do you think is the best CD? Say the “CD era” is defined as being from 1988-2005 (give or take) and that there is something about your favorite that worked with the CD format – the length, perhaps, or the booklet format of the artwork, etc. I don’t have an answer for this yet, but I’m thinking on it.

Coronavirus Meets Its Match: Supertramp Syndrome Defined

Posted by E. Pluribus Gergely

Jul 292020

During these difficult times, it’s always a pleasure to know that relief is right around the corner via a back porch dinner with those you love, namely, the “I promise to love you no matter how much of an asshole you are now or will become in the not so distant future” wife; my sister, whose saved my ass on countless occasions; and her husband, one of those Survivor types who can do and get through anything and still have a sense of humor. Last Saturday night’s dinner was especially noteworthy because Supertramp Syndrome was finally fine tuned. It all began when Supertramp’s “Logical Song” reared its ugly head in the middle of a fairly pleasant playlist that featured a lot of surprisingly good ’70s stuff. Tem seconds into the thing was all it took to bring on a plethora of horrible feelings: physical discomfort, embarrassment, shame, etc. Hence, Supertramp Syndrome.

All-Star Jam

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jul 292020

Brendan, the gamer dude who posted this video on YouTube with commentary, is really annoying me. I have never heard of Brendan and his game before in my life. Probably thinks Zack de la Rocha is a cool singer. Okay.

Top Debut Rock Albums of All Time

Posted by al

Jul 232020

This video has someone, could be anyone, and his list of the Top 20 Debut Rock Albums of All Time. I watched it so you don’t have to.

His criteria for selection:

Songs, usually big hits, that became important for the rest of the band’s career
Create/inspire a new genre
Consistent from start to finish

You’ll notice he actually has 22 songs, because he couldn’t narrow it down to 20.

A Picture Is Worth 5 Words

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jul 232020

Extend That Metaphor

Posted by al

Jul 152020

I’ve been listening to a lot of old soul music lately (not an unusual occurrence) and happened to have a sequence of three metaphor songs in a short spell. All three are great greats songs from the ‘60s, and it’s easier to just put up the YouTube videos than to try and explain in words what I mean by this type of song.

First up is Mel & Tim’s classic “Backfield In Motion.” Sports infractions are the metaphor for cheating in love. The metaphor covers football (“offside & holdin’”), baseball (“balkin’”), boxing (“you hit me below the belt”), and basketball (“double dribble”). This video has all the lyrics.

Then there’s 100 Proof Aged In Soul’s sole hit “Somebody’s Been Sleeping.” This was one of the early hits on the Hot Wax label, formed by the team of Holland-Dozier-Holland, after they left Motown in 1968. Here the metaphor is the Goldilocks & The Three Bears fable. And it’s an interesting metaphor in that it is both metaphor and not metaphor. Somebody has been sleeping in his bed! Here’s the lyrics video for this one.

By the way, this is the album version, which I didn’t hear until many years after this was a hit in 1970. When I first heard this version I definitely preferred the single edit; now I love the album version and don’t want to hear the song without the instrumental break that comes 2 minutes in – a minute and a half of pure funky soul horns.

The third is “Agent Double-O-Soul”, Edwin Starr’s first hit from 1965. This was on the Ric-Tic label, which was bought by Berry Gordy a few years later. Bond, James Bond is the metaphor here. Here’s a great (albeit lip-synced) performance video from a 1960s teen dance program; sorry, I couldn’t find one with lyrics.

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